It is a fact that climate plays an important role in determining the growth and decline of human cultures. Climatologists an archaeologists all over the globe have been striving hard to reconstruct past climates and study their impacts on human cultures right from Stone Age times. The present volume Monsoon and Civilization has contributions from internationally acclaimed specialists primarily on global climate changes, with special reference to the monsoon during the Pleistocene and Holocene and human responses. This volume includes for the first time results of interdisciplinary and integrated research carried out by environmental scientists, archaeologists, geologists, palaeontologists, historians, social scientists, etc., in recent times. The wide range of topics covered include methods of analyzing data for reconstructing past climatic sequences, various theoretical issues related to climate changes. In addition, other fascinating topics covered include the monsoon’s effect on religious, social and economic history. Monsoon and Civilization is thus useful for students and professionals alike as it deals with the fundamental issue of how environment and climate change has affected mankind in the past, and thus may act as a guide to the future.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vasant Shinde
An internationally renowned archaeologist, Dr. Vasant Shinde is a senior faculty member of the Department of Archaeology, Deccan College, Post-Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed University), Pune, and was a Visiting Professor in the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Kyoto. His field of research is the Protohistory of South Asia and Field Archaeology. Dr. Shinde has been actively engaged in archaeological research in various parts of India and abroad for the last twenty-four years and has excavated sites like Padri, Balathal, Bagor, Mudvi and Siddhapur. One of his books entitled Early Settlements in Central Tapi Basin introduced new directions and methodology in Protohistorical research.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Yoshinori Yasuda
Professor Yoshinori Yasuda was born in 1946 in Mie prefecture in Japan. Since 1994 he has been a professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto (IRCJS). In 1996 he won the Chunichi cultural prize. In the same year he was a visiting professor at Humboldt University in Berlin. In 1997, he was appointed, in addition to his position at the IRCJS, as a professor at the Faculty of Science, Kyoto University. Since 1997, he has been a leader of the YRCP project. In 1980 professor Yasuda established the first unit of environmental archaeology in Japan. Since then he has conducted research in many countires including Korea, Greece, Turkey, India, China and the Himalayan region. Among Professor Yasuda's numerous publications are many books on environmental archaeology and related subjects. They include An Introduction to Environmental Archaeology (NHK books, Tokyo, 1980). Jomon Culture in World History (Yuzankaku, Tokyo, 1980), Forest Destruction and Rise and Fall of Civilization (Shisakusha, Tokyo, 1988), Forest and Civilization (Chikumashobo, Tokyo, 1994), Environment and Civilization (15 vols.) (Asakurashoten, Tokyo, 1995/6), and Forest and Japanese culture (Shinshisakusha, Tokyo, 1996),
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