Archaeological Evidence for a Climatic and Agrarian Crisis in Swat between 530 and 660: Possible Effects of the So-called “Late Antique Little Ice Age” (LALIA)

The short article evaluates the possible impacts of the Late Antique Little Ice Age (LALIA)—a long cooling period that occurred between 536 and 660 CE in the adjacent regions of Inner Asia (Büntigen et al. 2016; Whittow 2019). The high mountain valley of Swat in Pakistan potentially experienced a collapse of agro-production with dramatic implications for the Buddhist society, which began a long and inexorable decline around the mid-6th century.

The following notes are based on the evidence provided by the most recent excavations in Swat, in particular at the site of Barikot (Bazira/Beira). The site, later a major Śāhi center in Swat with palatial structures and a temple, is known as Vajirasthāna in a śāradā inscription dated to the reign of Jayapāladeva (r. c. 964-1002 CE). Still today, archaeologists tend to unconsciously associate stratigraphy to the presence of material evidence. In this way, crucial phases like top layers of abandonments and interfacial periods go unnoticed in archaeological reports. Interfacial periods or ‘interphases’ are typically represented by layers of abandonment, flood evidence, slides, collapses, or by sterile soils with overwhelming evidence of vegetation in previously inhabited areas. Notwithstanding their ambiguity, interfacial periods have important implications for the periodization and reconstruction of the cultural sequence. In Swat, where a substantial continuity of human occupation has been registered, interfacial periods are particularly striking. These periods apparently started abruptly, as if they were triggered by natural factors, like sudden climate changes.