North Gujarat Archaeological Project

The North Gujarat Archaeological Project (NoGAP) was born form a collaboration between the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of the Institució Milà i Fontanals (IMF-CSIC) and the Department of Archaeology and Ancient History of the M. S. University of Baroda (Gujarat, India).

This project aims at understanding how the inhabitants of North Gujarat managed natural resources during the Early and Middle Holocene, approximately between 9000 and 4000 years ago, well as possible environmental shifts that may have affected these populations. Fieldwork started in 2007 and thenceforth we have carried out different investigations, from the excavation of archaeological sites (Loteshwar in 2009, Datrana in 2010 and Vaharvo Timbo in 2011) to the study of environmental sequences from a geoarchaeological perspective. During the past few years we have also studied farming and nomad traditional communities, we have created a reference collection of modern plants and we have carried out a systematic archaeological survey at a regional level to determine North Gujarat's archaeological heritage.

Team

Marco Madella (UPF - IMF-CSIC): co-PI

P. Ajithprasad (MSUB, India): co-PI

Andrea L. Balbo (IMF-CSIC): geoarchaeology

Carla Lancelotti (UPF): archaeobotany and ethnoarchaeology

Charusmita Gadekar (MSUB, India): lithic studies

Francesc C. Conesa (IMF-CSIC): remote sensing and geoarchaeology

Juan José García-Granero (IMF-CSIC): archaeobotany

S.V. Rajesh (U. of Kerala, India): ceramic studies

Published work (last 5 years)

Balbo AL, Cabanes D, García-Granero JJ, Bonet A, Ajithprasad P, Terradas X (2014) A microarchaeological approach for the study of pits. Environmental Archaeology: The journal of Human Palaeoecology.

Balbo AL, Rubio-Campillo X, Rondelli B, Ramírez M, Lancelotti C, Torrano A, Salpeteur M, Lipovetzky N, Reyes-García V, Montañola C, Madella M (2014) Agent-based simulation of Holocene monsoon precipitation patterns and hunter-gatherer population dynamics in semi-arid environments. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 21: 426-446.

Conesa FC, Devanthéry N, Balbo AL, Madella M, Monserrat O (2014) Use of satellite SAR for understanding long-term human occupation dynamics in the monsoonal semi-arid plains of North Gujarat, India. Remote Sensing 6: 11420-11443.

Conesa FC, Madella M, Galiatsatos N, Balbo AL, Rajesh SV, Ajithprasad P (2014) CORONA photographs in monsoonal semi-arid environments: addressing archaeological surveys and historic landscape dynamics over North Gujarat, India. Archaeological Prospection.

Mushrif-Tripathy V, Ajithprasad P, Madella M, Mateos JL, Rajesh SV, Rondelli B, Lancelotti C, Gadekar C, García-Granero JJ (2014) Osteological study of a human skeleton excavated from Vaharvo Timbo, District Patan, Gujarat. Man and EnvironmentXXXIX: 46-51.

Rajesh SV, Krishnan K (2014) Chalcolithic cultures of Gujarat (c. 3950-900 BCE): an appraisal. In Mani BR, Singh AK, Kumar R (eds.) Parācyabodha: Indian Archaeology and Tradition, vol. 1, pp. 194-205. Delhi: BR Publishing Corporation.

Rondelli B, Lancelotti C, Madella M, Pecci A, Balbo AL, Ruiz Pérez J, Inserra F, Gadekar C, Cau M.A, Ajithprasad P (2014)Anthropic activity markers and spatial variability: an ethnoarchaeological experiment in a domestic unit of Northern Gujarat (India). Journal of Archaeological Science 41: 482-492.

Balbo AL, Rondelli B, Conesa FC, Lancelotti C, Madella M, Ajithprasad P (2013) Contributions of geoarchaeology and remote sensing to the study of Holocene hunter-gatherer and agro-pastoral groups in arid margins: the case of North Gujarat (Northwest India). Quaternary International 308-309: 53-65.

Conesa FC, Devanthéry N, Balbo A, Marco M, Ajithprasad P (2013) Identification of seasonally flooded áreas in North Gujarat using radar satellite imagery: implications for archaeology. Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 344-355.

