Hostname: page-component-f554764f5-nqxm9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-04-10T22:14:51.110Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evolution of Ramasetu region as a link between India and Sri Lanka during the late Pleistocene and Holocene

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 September 2022

K.M. Dubey Open the ORCID record for K.M. Dubey [Opens in a new window] ,
A.K. Chaubey ,
A.S. Gaur  and
M.V. Joglekar
K.M. Dubey*
Affiliation:
CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula-403004, Goa, India
A.K. Chaubey
Affiliation:
CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula-403004, Goa, India Now at Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad-826004, Jharkhand, India.
A.S. Gaur
Affiliation:
CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula-403004, Goa, India
M.V. Joglekar
Affiliation:
CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula-403004, Goa, India
*
*Corresponding author email address: kanchanmanidubey@gmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

High-resolution seismic data of the Ramasetu region revealed three subaerial unconformities S1, S2, and S3. S1 is the youngest subaerial unconformity, whereas S3 is the oldest. These subaerial unconformities have been determined based on the presence of channel-incision signatures. Identified buried channels originated in the Palk Strait and debouched in the Gulf of Mannar. Youngest buried channels became most active during MIS 3 (~60–29 ka) and were buried entirely at ~7.0 ka. The study suggests that the Palk Strait evolved as a large multi-centered freshwater reservoir during the last glacial period and remained a freshwater reservoir until seawater started encroaching the region at ~8.5 ka. The Ramasetu region was a potential habitat zone for foragers, with fresh and saline water ecosystems available at opposite banks. During the Microlithic and terminal Pleistocene, Homo sapiens needed to cross high-energy rivers using floaters/rafts in wet seasons of MIS 2 and 3. At the same time, they used a direct walkable land link in the extreme dry season of MIS 2. During the early to mid-Holocene, foragers required floaters/rafts or artificial structures (such as bandh/bridge) to cross shallow, low-energy estuarine patches of the Ramasetu. The Palk Strait region was not crossable without using boats/ships in the last ~7 ka except during minor sea-level falls.

Keywords

RamasetuIndia and Sri LankaHigh-resolution shallow seismicHomo sapiens dispersalSea levelMicrolithicPalk StraitBuried river channel
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 111 , January 2023 , pp. 166 - 176
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Ambrose, S.H., 1998. Chronology of the later Stone Age and food production in East Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science 25, 377–392.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Athiyaman, N., 2013. Some early historic ports of Tamilakam: revisited. 8th National Conference on Marine Archaeology of Indian Ocean 13 Countries held at CSIR-NIO, 1–2 July 2013. Society for Marine Archaeology, Goa.Google Scholar
Bahr, A., Wong, H.K., Yim, W.S., Huang, G., Lüdmann, T., Chan, L.S., Ridley Thomas, W.N., 2005. Stratigraphy of Quaternary inner-shelf sediments in Tai O Bay, Hong Kong, based on ground-truthed seismic profiles. Geo-Marine Letters 25, 20–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bahuguna, A., Nayak, S., Deshmukh, B., 2003. IRS views the Adams Bridge (bridging India and Sri Lanka). Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing 31, 237–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banerjee, P.K., 2000. Holocene and Late Pleistocene relative sea level fluctuations along the east coast of India. Marine Geology 167, 243–260.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basak, B., Srivastava, P., 2017. Earliest dates of microlithic industries (42–25 ka) from West Bengal, Eastern India: new light on modern human occupation in the Indian Subcontinent. Asian Perspectives 56, 237–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Basak, B., Srivastava, P., Dasgupta, S., Kumar, A., Rajaguru, S. N., 2014. Earliest dates and implications of microlithic industries of Late Pleistocene from Mahadebbera and Kana, Purulia district, West Bengal. Current Science 107, 1167–1171.Google Scholar
