A review of recent provenance studies from the ghaggar-hakra-nara alluvium: Link to the lost river of the harappan civilization

Abstract

Numerous ruins of the Bronze Age Harappan settlements can be found along the present-day dry channels of the Ghaggar-Hakra-Nara river system of the western Indian sub-continent. The river has often been correlated to the mythological river Saraswati of Rig-Veda due to its matching geographical position with the former. The archaeological connection prompted many workers to hypothesise that the Ghaggar-Hakra was a mega river system during the recent past. However, the nature of the river during the Harappan period remained debated. Although several mega paleo-channels are identified by satellite imageries along the Ghaggar-Hakra river, their activity during Holocene, remained a conjecture until recently due to insufficient geochronological and geochemical data. Combined geochronological and geochemical studies of the Ghaggar-Hakra-Nara alluvium have finally started to reveal the evolution of the river system over the geologic past. This review will discuss our present understanding of the long-debated topic under the light of geochemical sediment provenance and geochronological studies and try to shed some light on the future possibilities to fill the gaps in the story.