Gadekar C, Ajithprasad P, Madella M (2013) Crested ridge technique and lithic assemblage from Datrana, Gujarat. Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 16-28.

Lancelotti C, Caracuta V, Fiorentino G, Madella M, Ajithprasad P (2013) Holocene monsoon dynamics and human occupation in Gujarat: stable isotope analyses on plant remains. Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 288-300.

Rajesh SV, Krishnan K, Ajithprasad P, Madella M (2013) Pre-Prabhas assemblage from Gujarat, western India. Heritage: Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 1: 181-209.

Rajesh SV, Krishnan K, Ajithprasad P, Sonawane VH (2013) Evaluating the Anarta Tradition in the light of material culture from Loteshwar and other sites in Gujarat. Man and Environment XXXVIII: 10-45.

Madella M, Ajithprasad P, Balbo A, Caro Saiz J, Cecília F, García-Granero JJ, Lancelotti C, Rondelli B, Rajesh SV, Ruiz J, Mateos JL. Gadekar CS, Dumka RA, Kothyari GC, Mortekhai P, Sukumaran P (2012) La campaña de excavación 2011 del North Gujarat Archaeological Project (NoGAP): metodología interdisciplinar para el estudio de contextos socio-ecológicos en el Holoceno.Informes y Trabajos 9: Excavaciones en el exterior 2011. Subdirección General del Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.

Madella M, Ajithprasad P, Balbo A, Lancelotti C, Rondelli B, Cecília F, Fiorentino G, Rajesh SV, Gadekar CS, García N, Yannitto V, Rodríguez D, Mateos JL, Ruíz J, García-Granero JJ (2012) La campaña de excavación 2010 del proyecto NoGAP: metodología interdisciplinar para el estudio de contextos socio-ecológicos en el Holoceno. Informes y Trabajos 7: Excavaciones en el exterior 2010. Subdirección General del Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España, Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte.

Madella M, Balbo A, Rondelli B, Rodríguez D, Yannitto V, Ajithprasad P, Gadekar CS, Rajesh SV, García-Granero JJ, Lancelotti C, French C (2011) Proyecto Arqueológico Norte del Gujarat. Informes y Trabajos 5: Excavaciones en el exterior 2009.Subdirección General del Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural de España, Ministerio de Cultura.

Madella M, Ajithprasad P, Lancelotti C, Rondelli B, Balbo A, French C, Rodríguez D, García-Granero JJ, Yannitto V, Rajesh SV, Gadekar CS, Briz I (2010) Social and environmental transitions in arid zones: the North Gujarat Archaeological Project - NoGAP.Antiquity 84.

Selected presentations (since 2012)

García-Granero JJ, Lancelotti C, Madella M. Grinding for survival: a methodological approach to the study of microbotanical remains from grinding stones. IX International Meeting for Phytolith Research: "Toward Integrative Phytolith Research". Brussels, Belgium, September 10-12, 2014.

Lancelotti C, Rubio-Campillo X, Salpeteur M, Balbo AL, Madella M. Testing the resilience of agro-pastoral communities in arid margins through ABM: the example of North Gujarat. Social Simulation Conference. Barcelona, Spain, September 1-5, 2014.

Conesa FC, Balbo A, Madella M, Rondelli B, Lancelotti C, Ajithprasad P. A matter of scale: a remote sensing approach to Holocene archaeology in semi-arid areas (North Gujarat, India). XXII International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art. Stockholm, Sweden, June 30 - July 4, 2014.

Lancelotti C, Orlando G, Caracuta V, Fiorentino G, García-Granero JJ, Madella M, Ajithprasad P. Rainfall patterns, temperature, ecology and human behaviour: all you can get from archaeological wood charcoal. A study from Loteshwar, North Gujarat. XXII International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art. Stockholm, Sweden, June 30 - July 4, 2014.

Salpeteur M, Reyes-García V, Balbo A, Lancelotti C, Madella M, Rondelli B, Rubio-Campillo X, Torrano A. Exploring the role of social organization in TEK transmission processes through Social Network Analysis. A case study among semi-nomadic pastoralists of Gujarat (India). XIV Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology. Lamai Gompa, Bhutan, June 1-7, 2014.