Carswell, J., 1983. Medieval trading post in the Indian Ocean. Illustrated London News October 1983, pp. 84–85.Google Scholar
Chandramohan, P., Jena, B.K., Sanil Kumar, V., 2001. Littoral drift sources and sinks along the Indian coast. Current Science 81, 292–297.Google Scholar
Clarkson, C., Jones, S., Harris, C., 2012. Continuity and change in the lithic industries of the Jurreru Valley, India, before and after the Toba eruption. Quaternary International 258, 165–179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarkson, C., Petraglia, M., Harris, C., Shipton, C., Norman, K., 2018. The South Asian microlithic: Homo sapiens dispersal or adaptive response? In: Robinson, E., Sellet, F. (Eds.), Lithic Technological Organization and Paleoenvironmental Change. Studies in Human Ecology and Adaptation, vol. 9. Springer, Cham, pp. 37–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-64407-3_3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarkson, C., Petraglia, M., Korisettar, R., Haslam, M., Boivin, N., Crowther, A., Ditchfield, P., et al. , 2009. The oldest and longest enduring microlithic sequence in India: 35 000 years of modern human occupation and change at the Jwalapuram Locality 9 rockshelter. Antiquity 83, 326–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Conard, N.J., 2010. Cultural modernity: consensus or conundrum? Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 107, 7621–7622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Deraniyagala, S.U., 1992. The Prehistory of Sri Lanka: An Ecological Perspective. Department of Archaeological Survey, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 813 pp.Google Scholar
Dubey, K.M., Chaubey, A.K., Mahale, V.P., Karisiddaiah, S.M., 2019. Buried channels provide keys to infer Quaternary stratigraphic and paleo-environmental changes: a case study from the west coast of India. Geoscience Frontiers 10, 1577–1595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dutt, S., Gupta, A.K., Clemens, S.C., Cheng, H., Singh, R.K., Kathayat, G., Edwards, R.L., 2015. Abrupt changes in Indian summer monsoon strength during 33,800 to 5500 years B.P. Geophysical Research Letters 42, 5526–5532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foley, R, Lahr, M.M., 1997. Mode 3 technologies and the evolution of modern humans. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 7, 3–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaur, A.S., Sundaresh, , 2006. Onshore and near shore explorations along the Southern Tamilnadu Coast. In: Reddy, P.C. (Ed.), Mahāsenasiri: Riches of Indian Archaeological and Cultural Studies (A Felicitation Volume in Honour of I.K. Sarma). Sharada Publishing House, Delhi, pp. 122–130. Mahasenasiri_2006_1_122.pdf.Google Scholar
Gaur, A.S., Vora, K.H., 1999. Ancient shorelines of Gujarat, India, during the Indus Civilization (late mid-Holocene): a study based on archaeological evidences. Current Science 77, 180–185.Google Scholar
Gaur, A.S., Vora, K.H., Sundaresh, , 2007. Shoreline changes during the last 2000 years on the Saurashtra coast of India: study based on archaeological evidences. Current Science, 92, 103–110.Google Scholar
GEBCO Bathymetric Compilation Group, 2019. The GEBCO_2019 Grid—A Continuous Terrain Model of the Global Oceans and Land. https://doi.org/10.5285/836f016a-33be-6ddc-e053-6c86abc0788e.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Groucutt, H.S., Scerri, E.M.L., Lewis, L., Clark-Balzan, L., Blinkhorn, J., Jennings, R.P., Parton, A., Petraglia, M.D., 2015. Stone tool assemblages and models for the dispersals of Homo sapiens out of Africa. Quaternary International 382, 8–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gupta, S., 2018. The archaeological record of Indian Ocean engagements: Bay of Bengal (5000 BC 500 AD). Oxford Handbooks Online, Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935413.013.46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hashimi, N.H., Nigam, R., Nair, R.R., Rajagopalan, G., 1995. Holocene sea level fluctuations on western Indian continental margin: an update. Journal of the Geological Society of India 46, 157–162.Google Scholar
