Prehistoric landscapes, humans and ostriches: highlighting geoarchaeological issues in the Tapi Basin of Maharashtra (west-central India) – a multidisciplinary approach

Abstract

Abstract The formal beginning of geoarchaeology in India can be traced back to 1863 when the first palaeolith was documented and collected by Robert Bruce Foote in Tamil Nadu and later described in a detailed geological context. Today, various geological tools such as geospatial analytical tools are available to provide extra mileage to geoarchaeological investigations. They supplement field evidence and enable researchers to display, manipulate, and model geological data and the associated archaeological evidence. The present paper attempts to summarize the current status of understanding of the Quaternary geoarchaeology of the Tapi River basin in west-central India. The aspects considered include geomorphology, landform evolution, morphometric parameters, relationships between climate and basin evolution and Palaeolithic and Mesolithic evidence. This present study uses Landsat imagery, locational data, Survey of India topographic sheets and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data in ArcGIS software. The study is the first comprehensive attempt to summarize the issue of prehistoric human adaptations (dominated mainly by Late Pleistocene evidence) through changing environments, with an assumption that the two occurred in synchronization. Another assumption is that the reported lithic and fossil sites and the surrounding areas have preserved signatures of original landforms and sedimentary contexts. Through these perspectives and visual integration of topography, drainage networks and Landsat image parameters in a Geographic Information System platform, along with other variable field inputs, a testable hypothetical model of the Quaternary evolution of Central Tapi valley is proposed. Additionally, an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) date of 47 145 cal BP for a newly discovered ostrich eggshell fragment from Sakegaon near Bhusawal is presented and its palaeoanthropological implications are discussed. Altogether, our observations from the study area, such as an expansion of land use from the Acheulean onwards, signatures of arid phases and the oldest reported ostrich eggshell, warrant further detailed multidisciplinary research. An in-depth understanding of the first-to-last occurrences of ostriches in the region and comprehensive picture of their pan-South Asian distribution in general will help address the issue of prehistoric human adaptations through changing environments.