Balbo A, Rubio-Campillo X, Albore A, Rondelli B, Torrano A, Lancelotti C, Salpeteur M, Reyes-García V, Madella M. Resilience to precipitation variability in tropical semi-arid environments. Agent-based simulation of Holocene population dynamics in Kutch-Saurashtra, Gujarat, India. International Science and Policy Conference on the Resilience of Social and Eological Systems. Montpellier, France May 4-8, 2014.

Conesa FC, Devanthéry N, Balbo A, Madella M, Rondelli B. Applications of ENVISAT SAR for the identification of seasonally flooded areas in archaeological semi-arid contexts. European Space Agency Living Planet Symposium. Edinburgh, UK, September 9-13, 2013.

Madella M, Lancelotti C, Rondelli B, Pecci A, Rubio-CampilloX, Ruiz Pérez J, Inserra F, Balbo AL, Gadekar, CS, Ajithprasad P, Cau Ontiveros MA. Anthropic markers and the uncertainty in sampling and interpretation: can ethnoarchaeology help? The Intangible Elements of Culture in the Ethnoarchaeological Research International Conference. Roma, Italy, November 21-23, 2012.

Balbo A, Rondelli B, Lancelotti C, Madella M, Conesa FC, Morthekai P, Ajithprasad P, Fiorentino G. Reconstructing environment and climate of North Gujarat during the Holocene: an integrated approach. XXI International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art. Paris, France, July 2-6, 2012.

Conesa FC, Balbo A, Rondelli B, Madella M, Ajithprasad P. A remote sensing approach for identifying (geo)archaeological evidences: North Gujarat, India. XXI International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art. Paris, France, July 2-6, 2012.

Lancelotti C, Rondelli B, Pecci A, Inserra F, Balbo AL, Ruiz J, Yannitto V, Gadekar CS, Madella M, Ajithprasad P, Cau Ontiveros MA. Ethnoarchaeology of domestic activities in North Gujarat: a spatial approach. XXI International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art. Paris, France, July 2-6, 2012.

Madella M, Ajithprasad P, Balbo A, Cecília F, Gadekar CS, García-Granero JJ, Lancelotti C, Mateos JL, Rondelli B, Rajesh SV. Recent excavations in North Gujarat: the NoGAP project 2009, 2010 and 2011 field-seasons. XXI International Conference of the European Association for South Asian Archaeology and Art. Paris, France, July 2-6, 2012.

Rondelli B, Lancelotti C, Pecci A, Inserra F, Balbo AL, Ruiz J, Gadekar CS, Madella M, Ajithprasad P, Cau Ontiveros MA. Spatial uncertainty in archaeological interpretation: an ethnoarchaeological experiment. Debating Spatial Archaeology. International Workshop on Landscape and Spatial Analysis in Archaeology. Santander, Spain, June 8, 2012.

Lancelotti L, Rondelli B, Pecci A, Balbo A, Ruiz Pérez J, Yannitto V, Gadekar C, Madella M, Ajithprasad P, Cau Ontiveros MA. Uncertainty in sampling and interpretation: can ethnoarcheology help us? XXXX Annual Conference Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Southampton, UK, March 26-29, 2012.

Conesa, FC, Balbo A, Rondelli B, Madella M, Ajithprasad P. Surveying the dunes: a quantitative approach to classify archaeological evidence in North Gujarat. International Seminar on Harappan Sites in Western India (Gujarat). Pune, India, March 22-24, 2012.

García-Granero JJ, Lancelotti C, Madella M, Ajithpreasad P. Botanical remains from archaeological sites in North Gujarat: understanding social and economic change on the fringe of the Harappan Civilisation. International Seminar on Harappan Sites in Western India (Gujarat). Pune, India, March 22-24, 2012.

Rajesh SV, Krishnan K, Balbo A. Chronological synopsis of chalcolithic Gujarat: indications from chronometric and relative dates of excavated sites. International Seminar on Harappan Sites in Western India (Gujarat). Pune, India, March 22-24, 2012.

Rondelli B, Balbo A, Madella M, Ajithprasad P. Satellite-based geoarchaeological mapping in Northern Gujarat (paper). XXXVIIIAnnual Conference Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology. Granada, Spain. April 6-9, 2010.