Pramāṇa · Search · About · API

An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s14: 4.14 Chalcolithic

An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s14

Language
English

Contents

4.14 Chalcolithic

v1.c9.s14.1

The discovery of the Chalcolithic culture at JORWE [4.14.5] in 1950 opened a new phase in the prehistory of the Deccan. Since then a large number of Chalcolithic habitation sites have been discovered as a result of systematic exploration not only in the Deccan but also in other parts of the country bringing to light several regional cultures. Some of them are now fairly well-defined because of large-scale excavations as at AHAR² and NAVDATOLI. Although most of these cultures are post-Harappa, a few like the KAYATHA [11.7] are contemporaneous with the Harappa [4.9]. An important distinguishing feature of these cultures is their painted pottery, usually black-on-red. The people subsisted on farming, stock-raising and hunting and fishing. Their tool outfit was Chalcolithic in character; they used copper, albeit on a restricted scale, as the metal was scarce, and a specialized blade-flake industry of siliceous stone like chalcedony and also chert. They were all rural cultures which did not develop into an urban status obviously because of inadequate technology for exploiting the environment. All of them flourished during the 2nd millennium B.C. and their main focus was the great c. Indian plateau which is characterized by the Black Cotton Soil [9.1] and scanty rainfall (500 to 1000 mm). However Chalcolithic settlements have been reported from the middle and lower Ganga basin [4.14.4] also. It is enigmatic that most of these settlements were deserted by the end of the 2nd millennium and the entire activity came, as it were, to a grinding halt for some unknown reason.

v1.c9.s14.2

Our knowledge of many aspects of the material culture of the Chalcolithic farmers is yet sketchy for the simple reason that all the excavations save a few have been small exploratory digs. Consequently their origin and various stages of development and decline are all yet imperfectly known to us. The KAYATHA culture (c. 2000-1800 B.C.) can be said to be a junior contemporary of the Harappa. In fact the characteristic Kayatha ceramics [11.7] such as the sturdy painted ware and the incised ware have some faint pre-Harappa elements. The people also used beads of semiprecious stones and microbeads of steatite exactly similar to those of the Harappa. Thus the Kayatha culture, though possessing a distinct identity of its own, can be said to have some pre-Harappa and mature Harappa inspiration behind it.

v1.c9.s14.3

.The Harappa parentage of the Chalcolithic cultures of Gujarat is well-established. The PRABHAS culture (c. 1800-1200 B.C.) has clearly many Harappa elements. The Prabhas Ware [11.8], in form and function, is obviously derived from the Harappa though the differential coloration is sometimes marked in some cases. Similarly the genesis of the Lustrous Red Ware [11.9] is evident at RANGPUR which yielded valuable evidence of the Harappa degenerating into the late Rangpur cultures. Dwindling external trade brought in the decline in the Gujarat Harappa; the people then probably mixed with local village cultures and ultimately lost their identity.

v1.c9.s14.4

Of all the Chalcolithic cultures, the Ahar² culture [4.14.1] stands apart on account of its distinct ceramic—the white-painted black-and-red ware [11.6.2]. It flourished in the Banas valley in Rajasthan but also extended beyond into the Chambal valley in Malwa in c. India as is clear from the KAYATHA evidence. Although it has been described as a Copper Age culture, the stone blade industry associated with it at GILUND entitles it to be classed as Chalcolithic. The origin of this culture is unknown but it can be said to have been a local development and the technique of producing the black-and-red ware may have been borrowed from the adjoining Saurashtra region where the Harappans had already mastered it [11.6.1]. The Ahar² people lived in large stone-built houses and their settlements were quite extensive as at AHAR² and GILUND.

v1.c9.s14.5

In the upper Ganga basin the Chalcolithic settlements betray unmistakable late Harappa elements as at AMBKHEDI and BARGAON, whereas in the c. doab the OCW [4.12; 11.5] occupations are free from Harappa influence and at SAIPAI even copper hoards are associated with it. Further e. the Chalcolithic culture is characterized by the white-painted black-and-red ware, but the painted black-on-red also occurs. They have been reported from CHIRAND, SONPUR, PANDU RAJAR DHIBI and MAHISDAL, which can be dated to the last quarter of the 2nd millennium B.C.

v1.c9.s14.6

The Malwa culture of c. India [4.14.5] may probably have been derived ultimately from the Kayatha. In form and design element the Malwa Ware [11.10] is perhaps the richest among the Chalcolithic ceramics. Some of its forms such as the footed goblet and the pedestalled cup are un-Indian and have close parallels in Iran. This has led some to associate them with the Vedic Aryans. The Malwa people very soon started spreading s. wards in Maharashtra in search of arable lands, and by 16th century b c. they had already established a number of settlements in the Tapti and the Godavari valleys.

v1.c9.s14.7

In Maharashtra the beginning of settled life goes back to the opening of the 2nd millennium when the Savalda culture [11.12] flourished in the Tapti valley and also in the Godavari as is suggested by the evidence from Daimabad. The late Harappans [4.10] arrived on the scene around 1800 b.c. from s. Gujarat into the Tapti valley through the Songadh Pass and in course of time also reached the Godavari valley as is clear from the Daimabad evidence. They are followed by the people of the Malwa culture and their settlements at Prakash, Daimabad and Inamgaon are quite extensive. The recent evidence from Inamgaon suggests that the Jorwe culture [4.14.6], which later spread over a large part of Maharashtra, was a product to a considerable extent of the Malwa culture with some elements of the s. Neolithic [4.6.10]. The Chalcolithic of the s. Deccan [4.17.8] has more affinities with the Jorwe.

