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Vegetation and climate change during mid and late Holocene in northern Chhattisgarh (central India) inferred from pollen records

2014; Elsevier BV; Volume: 349; Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.quaint.2014.07.039

1873-4553

Md. Firoze Quamar, S.K. Bera,

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies

Pollen analysis of a 1.8 m deep sediment core from Matijharia Lake, Baikunthpur Forest Range of Koriya District in Chhattisgarh state (C'garh), central India, has been carried out with the principal aim of investigating the vegetation and climate history from mid- to late-Holocene. The study has demonstrated that between 6410 and 4250 cal. BP, tree savannah vegetation, which is largely constituted of grasses, Cerealia, Chenopodiaceae/Amaranthaceae, Tubuliflorae, together with sparsely distributed tree taxa Madhuca indica, Sapotaceae, and Lannea coromandelica occupied the region under a cool and dry climate with reduced monsoon precipitation. Between 4250 and 1000 cal. BP, with the enhancement of M. indica, Sapotaceae, L. coromandelica, Acacia, Holoptelea as well as the incursion of Diospyros melanoxylon, Emblica officinalis, Shorea robusta, Syzygium, Grewia, Ailanthus excelsa and others along with shrubby Rungia, the tree savannah vegetation was transformed into a mixed tropical deciduous forest. The overall enrichment in the vegetation mosaic, particularly arboreals, indicates that the region experienced a warm and humid climate with increased monsoon precipitation. Since 1000 cal. BP to Present, dense mixed tropical deciduous forest succeeded the mixed tropical deciduous forest with forest constituents particularly M. indica, Sapotaceae, L. coromandelica, S. robusta, E. officinalis, D. melanoxylon, Syzygium, and also with the immigration of some more arboreal taxa such as Terminalia, Grewia, Annona, Lagerstroemia, and others (though meagerly). From this proliferation of forest elements, it is surmised that a warm and relatively more humid climate prevailed in the region with further increase in monsoon precipitation. The region was under cereal-based agricultural practice, accelerated during the second phase (between 4250 and 1000 cal. BP) due to prevalence of the active SW monsoon.