Violence, epidemic and climate change led to end of Indus Valley Civilization (IVC): Research

January 26, 2014

Researchers have discovered that violence, infectious diseases, and changes in climate were the reasons responsible for the collapse of the ancient Indus city of Harappa almost 4,000 years ago. The study which is based on detailed analysis of skeletal remains found in burial sites near Harappa prior to Independence.

As per the Research:

The Indus Valley Civilization (IVC) developed as a peaceful, cooperative, and egalitarian state-level society, without social differentiation, hierarchy, or differences in access to basic resources.
It appears that the rapid urbanization process in Indus cities, and the increasingly large amount of culture contact, brought new challenges to the human population.
Infectious diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis were probably transmitted across an interaction sphere that spanned Middle and South Asia.
Leprosy appeared at Harappa during the urban phase of the Indus Civilization, and its frequency radically increased through time. New diseases, viz. tuberculosis, etc, also appear in the Late Harappan or post-urban phase burials. Violent injury such as cranial trauma also increased through time.
Poorer members of society, who were excluded from the city’s main cemeteries, faced the most violence. Half of the skulls examined showed evidence of violence, with 20% signs of leprosy.
Rapid climate change events have wide-ranging impacts on human communities.

Scientists cannot make assumptions that climate changes will always equate to violence and disease. Though, in this case, it appears that the rapid urbanization process in Indus cities, and the increasingly large amount of culture contact, brought new challenges to the human population. Infectious diseases like leprosy and tuberculosis were probably transmitted across an interaction sphere that spanned Middle and South Asia.

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