v1.c9.s14.8

The Jorwe culture (c. 1400-700 b.c.) was distributed all over the present state of Maharashtra save parts of Vidarbha and the coastal region of Konkan. The people lived in large rectangular houses, sometimes consisting of a number of rooms suggesting occupation by extended families. The dead were buried inside the house. Although a village culture, some of the Jorwe settlements, as at Daimabad and Inamgaon, had almost reached an urban status. It is however enigmatic that the Jorwe settlements in the Tapti and the Godavari valleys were abandoned by the end of the 2nd millennium though the people continued to live in the Bhima valley. But they had become poor and their poverty is reflected in their coarse pottery and small round huts. The Inamgaon evidence demonstrates that agriculture was on the decline and the people were probably reverting gradually to seminomadic pastoralism and finally in the 7th century b.c. even the late Jorwe habitations were deserted. This was precisely the time when the Iron Age megalith-builders had begun to infiltrate from the s. [4.17.7-11] into the n. Deccan.

v1.c9.s14.9

For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—M.K. DHAVALIKAR

v1.c9.s14.10

*4.14.1 Banas*. Outside the area of the Indus civilization the basin of the river Banas in Mewar is one of those regions in India that witnessed the earliest emergence of settled community life based on farming economy. This early farming culture has been called the Banas culture; alternatively it may be named the Ahar culture after the site where it was first identified and where, to date, it is best known. Nearly 50 sites of this culture are known, located in the area lying between 24° and 27° lat. and 73° and 76° long. in the valleys of the river Banas and its tributary system comprising the Berach, Kothari, Khari, Dai, Sodra, Mashi, Gambhiri and Wagan in Dts Udaipur, Chittaurgarh, Bhilwara, Ajmer, Tonk and Jaipur in Rajasthan and Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. The two excavated sites of this culture are Ahar² on the river of the same name in Dt Udaipur and Gilund on the Banas in Dt Chittaurgarh.

v1.c9.s14.11

Other sites are located both on river banks and in the hinterland up to a distance of 10 km from the concerned river. Though much of Mewar is a rocky, undulating country, rich and extensive alluvial tracts exist along river banks as well as in the plains between rocky elevations. In fact s. Mewar is geographically an extension of the fertile Malwa plateau to its s. With an annual rainfall of about 100 cm and a large network of rivers, some of them perennial, the soil is fertile and has a good vegetation cover, producing rich crops of sugarcane, rice, wheat, maize and cotton. The rocky tracts provide extensive pasture grounds, and rearing of sheep and camel is an important element in the rural economy. Thus ecologically Mewar was an attractive territory for early agricultural colonizers.

v1.c9.s14.12

The settlements of the culture range from small hamlets of ·8 to 1·6 hectares in area to large villages like Ahar² and Gilund sprawling over an area of nearly 4 hectares. The large size and long duration of these settlements—Ahar², for instance, has an about 10 m thick deposit—and the richness and variety of the material culture would by themselves suggest that agriculture was the mainstay of their economy. A large number of stone querns and rubbers [6.19] must have been used for the grinding of grain. More direct evidence for agriculture is provided by the presence of husks and spikelets of domesticated rice (*Oryza sativa* Linn.) in the core of potsherds. The people domesticated the cattle. *buffalo*, sheep, goat and dog. They also hunted *barasinga* (swamp deer) and caught and trapped fish, turtles and birds.

v1.c9.s14.13

Unlike the other contemporary farming cultures the people made little or no use of blade and microlithic tools [which are however reported from the earlier excavations at Ahar² (*IAR 1955-6*, p. 11) and Gilund (*ibid 1959-60*, p. 41)]. Instead they seem to have used metal tools more. Among the metal objects found are several copper flat axes, copper bangles, several copper sheets and a bronze sheet (from Ahar²) and fragments of copper (from Gilund). The discovery at Ahar² of a circular pit dug into the natural soil, 1·5 m in diameter and about 6 m deep and full of white ashes and metal-worker’s slag, attests to the practice of copper smelting and metallurgy from the beginning.

v1.c9.s14.14

Both at Ahar² and Gilund houses were built on foundations of undressed schist blocks. The walls were made of mud or mud bricks. At GILUND burnt bricks were also used in the later part of the culture. The size of mud bricks at GILUND was 32·5 × 12·5 × 10·0 cm in the earlier phase and changed to 27·5 × 15·0 × 9·0 cm in the middle phase. The bricks were laid in mud mortar in English bond. The walls were reinforced with bamboo screens and plastered on both sides with mud mixed with lime. They were sometimes decorated with finger-impressed zigzag designs. Post-holes and charred posts also suggest structures supported on wooden posts. At AHAR² the houses measured on an average 9·15 × 4·6 m but longer walls running to a length of 13·7 m and divided into rooms by mud and mud-brick walls indicate large residential units. At GILUND a partially excavated structural complex covered an area of 37 × 27 m comprising four parallel n.-s. walls ranging in thickness from 0·7 to 1·1 m and was filled with sand. The extant and available height of the walls, 1·8 m, suggest a formidable structural complex. The houses were provided with built-in storage bins and ovens, measuring 0·9 to 1·3 m in diameter and 0·6 m in depth and lined with 1·5 to 4·5 cm thick layer of white clay mixed with sand. Hearths of the type common in rural India today, with their walls decorated with impressed chevrons, were found at AHAR.²

v1.c9.s14.15

The ceramic industry comprises four distinct wares: (1) cream-slipped ware, (2) black-and-red ware, (3) red ware, and (4) grey ware. The cream-slipped ware occurring only in very small quantities in the lower levels at AHAR² and in the upper levels at GILUND comprises bowls and *loṭā*-like vases decorated on the exterior with geometric designs in black pigment. Black-and-red ware is very common; it is thin and well-baked and comprises a large variety of bowls, occasionally on stands. The burnished outer and inner surfaces are profusely painted with a variety of linear and dotted designs in white pigment. This ware was obviously meant for table use. The most common ceramic is red ware which comprises five quite distinct subwares: (a) bright-red-slipped ware, the most profuse of all wares, characterized by a thick, gritty core, a bright-red slip and burnishing on the upper part of the exterior and roughening of the lower part by application of sand, the forms including jars of many shapes and sizes, dishes and bowls-on-stand and pot-rests and the decoration consisting of a bewildering variety of applied, incised, cut and punctured designs, though of in the upper levels of AHAR² some pots also have painted designs in black; (b) dull red slipped ware, vessels which include medium-sized globular jars, shallow pans and basins; (c) coarse red ware, with no slip, its shapes similar to those of (b), the shallow pans with roughened bottoms being probably used for cooking; (d) tan ware (restricted to the lower levels of AHAR²), sturdy, made of fine, well-levigated and well-baked clay, having a thick core, and bearing a tan or chocolate slip on both the burnished surfaces, the shapes including large dishes with beaded rim, dishes-on-stand, bowls-on-stand and pot-rests; and (e) thin red ware, also a deluxe ware occurring in small quantities, made of well-baked fine clay, with a thin, burnished slip, the shapes comprising convex-bodied bowls and small high-necked globular vessels and the decoration consisting of thin parallel ribbings superimposed with incisions. The grey ware is very close to the bright-red-slipped ware in fabric, shapes and decorations and is next only to it in quantity, with two varieties, unburnished and burnished. Some noteworthy features of the pottery are the richness and variety of applied and incised decoration, rarity of painted decoration (except on black-and-red ware) and complete absence of naturalistic decorative motifs and of spouted vessels.

