Radiocarbon-dated floral evidence from the Mauryan Empire, at Ajatshatru-ka-Quilla Maidan , Rajgir, Nalanda, India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24212467 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ruchita Yadav (0009-0000-2215-4068, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences), Alka Srivastava (0000-0002-1087-1438, Dayanand Girls PG College), Rahul Srivastava (0000-0002-0065-4069, Archaeological Survey of India, Excavation Branch III), Dinesh Kumar Yadav (0000-0001-8016-0263, Archaeological Survey of India, Excavation Branch III), Srinivas Bikkina (0000-0001-8519-012X, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences), Anil K Pokharia (0000-0003-1453-0646, Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1305-1313 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Radiocarbon (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/rdc.2026.10254 |
| OpenAlex | W7214958760 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
Plant remains of human workmanship, preserved in ancient settlements, provide evidence for reconstructing the history of the man-plant relationship. A number of ancient habitational settlements have come to light in the alluvial plains of the Gangetic Valley. However, only a few sites from the Neolithic, Chalcolithic, and Iron Age periods have been excavated and studied for the plant-based subsistence economy in the Gangetic Valley. The information from the Early Historic times is too limited to draw conclusions about cropping patterns or agricultural strategies, or to evaluate long-term continuity or change in eastern India, compared with better-documented developments in northern and north-western India. The present study from Ajatshatru-ka-Quilla Maidan in Nalanda District, Bihar, is the first attempt to explore the agricultural economy during the Mauryan and Sunga-Kushana cultures in the light of information from preceding Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites in the region.
Agricultural economy · ancient agriculture · cropping pattern · Eastern India · floral remains · human-plant relationships · Maurya Empire · Nalanda · plant remains · Amazonian Archaeology and Ethnohistory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Soil and Environmental Studies
Neolithic−Early historic (2500–200 BC) plant use
Archaeology and Religious Landscapes in India
Development of the Intcal Database
The IntCal20 Northern Hemisphere Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curve (0–55 cal kBP)
Giriyaka Hilltop Buddhist Monastic Complex (Rajgir)
Archaeogenetic study of prehistoric rice remains from Thailand and India
Consilience of genetics and archaeobotany in the entangled history of rice
Rice, beans and trade crops on the early maritime Silk Route in Southeast Asia
Northern Black Polished Ware
| Highly cited | No |
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