An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s14.1

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.