v1.c9.s14.16

The evidence for ornaments is confined to beads of steatite, faïence, chalcedony, agate and carnelian. Large terracotta beads of biconvex or planoconvex shape and decorated with incised zigzag or chevron designs were almost certainly meant to be spindle whorls [6.25]. Among the terracotta objects the most distinctive are bull figurines with prominent hump, long horns and legs produced by pinches. Other animal figurines are those of the dog, rhinoceros, elephant, ram and tortoise. Truncated conical pieces, sometimes with animal heads, were probably some kind of gamesmen. A fragment of a wheeled cart is known from AHAR².

v1.c9.s14.17

The tan ware of the lower levels of AHAR² is very close, in its sturdy fabric and shapes like the large dish with beaded rim, dish-on-stand and pot-rest, to the Harappa pottery of Gujarat [11.3]. The black-and-red ware with white decoration would also suggest such a link since this ware is now known to be an integral part of the Harappa culture [4.9] in Kutch and Saurashtra. The discovery of a variant of the Banas culture in Period I C at SURKOTADA further suggests the hypothesis that the first agricultural colonizers of the Banas valley derived their inspiration to some extent at least from the late Harappa culture [4.10] of Gujarat. s. ward pottery similar to that of AHAR² has been found in the earliest Chalcolithic levels at AWRA in Dt Mandsaur, and Pd II at KAYATHA in Dt Ujjain. The exact route of the dispersal of the Banas culture into Mewar and Malwa is however not at present clear.

v1.c9.s14.18

In terms of relative chronology the Banas culture post-dates the Harappa and antedates the Malwa.¹⁴C dates from AHAR² would put its duration at that site between *c.* 2100 and 1500 B.C.

v1.c9.s14.19

&* Archaeology: Essays in Commemoration of Verrier Elwin*, Bombay, pp. 196-210. Sankalia, H.D., Deo, S.B., & Ansari, Z.D., 1969, *Excavations at Ahar (Tambavati)*, Poona. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—V.N. MISRA

v1.c9.s14.20

4.14.2 *Vindhyan region.* Investigations during the last two decades in the hilly tracts of Dts Banda, Allahabad and Varanasi have brought to light a number Chalcolithic sites, the more noteworthy of them being the one on the Jhurri Nala on the Satna-Banda border, KOLDIHWA, KHAJURI, PANCHOHA, KAPASIKALAN, KOILARIHA, GADHA, PAL NEODHIA and BAHRAICHA in Dt Allahabad and KAKORIA, BAIRA-DUMUHAAN, HETIMPUR and KAURIHAR in Dt Varanasi. Situated in river valleys, the cultural debris of all of them are scattered over a wide area constituting low and flattish mounds with the longer axis along the rivers.

v1.c9.s14.21

The sites of KAKORIA and KOLDIHAWA have been excavated by the Univ. of Allahabad, and almost identical antiquities have been obtained. Wattle and daub structures, circular or oval on plan (KOLDIHAWA) and mud walls have been brought to light. The ceramic assemblage comprises the red, black-slipped and black-and-red wares. The pots are usually wheel-thrown though handmade specimens are also met with. The red ware, the most prolific ceramic at these sites, is characterized by: the bowl, including the lipped and pedestalled varieties, with convex sides and everted rim; convex- or straight-sided dish with sagger or flat base; shallow dish; basin, including the lipped variety, with thickened rim; medium-sized vase; big storage jar; footed and perforated bowl or basin; and funnel-shaped lid with cylindrical or conical body. The types in the black-slipped ware include: the deep carinated, lipped or pedestalled bowl; dish with convex or straight side and flat or sagger base; small vase, basin with thickened rim; funnel-shaped lid with cylindrical body; and finally small measuring pot, the last from KAKORIA only. The shapes in the black-and-red ware comprise: the bowl including the pedestalled form; basin; vase; and straight-sided trough. Though in general the pottery is plain, decorations in the form of paintings (KOLDIHAWA only), incisions and applied patterns are also met with. The painting is confined to the red and black-and-red wares. In the red ware it is executed in black on the outer surface, the motifs being thick parallel horizontal bands, strokes and parallel lines (horizontal, vertical and oblique). The applied rope pattern is generally confined to the jars and troughs.

v1.c9.s14.22

Microliths consisting of cores, flakes and finished tools—parallel-sided, blunted back and serrated blades, points, lunates, scrapers and triangles, fashioned on chalcedony, chert, agate, carnelian, etc.,—have also been found. The assemblage is characterized by the crested-ridge technique. From KOLDIHAWA have also been obtained tanged and socketed bone arrowheads. The use of copper appears to have been very restricted, only a few fragments having been found. Mention may be made of a thin knife from KOLDIHAWA. Beads of semiprecious stones and terracotta, sling-balls of stone and clay, querns and mullers [6.19] are the other objects.

