Agricultural resilience and land-use from an Indus settlement in north-western India: Inferences from stable Carbon and Nitrogen isotopes of archaeobotanical remains

Abstract

Abstract Stable isotopic compositions of carbon and nitrogen (δ13C, δ15N) of archaeological grains/seeds recovered from different cultural layers of an Indus archaeological site 4MSR (29°12'87.2"N; 73°9'421"E; Binjor, western Rajasthan, India) provide insights into the Harappan agriculture between ~ 2900 to ~ 1800 BCE. While δ13C values were used to retrieve hydrological status, δ15N values were used to gauge agricultural intensification. Isotopic data of grains/seeds were generated representing three Indus phases (i) early phase (~ 2900 − 2600 BCE), (ii) transitional phase (~ 2600 − 2500 BCE) and (iii) mature phase (~ 2500 − 1800 BCE). We find δ13C values of barley grains (winter crop) varied in overlapping ranges for all the three phases − 21.3‰±1.9; −22.9‰±1.6 and − 22.7‰±1.7 respectively (n = 10 for each phase) indicating insignificant changes in hydrology for winter crops. For summer crops cotton also, average δ13C values for transitional phase − 23.7‰±1.8 were not significantly different from those of mature phase − 22.5‰±2.4. δ15Nbarley values also varied in wider ranges, however, intra-phase variability appears to have progressively increased from early (8.0‰±1.7) to transitional phase (7.3‰±2.5) and then mature phase (9.2‰±7.2) indicating a plausible agricultural intensification. We also measured δ13C of host soil organic matter (SOM) and sediment δ15N to assess regional environmental conditions. In contrast to the trends observed for archaeological grains, δ13CSOM values showed a statistically significant enriching trend from early (−23.6‰±1.4) to mature phase (−20.3‰±1.9) hinting a growing aridity in the region. We surmise that Harappan farmers of western Rajasthan region might be managing arable hydrological conditions in their fields through agricultural interventions to continue agriculture practices despite growing aridity in the vicinity.