Prolonged droughts likely spelled end for Indus magacities: Study

A series of severe and lengthy droughts may have caused the decline of the Indus Civilization cities, according to a study which looked into ancient rock formation from a cave in Uttarakhand.

The beginning of this arid periodstarting at around 4,200 years ago and lasting for over two centuriescoincides with the reorganisation of the metropolis-building Indus Civilization, which spanned present-day Pakistan and India.

The research, published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, identified three protracted droughtseach lasting between 25 and 90 yearsduring this arid period.

"We find clear evidence that this interval was not a short-term crisis but a progressive transformation of the environmental conditions in which Indus people lived," said study co-author Cameron Petrie, Professor at the University of Cambridge, UK.

The researchers charted historic rainfall by examining growth layers in a stalagmite -- a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave -- ..