CPD Climate of the Past Discussions CPD Clim. Past Discuss. 1814-9359 Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/cp-2016-101 Glacio-archaeological evidence of warmer climate during the Little Ice Age in the Miyar basin, Lahul Himalaya, India Saini Rakesh https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4165-7423 1 Sharma Milap Chand 2 Deswal Sanjay 3 Barr Iestyn David https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9066-8738 4 Kumar Parvendra 1 Department of General & Applied Geograp hy, Dr. Harisingh Gour Central University, Sagar, 470003, India Centre for the Study of Regional Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 110067, India Department of Geography, Government College Dujana, Dujana , 124102, India School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University, Belfast, BT7 1NN, United Kingdom 07 11 2016 2016 1 24 Copyright: © 2016 Rakesh Saini et al. 2016 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This article is available from https://cp.copernicus.org/preprints/cp-2016-101/ The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://cp.copernicus.org/preprints/cp-2016-101/cp-2016-101.pdf

Impressive glacio-archaeological evidence is described from the Miyar basin, Lahul Himalaya, India. Three ruins, namely Tharang, Phundang and Patam are identified along with evidence for past settlement and rich irrigation practices in the basin. These ruins are located in the end moraine complex of Tharang glacier, just ~&thinsp;2&ndash;3&thinsp;km from the present glacier snout. Reconstruction of these ruins was undertaken based on mapping and radiocarbon (<sup>14</sup>C) dating. The radiocarbon dates (9 samples were dated) indicate that the settlement was occupied between cal AD ~&thinsp;1170 and cal AD ~&thinsp;1730, thereby encompassing the majority of Little Ice Age period. The settlement’s occupation at ~&thinsp;3700&thinsp;m&thinsp;a.s.l. (whereas present habitation is restricted to areas below ~&thinsp;3500&thinsp;m&thinsp; a.s.l.) for almost ~&thinsp;550 years during the 12<sup>th</sup> to 17<sup>th</sup> centuries suggest warmer conditions than today. Moreover, the study finds no evidence to suggest any noticeable glacier advance during this period.