v1.c9.s14.23

The Chalcolithic culture of KAKORIA is characterized by Megalithic monuments [4.17.3]. The tombs—cairn circles, cists and cists within cairn circles—are located at the foot of the HATHINIA and BHADAHAWAN hillocks. Out of hundreds, 12 monuments, which have been excavated, have yielded sherds of the red, black-slipped and black-and-red wares, identical in shape and fabric with their counterparts of the habitation area located at KAKORIA. Among the other antiquities obtained from the burials mention may be made of a gold bangle, microliths and jaw and teeth of the bovid.

v1.c9.s14.24

As the culture is characterized by the short blade industry of the crested-ridge technique and the ceramic assemblage compares well with its counterpart of Pd II of ATRANJIKHERA, Pd I A of SONPUR and Pd II A of CHIRAND, a time bracket ranging from the later half of the 2nd millennium to the early centuries of the Ist millennium B.C. may be tentatively proposed for it. A ¹⁴C date of 3390±120 B.P. for the Chalcolithic horizon of KOLDIHAWA has been obtained recently. The other end of the chronological scale is marked by the advent of iron.

v1.c9.s14.25

*IAR 1962-3*, p. 39; *1963-4*, p. 57 (both for Kakoria); *1971-2*, p. 44 (for Koldihawa). Misra, V.D., 1970, in *Eastern Anthropologist*, 23; 1975, in *K.C. Chattopadhyāya Memorial Vol.*, Allahabad. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—V.D. MISRA

v1.c9.s14.26

4.14.3 *Middle Ganga region.* Excavations at sites in Bihar, viz. SONPUR, Dt Gaya, CHIRAND, Dt Saran, and ORIUP, Dt Bhagalpur, show that at the first two sites the Chalcolithic people lived in houses made of mud-plastered reeds or bamboos, evidenced by the discovery of clay chunks with the impression of these materials. The 5·50 m thick Chalcolithic deposit at CHIRAND revealed at its earliest level a circular hearth and post-holes and floors of burnt earth. The excavation was too limited to ascertain the plan of dwellings, but they were larger than those of the earlier Neolithic settlement [4.6.4]. The exposed lime floors within the 3·65 m thick deposit at SONPUR had circular pits representing circular huts, with varying diameters of 1·84 to 2·44 m and with bones of animals and birds inside.

v1.c9.s14.27

The ceramic industry is represented by kiln-burnt plain and painted black-and-red, black, steel-grey and red wares. The pottery, of sandy clay and porous section, is both wheel-turned and handmade and has a thick slip over it. The early specimens of SONPUR are brittle and too small to indicate any shape, but the types at CHIRAND include: the dish-on-stand; long-necked jar; lipped bowl; basin; bowl with ring-base; spouted vessel; four-legged and ring-based perforated pot; lipped jug; trough; dish; bowl; and elongated lipped bowl in black-and-red and red wares; and high-necked *lota* with corrugated shoulder in black-slipped and black-and-red wares. Generally bowls and dishes show painted designs in groups of wavy or straight lines or dashes executed in white on a black surface and the necks and shoulders of the vases are painted in creamy white. A few sherds of the black ware show white paintings. The SONPUR specimens have a red-slipped shoulder with creamy dots, a red-ware sherd with black linear painting and two black rims with dark creamy lines and parallel dots. The white-painted black-and-red channel-spouted bowl from ORIUP also deserves mention. The stems of the dishes-on-stand from CHIRAND are plain and corrugated, while a few SONPUR black-and-red samples show incisions and groovings below their rims.

v1.c9.s14.28

The negligible occurrence of copper objects, which include a few small corroded pieces from SONPUR and CHIRAND, a bead from CHIRAND and a bangle piece from ORIUP reflects the scarcity of the metal. Microliths from the sites are represented by cores, waste flakes, blades and numerous small nodules on carnelian, chalcedony, quartz and chert. The appearance of iron in the uppermost Chalcolithic levels of SONPUR and CHIRAND is significant.

v1.c9.s14.29

The other associated finds from SONPUR and CHIRAND include tanged and socketed arrowheads having circular or square section and pins of bone, arrowheads of ivory and styli [20.5] of both materials. Besides, there are terracotta beads, some pear-shaped and some others with incised decorations, beads of steatite, chalcedony, etc., balls, pestels and querns of stone [6.19], bones of birds and fish and a few Neolithic celts from CHIRAND.

v1.c9.s14.30

The post-cremation circular pit-burials at SONPUR and suspected such burials at CHIRAND are noteworthy. The SONPUR burials, having varying diameters of 1·82 to 2·12 m and a depth of 91 cm and containing ash, charred bone pieces and sherds of black, red and black-and-red wares and a handmade jar with 5 kg of charred rice, suggest that the people burnt their dead and buried their charred bones, and also cultivated rice.

v1.c9.s14.31

These Chalcolithic assemblages are somewhat comparable with their counterparts of AHAR^2 and GILUND [4.14.1].

v1.c9.s14.32

The earliest Chalcolithic level at CHIRAND has been dated by ^14C method to 3600±100 B.P. and that of SONPUR may be dated to 1100-650 B.C.

v1.c9.s14.33

Narain, Lala A. 1970, in *Jour. Bihar Res. Soc.*, 56, pp. 1-35; *in ibid.*, 58, pp. 1-24. Roy, S.R., 1976, *Sonpur Excavations*, Patna. Verma, B.S., 1970-1, in *Purātattva*, 4, pp. 19-23. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—S.R. ROY

4.14.4 Lower Ganga region

v1.c9.s14.t1.1

A number of rain-fed tributaries originating in the e. slopes of the Chota Nagpur and Santhal Pargana hills join the right side of the lower course of the Ganga (Bhagirathi), the only perennial snow-fed river in the W. Bengal delta, the more notable of them being the Ajay and Damodar. The w. part of W. Bengal through which these rivers flow is mainly of flat lateritic formation interspersed with ridge-like hills. It is in this part, covered by Dts Burdwan, Birbhum (Chakrabarti, 1972), Midnapur and Bankura (Bandyopadhyaya, 1971) that the Chalcolithic sites are located. The first excavated of such sites is PANDU RAJAR DHIBI in the Ajay valley. The e.most extension of the culture is indicated by GANGADANGA near the confluence of the Ajay and Bhagirathi, the other sites being MANGALKOT at the junction of the Ajay and Kunoor, MAHISDAL, HARIPUR and NANOOR, Dt Birbhum, and BHARATPUR and BARABELUN, Dt Burdwan (information about the last two from the ASI, E. Circle, and Directorate of Arch. W. Bengal, respectively).