Haslam, M., Clarkson, C., Petraglia, M., Korisettar, R., Jones, S., Shipton, C., Ditchfield, P., Ambrose, S.H., 2010. The 74 ka Toba super-eruption and southern Indian hominins: archaeology, lithic technology, and environments at Jwalapuram Locality 3. Journal of Archaeological Science 37, 3370–3384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haslam, M., Harris, C., Clarkson, C., Pal, J.N., Shipton, C., Crowther, A., Koshy, J., et al. , 2012. Dhaba: an initial report on an Acheulean, Middle Palaeolithic and microlithic locality in the Middle Son Valley, north-central India. Quaternary International 258, 191–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haslam, M., Roberts, R.G., Shipton, C., Pal, J.N., Fenwick, J.L., Ditchfield, P., Boivin, N., Dubey, A.K., Gupta, M.C., Petraglia, M., 2011. Late Acheulean hominins at the Marine Isotope Stage 6/5e transition in north-central India. Quaternary Research 75, 670–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henshilwood, C.S. 2014. Origins of symbolic behaviour. AccessScience, McGraw-Hill Education. https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.YB140807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henshilwood, C.S., d'Errico, F. (Eds.), 2011. Homo symbolicus: The Dawn of Language, Imagination and Spirituality. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 251 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jarrige, J.F., 2008. Mehrgarh Neolithic. Pragdhara 18, 135–154.Google Scholar
Karashima, N., 1989. Trade Relations between South India and China during 13th and 14th centuries. Journal of East-West Maritime Relations 1, 59–81.Google Scholar
Karashima, N., 2004. Periyapattinam in Daoji Zhilue and Ibn Battuta's Travels. In: Karashima, N. (Ed.), In Search of Chinese-sherds in South India and Sri Lanka. Taisho University Press, Tokyo, pp. 28–33.Google Scholar
Kathayat, G., Cheng, H., Sinha, A., Spötl, C., Edwards, R. L., Zhang, H., Li, X., et al. , 2016. Indian monsoon variability on millennial-orbital timescales. Scientific Reports 6, 24374. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep24374.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kaushal, N., Breitenbach, S. F. M., Lechleitner, F. A., Sinha, A., Tewari, V. C., Ahmad, S. M., Berkelhammer, M., et al. , 2018. The Indian summer monsoon from a speleothem δ18O perspective—a review. Quaternary 1, 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/quat1030029.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, R.G., 2000. Archeology and the evolution of human behavior. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 9, 17–36.3.0.CO;2-A>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krishna, K.S., Rao, D.G., Murty, G.P.S., Ramana, Y.V., 1989. Sound velocity, density, and related properties along a transect across the Bay of Bengal. Geo-Marine Letters 9, 95–102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumaraguru, A.K., Edwin Joseph, V., Rajee, M., Balsubramanian, T., 2008. Palk Bay—Information and Bibliography. CAS in Marine Biology, Annamalai University, Parangipettai and Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies, Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai, 227 pp. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/33016716.pdf.Google Scholar
Lewis, L., Perera, N., Petraglia, M., 2014. First technological comparison of Southern African Howieson's Poort and South Asian microlithic industries: an exploration of inter-regional variability in microlithic assemblages. Quaternary International 350, 7–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lisiecki, L.E., Raymo, M.E., 2005. A Pliocene–Pleistocene stack of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records. Paleoceanography 20, PA1003. https://doi.org/10.1029/2004PA001071.Google Scholar
Liu, S., Goff, J.A., Austin, J.A., 2017. Seismic morphology and infilling structure of the buried channel system beneath the inner shelf off western Long Island, New York: accessing clues to palaeo-estuarine and coastal processes. Marine Geology 387, 12–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loveson, V.J., Nigam, R., 2019. Reconstruction of Late Pleistocene and Holocene sea level curve for the East Coast of India. Journal of the Geological Society of India 93, 507–514.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marean, C.W., Bar-Matthews, M., Fisher, E., Goldberg, P., Herries, AI R., Jacobs, Z., Jerardino, A., et al. , 2007. Early human use of marine resources and pigment in South Africa during the Middle Pleistocene. Nature 449, 905–908.