Agricultural foundation of Indus-Saraswati civilization

Mehra, K.L. (2002). "Agricultural foundation of Indus-Saraswati civilization."
In: Nene,Y.L. and S.L. Chowdhary.(eds.) 2002.
"Agricultural Heritage of India." pp-1-21
http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/Agriculture1.doc
I was unable to connect to HinduNet, so this link is
to the Google cache: http://tinyurl.com/2tpsg2

The article is well worth reading, with details
of many sites.
The following quote is to prove Mr. Ch. wrong, again.
(references removed)

"Neolithic plant domestication

The plant domestication, diffusion and development in
ancient India and its borderlands was a gradual transition
from full-time hunting foraging practices which took place
in several geographical regions and chronological settings,
viz., the northwestern sector, Baluchistan, Pakistan and
its borderlands with Iran and Afghanistan between 8000
and 5500 BC, and between 3500 and 1500 BC (Indus-
Saraswati valleys); Kashmir Swat and the North-west
Frontier between 2870 and 1500 BC; eastern India and
Southeast Asia borderlands between 2400 and 2000 BC;
the Gangetic plain and Vindhya hills of North India
between at least 5400 (perhaps 8080 BC) and 1200 BC;
Rajasthan between 5000 and 1200 BC (for pastoralism if
not for plant domestication at Bagor); central India, ca.
5500 BC; western India (Gujarat) 2500 to 1000 BC;
peninsular India between 2500 to 1000 BC; and South
India between 2450 and 1800 BC.
These time frames are approximate dates (and accounts of the authors also differ) and are subject to change as
and when new data are forthcoming.

Available evidences from multidisciplinary fields, viz.,
archaeology, anthropology (including demic relationships,
cultural relationships, palaeo-anthropology), bio-diversity
analyses, and genetic distance analyses (including
molecular biology), do not suggest the occurrence of any
abrupt transitions or "invasions" of food producing
populations into the hunting/ hunting-foraging territories of
earlier settled people, in several geographical and
chronological setting in ancient India.

Multi-disciplinary evidences neither support a notion of a "Neolithic revolution" (as in the so called "Fertile Crescent"
area of Southwest Asia) nor does those provide a picture of
a homogeneous "Neolithic cultural period", especially given
the great biodiversity prospecting strategies and varying early
adaptations to plant and animal husbandry paradigms in
different geographical regions of ancient India."


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