v1.c9.s14.t1.2

At none of the excavated sites has a primary Neolithic level preceding the Chalcolithic occupation been established, although a Neolithic phase was definitely in existence in this region [4.6.4]. The find of polished stone celts in the Chalcolithic context at BHARATPUR is however significant. Besides microliths, which had a long antecedent in this part of W. Bengal, lingered even along with iron.

v1.c9.s14.t1.3

No definite house plan has been traced at any site, but from the available remains it may be envisaged that the settlers lived in flimsy huts made of clay daubs and clay-plastered reed structures. The earliest occupants of PANDU RAJAR DHIBI built their huts with floors of pellety laterite, occasionally found burnt. The occupation of this small community was succeeded by a more advanced one, which paved the floors with lime plaster bearing signs of post-holes and ovens. There was also a paved passage. Similarly MAHISDAL had evidence of floors made of beaten earth with a soling of rammed burnt clay nodules. BHARATPUR had at least two habitational floors along with open hearths containing animal bones and pottery.

v1.c9.s14.t1.4

The economy was based on agriculture supplemented by hunting and fishing. The discovery of a large quantity of charred rice at MAHISDAL and impressions of paddy husk at PANDU RAJAR DHIBI is noteworthy. The faunal remains at MAHISDAL include the *barasinga* and deer and feral animals like the wolf.

v1.c9.s14.t1.5

There is evidence of burial practices from PANDU RAJAR DHIBI and HARAIPUR. A secondary burial represented by a headless skeleton, with grave goods including a plain black-and-red vessel and a pot of chocolate coloured were with paintings in white, was encountered at the lowest levels at PANDU RAJAR DHIBI. The succeeding phase yielded three types of burials—extended, fractional and urn. Five burials were of the extended type, in four of which the bodies were oriented e.-w.; in two the heads pointed to the e. and in the other two the heads were turned to the s., the details of the fifth one being uncertain. The grave offerings generally consisted of painted bright-red wares, copper bangles and in one case a fossil wood microlithic scraper. In addition a tubular copper bead was found along with a barrel-shaped bead of agate in one of the extended burials. A fractional burial is represented by a skeleton with severed ankles as at CHANDOLI and NEVASA in Maharashtra. Two single urn-burials covered with lids of black-and-red ware contained adult human bones. HARAIPUR yielded ten extended burials of children oriented n.-s., the heads slightly turned w., with no funerary objects.

v1.c9.s14.t1.6

Black-and-red ware is the dominant ceramic tradition, with which are associated red and black wares of thin and thick fabric and lustrous red and chocolate wares. However the earliest levels of PANDU RAJAR DHIBI has a handmade grey ware of thick fabric with impressions of paddy husk, wheel-turned ware, often rusticated, and a kind of pale red ware, in addition to black-and-red wares. A kind of grey ware is associated with the black-and-red ware at NANOOR and HARAIPUR.

v1.c9.s14.t1.7

The shapes in the black-and-red ware are represented mostly by carinated and lipped bowls. Small carinated vases with flaring rim, including channel-spouted bowls, are typical of the period. Further dishes-on-stand and bowls-on-stand are mainly reported from PANDU RAJAR DHIBI. Perforated pottery occurs at most of the sites. The pots are occasionally painted in white pigment with oblique strokes, dots, hyphens, chevrons, etc. The lustrous red ware and the ordinary red ware are generally painted in black or greyish white, the designs being mostly geometric. Some pots bear incised decorations.

v1.c9.s14.t1.8

Apart from pottery the cultural assemblage consists of bone objects, microliths, beads of steatite and semi-precious stones, terracotta and copper objects, none of these classes of objects being however available at NANOOR and HARAIPUR. Amongst these bone objects constitute an important item and comprise a large number of arrowheads, hollow points, pins, styli [20.5], bangle pieces and decorated combs. Microliths are represented by small parallel-sided blades, scrapers, points and lunates in chalcedony, quartz, jasper, chert, etc. Microliths with crested ridge come from PANDU RAJAR DHIBI. Polished stone celts, absent at PANDU RAJAR DHIBI and MAHISDAL, are reported from BHARATPUR. Bead-making in copper, steatite and semiprecious stones was an important industry.

v1.c9.s14.t1.9

Terracotta objects are scarce. A small realistically represented phallus from MAHISDAL and a human torso from PANDU RAJAR DHIBI are however noteworthy. A few crudely executed animal figurines come from BHARATPUR. Copper objects mainly consist of spiral bangles, rings, antimony rods [18.1], tubular beads, fish-hooks, etc. A flat copper celt with a convex cutting edge is a unique example from MAHISDAL. But the use of the metal was restricted.

v1.c9.s14.t1.10

While it is likely that the culture travelled to the lower Gaṅgā valley from w. and c. India, the course of this spread remains untraced, though there is a broad similarity between the middle Ganga [4.14.3] and lower Ganga Chalcolithic cultures. ¹⁴C dates from PANDU RAJAR DHIBI, MAHISDAL and BHARATPUR would place the lower Ganga culture to c. 1300-700 B.C., making it later than its w. and c. Indian counterparts.

v1.c9.s14.t1.11

Bandyopadhyaya, A.K., 1971, *Bankura Jelar Purakirti* (in Bengali), Calcutta. Chakrabarti, Deb Kumar, 1972, *Birbhum Jelar Purakirti* (in Bengali), Calcutta. Das Gupta, P.C., 1964, *Excavations at Pandu Rajar Dhibi*, Bull. Arch. Dept., W. Bengal, 2, Calcutta; 1966, *Exploring Bengal’s Past*, Calcutta. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—K.P. GUPTA

v1.c9.s14.t1.12

In 1975-6 the Dept of Arch., Univ. of Calcutta, under the writer, explored in Dt Birbhum and parts of Dt Burdwan a large number of already known sites in the Mayurakshi-Ajay-Kunnur stretch and was also able to locate a few new ones. It has been noticed that in the upper stretch of the Mayurakshi and Bakreswar there is a decrease of Chalcolithic settlements, but there is a general increase in the c. and s. parts of Dt Birbhum. The surveyed area can be divided into three major zones: (1) Mayurakshi-Bakreswar-Sal; (2) Sal-Kopai-Ajay; and (3) Ajay-Kunnur-Damodar-Khari.

