| Abstract: |
This paper attempts to examine archaeological places of a particular area of the Varendri sub-region within a framework of their landscape context. It has been done by elaborating upon the nature, function and pattern of the settlements through a combined methodology of surveys, systematic excavations and geoarchaeological understanding of the continuously changing alluvial context. It has been possible to designate settlements and their boundaries by considering the spatial patterning of archaeological places including the tanks. At the same time, it was found that the pattern of the settlement was partially controlled by the rivers, and settlements were abandoned for different reasons. Settlements were found to be abandoned possibly because of floods and avulsion of rivers. It has also been proposed that the dichotomy between the urban and rural for assigning the nature of the settlements might be problematic, as religious establishments acted as the core of these settlement structures. It was found that the continuously shifting terrain of an alluvial landscape might have acted in a spatio-temporally varied way for the development, continuation and abandonment of settlements, along with the other factors and processes during the Early Medieval period.
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