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Marzin, C., Kallel, A., Kageyama, M., Duplessy, J.C., Braconnot, P., 2013. Glacial fluctuations of the Indian monsoon and their relationship with North Atlantic climate: new data and modelling experiments. Climate of the Past 9, 2135–2151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McBrearty, S., Brooks, A.S. 2000. The revolution that wasn't: a new interpretation of the origin of modern human behavior. Journal of Human Evolution 39, 453–563.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mellars, P.A., Goric, K.C., Carr, M., Soares, P.A., Richards, M.B., 2013. Genetic and archaeological perspectives on the initial modern human colonization of southern Asia. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110, 10699–10704.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Merh, S.S., 1992. Quaternary sea level changes along Indian Coast. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy 58, 461–472.Google Scholar
Mishra, S., Chauhan, N., Singhvi, A.K., 2013. Continuity of microblade technology in the Indian subcontinent since 45 ka: implications for the dispersal of modern humans. PLoS ONE 8(7), e69280. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0069280.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murty, A.V.S., Varma, P.U., 1964. The hydrographical features of the waters of Palk Bay during March, 1963. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India 6, 207–216.Google Scholar
Nordfjord, S., Goff, J.A., Austin, J.A. Jr., Sommerfield, C.K., 2005. Seismic geomorphology of buried channel systems on the New Jersey outer shelf: assessing past environmental conditions. Marine Geology 214, 339–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pal, J.N., 2008. The early farming culture of the Middle Ganga Plain with special reference to the excavations at Jhusi and Hetapatti. Pragdhara 18, 263–281.Google Scholar
Patnaik, R., Gupta, A.K., Naidu, P.D., Yadav, R.R., Bhattacharyya, A., Kumar, M., 2012. Indian monsoon variability at different time scales: marine and terrestrial proxy records. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy 78, 535–547.Google Scholar
Perera, N., Kourampas, N., Simpson, I.A., Deraniyagala, S.U., Bulbeck, D., Kamminga, J., Perera, J., Fuller, D.Q., Katherine, S., Oliveira, N.V., 2011. People of the ancient rainforest: Late Pleistocene foragers at the Batadomba-Lena rockshelter, Sri Lanka. Journal of Human Evolution 61, 254–269.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perera, N., Roberts, P., Petraglia, M., 2015. Bone technology in South Asia from Late Pleistocene rockshelter deposits in Sri Lanka. In: Langley, M.C. (Ed.), Osseous Projectile Weaponry. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 173–188.Google Scholar
Petraglia, M. D., Clarkson, C., Boivin, N., Haslam, M., Korisettar, R., Chaubey, G., Ditchfield, P., et al. , 2009. Population increase and environmental deterioration correspond with microlithic innovations in South Asia ca. 35,000 years ago. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106, 12261–12266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prasad, P., Loveson, V.J., 2020. Signature of buried channels as deduced from subsurface GPR survey at southwest coast of Tamil Nadu, India. Arabian Journal of Geosciences 13, 442. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-020-05439-y.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ranasinghe, P.N., Ortiz, J.D., Moore, A.L., McAdoo, B., Wells, N., Siriwardana, CHER, Wijesundara, DTDS, 2013. Mid-Late Holocene coastal environmental changes in southeastern Sri Lanka: new evidence for sea level variations in southern Bay of Bengal. Quaternary International 298, 20–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rehak, K., Niedermann, S., Preusser, F., Strecker, M.R., Echtler, H.P., 2010. Late Pleistocene landscape evolution in south-central Chile constrained by luminescence and stable cosmogenic nuclide dating. Geological Society of America Bulletin 122, 1235–1247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, P., Boivin, N., Petraglia, M., 2015. The Sri Lankan ‘Microlithic’ tradition c. 38,000 to 3,000 years ago: tropical technologies and adaptations of Homo sapiens at the southern edge of Asia. Journal of World Prehistory 28, 69–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosgen, D.L., 1994. A classification of natural rivers. Catena 22, 169–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rostek, F., Ruhland, G., Bassinot, F.C., Muller, P.J., Labeyrle, L.D., Lancelot, Y., Bard, E., 1993. Reconstructing sea surface temperature and salinity using ∂18O and alkenone records. Nature 364, 319–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Saraswat, R., Lea, D.W., Nigam, R., Mackensen, A., Naik, D.K., 2013. Deglaciation in the tropical Indian Ocean driven by interplay between the regional monsoon and global teleconnections. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 375, 166–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sastri, K.A.N., 1972. Foreign Notices of South India: From Megasthenes to Ma Huan. University of Madras, Madras.Google Scholar
Schoff, W.H., 1912. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century. Longmans, Green and Co., London, New York, 323 pp. https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001223191.Google Scholar
Nath, Sharma Janaki, 2003. Shrimadvalmikiya Ramayan, Second Volume. Gita Press, Gorakhpor, India. https://ia600203.us.archive.org/5/items/HindiBookValmikiRamayanPartIIByGitaPress/Hindi%20Book-Valmiki-Ramayan-Part-II%20by%20Gita%20Press.pdf. [in Sanskrit]Google Scholar
Shinde, V., 1987. Mantai: an important settlement in north-west Sri Lanka. East and West 37, 327–336.Google Scholar
Siddall, M., Rohling, E.J., Almogi-Labin, V., Hemleben, C.H., Meischner, D., Schmelzer, I., Smeed, D.A., 2003. Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle. Nature 423, 853–858.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sridhar, T.S., 2005. Alagankulam: An Ancient Roman Port City of Tamil Nadu. Department of Archaeology Publications 158, Government of Tamil Nadu, Chennai, India.Google Scholar
Subba Rao, D.V., Srinivasa Rao, K., Iyer, C.S.P., Chittibabu, P., 2008. Possible ecological consequences from the Sethu Samudram canal project, India. Marine Pollution Bulletin 56, 170–186.Google Scholar
Sundaresh, , Gaur, A.S., Nair, R.R., 1997. Our threatened archaeological heritage: a case study of Tamilnadu coast. Current Science 73, 593–598.Google Scholar
Thamban, M., Kawahata, H., Rao, V.P., 2007. Indian summer monsoon variability during the Holocene as recorded in sediments of the Arabian Sea: timing and implications. Journal of Oceanography 63, 1009–1020.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thamban, M., Rao, V.P., Schneider, R.R., 2002. Reconstruction of late Quaternary monsoon oscillations based on clay mineral proxies using sediment cores from the western margin of India. Marine Geology 186, 527–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wadley, L., 2001. What is cultural modernity? A general view and a South African perspective from Rose Cottage. Cambridge Archaeological Journal 11, 201–221.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waelbroeck, C., Labeyrie, L., Michel, E., Duplessy, J.C., McManus, J.F., Lambeck, K., Balbon, E., Labracherie, M., 2002. Sea-level and deep water temperature changes derived from benthic foraminifera isotopic records. Quaternary Science Reviews 21, 295–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wedage, O., Amano, N., Langley, M.C., Doueka, K., Blinkhorn, J., Crowther, A., Deraayanigala, S., et al. , 2019a. Specialized rainforest hunting by Homo sapiens ~45,000 years ago. Nature Communications 10, 739. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-08623-1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wedage, O., Picin, A., Blinkhorn, J., Douka, K., Deraniyagala, S., Kourampas, N., Perera, N., et al. , 2019b. Microliths in the south Asian rainforest ~45–4 ka: new insights from Fa-Hien Lena Cave, Sri Lanka. PloS ONE 14, e0222606. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222606.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wedage, O., Roberts, O., Faulkner, P., Crowther, A., Douka, K., Picin, A., Blinkhorn, J., et al. , 2020. Late Pleistocene to Early-Holocene rainforest foraging in Sri Lanka: multidisciplinary analysis at Kitulgala Beli-Lena. Quaternary Science Reviews 231, 106200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yadav, R., Naik, S.S., Narvekar, J., 2021. The equatorial Indian Ocean water-column structure influenced by cross-basinal water exchange over the last ~40000 years. Quaternary International. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.04.002.CrossRefGoogle Scholar