v1.c9.s14.t1.13

In the first zone the sites are concentrated in the basins of the Mayurakshi and Bakreswar, the land surface of which is the result of the deposition of alluvium degraded from the w. tableland with ferruginous laterite [9.6] occupying a large area of this tract. At some places were a number of microlithic blades in quartz and agate, some with crested ridge [16.15.2] but not always accompanied by the diagnostic black-and-red ware [11.6.5]. From near KOTASUR however a large number of sherds of the ware have been picked up; Kotasur reveals evidence of continuous habitation from the black-and-red ware stage to the late historical period. The undulation in the land surface gradually merges with the Rādha area of Murshidabad, where at CHIRUTI on the w. bank of the Bhagirathi there is evidence of Chalcolithic occupation. This seems to be the only known Chalcolithic site in Dt Murshidabad. Intensive exploration in the long stretch of the Older Alluvium between the Mayurakshi and Bakreswar has shown a number of sites indicating the springing up of a cluster of Chalcolithic settlements. The pottery includes the black-and-red, black-painted buff, chocolate-coloured, burnished red-and-black ware comprising the channel-spouted or lipped bowl, pedestalled cup of ink-pot type, etc. There is a profusion of scrapers, lunates and short blades with occasional Neolithic [4.6.4] celts.

v1.c9.s14.t1.14

In the Sal-Kopai-Ajay zone a number of microlithic blades, polished stone axes and celts and terracotta figurines have been found scattered in regions adjacent to one another but the sites were abandoned after the Chalcolithic phase. The chief sites are MAHISDAL on the n. bank of the Kopai and HARAIPUR, both already excavated. At HATTIGA, Dt Birbhum, the present exploration has laid bare remains of a Chalcolithic complex comprising almost all the diagnostic ceramic types, a Neolithic celt, microlithic flakes including waste flakes, terracotta discs and beads of copper, agate and terracotta.

v1.c9.s14.t1.15

In the third zone—Ajay-Kunnur-Ḍamodar, which includes the previously excavated site of PANDU RAJAR DHIBI, BARABELUN and MANGALKOT—the present exploration has shown that the s. bank of the Ajay, especially the stretch of land covered by the Ajay-Kunnur-Khadgiswari-Damodar rivers, was a much lived-in area from Chalcolithic times. Large quantities of painted and unpainted black-and-red ware, microliths and Neolithic celts have been recovered. All along the s. bank of the Ajay and Kunnur and the left bank of the Damodar there are sites which appear to indicate the possibility of a continuous occupation from the Chalcolithic to the historical times. One of the twin mounds at Ara on the Khari, Dt Burdwan, has however only Chalcolithic material—black-and-red ware, cream-slipped ware, black ware and large quantities of red ware.

v1.c9.s14.t1.16

In the Tamluk region in the Rupnarayan delta the party discovered a Chalcolithic site at Jambuni on the Dulung, with a coarse black-and-red ware, microliths and a dagger-like object of bone. Ecologically the site is a continuation of Dt Singhbhum, the river Dulung forming the dividing line.

v1.c9.s14.t1.17

Ray, A., 1978, in *Eastern Anthropology*, 31, pp. 543-65. For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—A. RAY

v1.c9.s14.t1.18

*4.14.5 C. region.* C. India is more or less conterminous with the present-day Madhya Pradesh State and forms, as it were, a half-way house between the peninsular and n. parts of the Indian subcontinent. The available evidence for the Chalcolithic or village farming cultures in this area comes mainly from the w. part, known as the Malwa plateau, covered with fertile black soil [9.1]. The s. half forms part of the Narmada-Tapti drainage system, while the n. part is drained by the Chambal and Betwa rivers belonging to the Ganga-Yamuna system.

v1.c9.s14.t1.19

Barring a few references in the Purāṇas and the *Mahābhārata* to the existence of tribes like the Nāgas and Haihayas, till the fifties of the present century practically nothing was known of the post-Stone Age cultures of the region before the 6th century B.C. Our knowledge of these cultures is entirely due to the investigations undertaken during the last three decades. With the clues supplied by the discoveries of V.S. Wakankar and others, the Deccan College and the M.S. Univ. of Baroda undertook large-scale excavations at MAHESHWAR and NAVDATOLI between 1952 and 1959. Later on three other sites were excavated: NAGDA in 1955-56 by the ASI; ERAN for several seasons since 1960 by the Univ. of Saugar; and KAYATHA during 1965-6 by the Vikram University and again by the Deccan College in 1968. [To this list has to be added BESNAGAR on the Betwa excavated by the ASI in 1963-5 and later, with incompletely published results.] While the other sites have made known only one culture—the Malwa culture, Kayatha (ancient Kāpitthaka) has revealed two more cultures—the Kayatha and Banas [4.14.1] cultures—antedating the Malwa culture. The available ¹⁴C dates, which place all these cultures in the 2nd millennium B.C., are as follows: Kayatha culture, 2000 to 1800 B.C.; Banas culture 1700 to 1500 B.C.; and Malwa culture, 1500 to 1200 B.C.

