Archaeological evidence reveals human habitation in Kutch predated Harappans by 5,000 years: Study

Ahmedabad: A recent study by the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) is reported to have found evidence suggesting that even before Harappan or Indus Valley Civilisation, "the vast expanses of the Kutch region in Gujarat were home to thriving prehistoric hunter-gatherer communities."

The study conducted by researchers at IITGN, in collaboration with experts from IIT Kanpur, Inter University Accelerator Centre, Delhi, and Physical Research Laboratory (PRL) Ahmedabad, is said to have found archaeological evidence that pushes back the human presence in this region by at least five thousand years before the arrival of the Harappans.

These early communities inhabited a mangrove-dominated landscape and relied on shell species (both bivalves like oysters and gastropods), naturally adapted to such environments, as a significant food source.

“While British surveyors had previously noted shell accumulations in the area, these were not recognised as shell-midden sites, the heaps of discarded shells from human consumption,” professor VN Prabhakar, an Associate Professor at the Archaeological Science Centre in the department of Earth Sciences at IITGN, said, as per the institute.

Prabhakar, who is the lead investigator of the study, said, “Our study is the first to identify these sites, confirm their cultural significance, and establish a chronological context.”

To determine the age of these archaeological sites, the researchers used Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS), a method used for measuring the radioactive isotope values of Carbon-14 (C-14) from the shell remains, which is absorbed by all living organisms. The institute explained that after death, C-14 begins to decay and is reduced by half every 5,730 years. Measuring the remaining amount in the shell samples allows scientists to estimate the time of the organism's death.

As atmospheric C-14 levels have varied over time, the results were calibrated using tree-ring data. It said that trees form one ring per year, and these tree-ring sequences can be matched and extended back over thousands of years, allowing scientists to construct an accurate reference timeline of atmospheric C-14.

“The shell samples collected from Khadir and nearby islands were analysed at PRL Ahmedabad, with support from professor Ravi Bhushan and J S Ray, and at IUAC, Delhi, with help from Dr Pankaj Kumar,” mentioned Professor Prabhakar. Khadir is known as the site of Harappan city of Dholavira.

The results confirmed that the midden sites date back to a period significantly earlier than the Harappan era, providing rare evidence of human settlement in this region from a much earlier time.

According to the researchers, the findings also show similarities with coastal archaeological sites in the Las Bela and Makran regions of Pakistan and the Oman Peninsula, suggesting that early coastal communities across this broader region may have developed comparable strategies for food collection and survival.

In addition to the shell scatters and deposits, the team discovered a variety of stone tools used for cutting, scraping, and splitting. Used cores from which tools were manufactured were also found.

“The presence of these tools and associated raw materials suggests that the communities engaged in the prolific manufacture of implements for daily tasks,” said Shikha Rai, a postdoctoral researcher at IITGN and co-author of the study.

The findings offer new insights into the region’s cultural evolution. They challenge the commonly held view that urbanism in Kutch developed primarily under the influence of the Sindh region.

“Instead of abrupt external influence, what we see here is a gradual, locally rooted process of adaptation and cultural development,” said professor Prabhakar.

“This accumulated knowledge of local geology, water resources, and navigation may have later helped the Harappans plan their settlements more effectively and engage in long-distance trade,” he said.

The findings from this study were presented at the 17th Annual Workshop on South Asian Archaeology (Hartwick College and University of Chicago), the Seminar Series on the Archaeology of the Indo-Iranian Borderlands (Sorbonne University, Paris), and the 50th Annual Conference of the Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies (ISPQS), Raipur, all in 2025.

The research team included professor Vikrant Jain of the Earth Sciences Department, IITGN, professors Javed Malik and Debajyoti Paul from IITK, Pankaj Kumar of IUAC, Delhi and Mahendrasinh Gadhavi from LD College, Ahmedabad.