Scientists have developed a new compound-specific radiocarbon dating technique that analyzes individual amino acids in bone collagen to eliminate contaminants that often skew traditional carbon-14 dating. This methodology was applied to Neolithic sites in the Godavari River basin, successfully refining the settlement timeline by nearly 400 years, placing the transition to intensive agriculture earlier than previously believed.
The study, featured in Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, demonstrates that these Neolithic communities were highly adapted to the fluctuating monsoon cycles of the region. This refined chronology allows for a more accurate correlation between climatic shifts and the rapid expansion of early farming villages in Central India.