v1.c9.s14.t1.20

Kayatha culture: It is the earliest known village farming culture of c. India and appears to have been introduced from outside in a mature form. It is represented at KAYATHA and also at several dozen surface sites in the region covered by the Chambal and its tributaries. The incomplete evidence from Kayatha seems to indicate that the people lived in houses with well-made floors and walls consisting of mud-plastered reed screens. The pottery belongs to three distinct fabrics. The chief fabric consists of a sturdy, wheel-thrown pottery bearing a dark brown slip and linear paintings in violet or deep-red. The vessel shapes are the bowl and basin, vase with globular body and concave neck and storage jar. An interesting feature which may hold clues for the origin of the culture is that in fabric, surface treatment and shapes, this pottery recalls the pre-Harappa [4.8] SOTHI Ware of Rajasthan. A red ware with combed decorations and a red-painted buff ware are the two other fabrics of the ceramic industry. The culture is Chalcolithic in the full sense of the term. The occurrence of two mould-prepared axes, an incomplete chisel and as many as 28 bangles of copper, the latter found in two buff-ware pots, attest to the mastery achieved in metal-working by the authors of this culture. The lithic industry is represented by a ring-stone and a short-blade industry in chalcedony made up of blades, pen-knives, points and lunates. Apart from the copper bangles Kayatha has yielded rich evidence of personal ornaments. Two beautiful necklaces, one of 173 and the other of 160 beads of semiprecious materials like agate and carnelian, were found in two pots of buff ware. The shapes represented in these beads are the long barrel, short bicone and oblate. Of equal importance is the find of a pot with over 40000 microbeads of steatite.

v1.c9.s14.t1.21

Banas culture: First identified in the Banas valley of Rajasthan, AHAR² is its type site where the Deccan College carried out excavations in 1961-2. Although some of its traits like the black-and-red ware [11.6.2] had been noticed earlier at sites like NAVDATOLI, it is the excavation at Kayatha that revealed this culture as a distinct entity in c. India. Although mainly confined to the Chambal valley it appears to have spread as far s. as the Narmada-Tapti valleys. In c. India as in the Banas valley, the culture is distinguished by a characteristic black-and-red ware. Although coarse in fabric, this pottery is wheel-turned and painted in dull white colour. The designs are essentially geometric and are generally confined to the outer surface. They take the form of grouped lines or dots executed in horizontal, vertical or oblique directions; circles and lattice design also occur, albeit infrequently. The bowl and dish are the common shapes; the former has an additional decoration in the form of thin incised lines or grooves around the neck. The second major ware is a highly burnished pottery with a distinct slip, which may be red, tan, orange or chocolate in colour. The vase with pedestalled base, corrugated shoulder and long corrugated neck is an important shape in this fabric. Handmade pottery of red and grey fabrics completes the ceramic industry of the culture. The culture as represented in c. India has two additional traits which are not so well-represented in Rajasthan. As against the paucity/absence of stone tools at sites like AHAR² and GILUND, Kayatha has produced a full-fledged lithic blade industry—a development due to the paucity of copper ore in c. India. The second feature is the rich number of terracotta figurines made of fine clay and baked at a consistently high temperature so as to avoid blotchy surfaces. The bull is the common theme of this art; it is depicted in both naturalistic and stylized forms which occur side by side right from the beginning. In some cases the body is ornamented with nail-marks. From the prolific number of these objects it is surmised that a bull cult was in vogue during this period in c. India. Among personal ornaments mention must be made of biconical beads of terracotta and short cylindrical shell beads. The authors of this culture probably lived in simple houses similar to those of the Kayatha culture.

v1.c9.s14.t1.22

Malwa culture: It is undoubtedly the best known of the three Chalcolithic cultures of c. India. NAVDATOLI on the s. bank of the Narmada and facing MAHESHWAR on the opposite bank, is the most important site of this culture, lying on a 25 m high terrace. From the fact that the occupation took place on the black soil it would seem that the area was covered with good vegetation prior to its colonization by the first inhabitants. The horizontal excavation conducted at this site has provided rich evidence on various aspects of the culture.

v1.c9.s14.t1.23

Four phases of the Chalcolithic habitation have been recognized at this site. Phases I, II and III are respectively distinguished by black-and-red ware, cream-slipped ware and black-on-red painted ware. In the last phase a coarse red ware occurs together with the Lustrous Red Ware [11.9]. It should nevertheless be noted that the Malwa Ware [11.10]—the diagnostic trait of the culture—is found in all these phases.

v1.c9.s14.t1.24

In spite of its large size the NAVDATOLI settlement was not fortified. But a mud fortification wall and a moat were found at ERAN on the river Bina; this defence complex belongs to the middle phase of Malwa occupation for which there is an isolated ¹⁴C date of *c.* 2000 B.C. However doubts have been expressed about the antiquity of this complex; some have even ascribed it to the historical period.

v1.c9.s14.t1.25

NAVDATOLI has revealed excellent evidence of both round and rectangular residential structures. The former measure about 3 m in diameter and the latter 3 m×2·2 m. The roofs were probably made of hay, branches and leaves and were supported on massive wooden posts, 22 cm in diameter, raised at regular intervals around the huts. The open spaces between the posts were provided with mud-plastered bamboo screens. The house floors were made up of silt, clay and river gravel, with the surface coated with lime. The huts were provided with one- or two-mouthed *chulhas* as well as storage jars and other earthern vessels.

v1.c9.s14.t1.26

The Malwa Ware is the dominant fabric of the ceramic industry. It is a buff or orange-slipped ware painted in black or dark brown. A variety of it occurring in abundance at ERAN has been called the Eran fabric. The *lotā*, concave-sided bowl, channel-spouted bowl and pedestalled goblet are the important shapes occurring in the fabric. The repertoire of painted designs is extremely rich and consists of over 600 motifs. These are both geometric and naturalistic in character. The latter group includes plants, animals and even human figures.

v1.c9.s14.t1.27

As regards the level of technology, the culture is truly Chalcolithic in character on account of the use of both copper and stone. The copper tools include flat axes, chisels, arrowheads and swords/daggers. This metal was also used for making ornaments like beads, rings and bangles. The lithic industry, based mostly on the working of milky chalcedony, is characterized by the manufacture of tools on slender blades struck from prismatic cores by means of the crested-ridge technique [16.5.2]. The principal types are simple and retouched blades, backed blades, points, pen-knives, serrated blades and microlithic types like trapezes and lunates. A detailed study of the house-wise distribution of artefacts at Navdatoli has shown that each family made its own tools. These were put to a variety of uses in connection with domestic chores as well as outdoor activities like hunting and butchering wild animals.

