Indian Art: A History of Indian Art from the Earliest Times up to the Third Century A.D. c6.44

c6.44

COPPER CULTURE—The neolithic man using ground and polished stone axes was gradually replaced by food-producing agriculturists. A cultural succession from the primitive hunting communities has been observed at a number of sites from the Narmada to the Godavari, e.g. Maheshwar (ancient Māhishamati) on the north bank of the Narmada, Navda Toli, Jorwe (Ahmadnagar district), etc. showing post-neolithic features as indicated by painted pottery, use of microliths, copper articles and to an extent the older stone axes continuing to be used at several centres. A flake blade industry, the painted ware and fine copper articles seem to be moving to the chalcolithic phase which we see at its best in the Indus Valley. The evidence is far from being complete, as the quantity of articles of copper found in the early culture of Western and Central India is sparse, but in Northern India in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa large copper hoards have come to light from as many as thirty sites. Axes and chisels which include all types of celts and bar-celts account for 154 examples as against 50 of other types—swords, daggers, spear-heads, harpoons [Fig. 6] and anthropomorphic or men-like figures [Fig. 7], besides the great hoard of 424 assorted copper celts found at Gungeria in Madhya Pradesh. There were two industrial areas producing articles of copper, one the Ganga-Jamuna Doab and the other the country round the Ranchi Plateau in Bihar.