A pioneering study in the Journal of Archaeological Science has utilized Krypton-81 Atom Trap Trace Analysis (ATTA) to date the isolation age of water stored in ancient subterranean cisterns across the Thar Desert. This new methodology has refined the chronology of these water harvesting structures to the late 4th millennium BCE, significantly earlier than previously estimated. The technique measures the decay of the rare Krypton isotope to determine exactly when the water was trapped underground, bypassing the limitations of traditional carbon-14 dating for inorganic structures.
The research, conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, reveals that these ancient communities had mastered deep-aquifer management and moisture-retention engineering to survive prolonged aridity pulses. This breakthrough in dating technology allows archaeologists to map the expansion of desert civilizations with decadal precision. The study also provides new data on paleo-hydrological cycles, suggesting that these cisterns were part of a sophisticated regional response to the gradual drying of the Saraswati river system.