v1.c9.s14.t1.28

The authors of the Malwa culture were full-fledged farmers; they cultivated crops and also kept several domestic animals. The alluvial tracts as well as the fertile black soil of the Malwa plateau must have offered ample scope for the practice of agriculture. The evidence of charred grains from NAVDATOLI proves that wheat, barley and rice as well as legumes like black gram, green gram, lentil and grass pea were cultivated [2]. Mention also needs be made of the occurrence of charred remains of linseed and fruit like *ber* and *amla*. The occurrence of quantities of animal bones shows that animal husbandry was an equally important part of the food economy. The animals domesticated were the cattle, pig, sheep and goat [1]. The presence of bones of fish, tortoise and wild animals like the deer, black buck, gazelle and *nilgai* shows that hunting and fishing also played a part in the economy of the people.

v1.c9.s14.t1.29

The origin of these cultures has not yet been satisfactorily explained. The Kayatha and Banas cultures appear to have been derived from the neighbouring region of Rajasthan. Conflicting views have been put forward regarding the origin of the Malwa culture. One view is that traits like black-on-red pottery were adopted from the Harappa culture [4.9]; other traits like channel-spouted bowls, pedestalled goblets and swords with mid-rib, which have parallels at Sialk, Tepe Giyan and other sites in w. Asia, are said to have been contributed by incoming Aryan groups. Still another view holds that the Malwa ware was copied from the painted pottery tradition of the s. Neolithic culture [4.6.8-10] [though some think that this tradition travelled in the reverse direction, cf. Thapar, 1957, p. 21].

v1.c9.s14.t1.30

Ansari, Z.D., & Dhavalikar, M.K., in *World Arch.*, 3, pp. 337-45. Dhavalikar, M.K., in *Indica*, 7, pp. 85-93; 1979, in Agrawal, D.P., & Chakrabarti, D.K., ed., *Essays in Indian Protohistory*, Delhi, pp. 229-45. Sankalia, H.D., 1963, in *Artibus Asiae*, 26, pp. 312-32 (for w. origin/affinities of Malwa culture); 1974, *Prehistory & Protohistory of India & Pakistan*, Poona. Thapar, B.K., 1957, in *AI*, 13. Wakankar, V.S., 1976, in *Arch. Congress & Seminar, 1972*, Kurukshetra (for Kayatha culture). For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—S.B. DEO

v1.c9.s14.t1.31

*4.14.6 Upper Deccan.* The beginning of Chalcolithic research in the upper Deccan, comprising the region of Maharashtra, started with the discovery of the Chalcolithic site at JORWE in Dt Ahmadnagar in 1950. Since then excavations at NASIK and JORWE, BAHAL and TEKWADA, PRAKASH, NEVASA, DAIMABAD, SAVALDA, BAHURUPA, CHANDOLI, SONGAON and INAMGAON and explorations in Dt Dhule have provided evidence of the sequence and various aspects of the upper Deccan Chalcolithic cultures.

v1.c9.s14.t1.32

The excavation at NASIK helped in the understanding of the stratigraphic and the chronological position of the Chalcolithic black-painted red Jorwe Ware [11.11] discovered at JORWE *vis-à-vis* the early historical period [4.18.9].

v1.c9.s14.t1.33

BAHAL, a habitation site, and TEKWADA, a burial site, the former on the left bank and the latter on the right bank of the river Girna, a tributary of the Tapti, were excavated by the first of the present writers. Of the five Pds revealed in the excavation the earliest, Pd I, was Chalcolithic, divisible into two phases, A and B. Phase A was characterized by the burnished grey ware of BRAHMAGIRI affinity and thin grey ware, whereas Phase B had mainly the orange-buff ware, a few sherds of the Lustrous Red Ware [11.9] having also been found. The Jorwe Ware was represented in the upper levels of this sub-pd.

v1.c9.s14.t1.34

Four burials were exposed at TEKWADA, the only exclusive Chalcolithic burial site so far excavated in the upper Deccan. Of them three were urn burials and one an extended one, all belonging to Phase B.

v1.c9.s14.t1.35

PRAKASH, on the right bank of the Tapti, revealed a Chalcolithic occupation in its earliest levels, designated as Pd I, which was subdivided into two sub-pds, A and B. Sub-pd A had as many as four principal wares: (1) white-painted pale-grey and black-and-grey wares, (2) the Malwa Ware [11.10], (3) decorated ware with incised and applied designs, and (4) coarse burnished and other plain wares. A single sherd of the white-painted black-and-red ware of AHAR² fabric [11.6.2] also deserves mention. The pottery continued to occur in the succeeding Sub-pd B, which however is distinguished from the former by the introduction of the Jorwe ware and the lustrous red ware.

v1.c9.s14.t1.36

The sites at BAHURUPA and SAVALDA yielded evidence similar to that of Pd I of PRAKASH.

v1.c9.s14.t1.37

Over 200 Chalcolithic sites, including habitation, burial and factory sites, were located in the explored part of Dt Dhule in the c. Tapti basin by the second writer. The most important results of the surface explorations were the discovery of what has been designated as the SAVALDA Ware [11.12] and of the late Harappa [4.10] sites in the upper Deccan. Besides, pottery of the black-painted orange-buff ware, similar to that found in sub-pd I A at PRAKASH and I B at BAHAL, the lustrous red ware and Jorwe ware were also found at several sites. Noteworthy was also the discovery of ash mounds [14.3] at KANDHRA, BALSANA and BHAMER, the first-named site being associated with the occupational deposit of the Savalda culture.

v1.c9.s14.t1.38

NEVASA on the Pravara provided for the first time evidence of the custom of burying a child in a double urn under the floor of a house prevalent among the people of the Jorwe culture in the upper Godavari basin.

v1.c9.s14.t1.39

CHANDOLI in the Bhima valley yielded a variety of pottery fabrics, including the Malwa and Jorwe wares, the former being dominant and forming 37% of the total collection.

First 72 of 107 passages. Read on

Linked texts (50)