A geoarchaeological reconnaissance survey in northern Gujarat took place in late March 2008, lead by C. French and with M. Madella, P. Ajithprasad and C. Lancelotti. It focused on the landscapes of the Khari river valley (a tributary of the Rupen River), the Moti Pipli area in the Banas River valley west of Radhanpur, and the Sumnath to Datrana area on the penisula separating the eastern sides of the Great and Little Rann.

The aims of the fieldwork were to assess:

1) any available river cut and exposed sections for the presence of palaeosols and erosion sequences in the case study areas, and test sample as appropriate for soil micromorphology and phytolith analyses;

2) relate these sequences to the known prehistoric archaeological record, and

3) develop possible models of soil development and land-use associated with the developing agriculturally based economies against the backdrop of long-term climatic factors.

Future work will involve:

1) establishing a number of key stratigraphic and soil developmental sequences, both associated with Mesolithic, Chalcolithic and Harappan sites and in their immediate hinterlands;

2) dating these sequences immediately off-site, using both archaeological context data as well as radiometric and OSL dating methodologies;

3) establish models of soil development and land-use in this monsoonal landscape and environment for the early to middle Holocene.