History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c11: 2. Bronze Age Technology

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c11

Language: English

v1.c11.s1 Indus Civilization — 13 parts
v1.c11.s2 Chalcolithic Cultures — 6 parts
v1.c11.s3 The Ochre-Coloured Pottery and the Copper Hoards Cultures — 22 parts

2. Bronze Age Technology

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Our analysis is based on the archaeological evidence now available for the period from 3000 to 1000 B.C., with special emphasis on copper technology. In the Indian subcontinent, this period was characterized by the use of copper, although stone blades continued to be used. The subcontinent did not have a uniform unilineal socioeconomic development during this period and therefore some of the terms have special connotations in Indian archaeology.

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The Harappan, the Chalcolithic, and the Copper Hoards cultures were the three main copper-using cultures. The Harappan culture was a fully urbanised culture and is generally excluded from the Chalcolithic group. The latter group includes exclusively non-urban cultures whose economy was akin to the non-metal-using Neolithic cultures of the South. The third group is called the Copper Hoards culture, so named because most of the finds were found in hoards.

Indus Civilization

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The Indus civilization or Harappan culture (named after the first discovered site, Harappa) is well known for its uniformity and standardization in weights, measures, ceramics, architecture, extended over more than a million square kilometers, an area larger than that of Pakistan today. It spread in the west to Sutkagendor (Makran), in the east to Alamgirpur (Uttar Pradesh), to Rupar in the north and to Bhagwatrav in the south (Gujarat). Whether this uniformity indicates an empire or a trading zone can only be guessed.

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Bead factories have been discovered at the Harappan sites of Chanhudaro (Mackay, 1943) and Lothal (Rao, 1973). Beads were made of agate, carnelian, faience, shell, terracotta, gold, silver, and steatite; beads with inlay work and etchings were probably exported.

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A highly standardised system of weights and measures was evolved by the Harappans. Two systems of measurement were used : cubits and a long foot. A cubit was about 52 cm (52.5-52.8cm) and the long foot was 33.5cm. Graduated scales with decimal graduations (upto 1.7mm) have been reported. The cubical, stone weights followed a binary system (1, 2, 1/3 × 8, 4, 8, 16, 32 upto 12800) in the lower denominations, and the traditional Indian ratio of 1:16 (1 rupee is equal to 16 annas) may derive from this. The unit weighs 13.625 gm. Higher weights follow a decimal system with fractional weights in thirds. The accuracy of these weights throughout the Harappan territory is quite remarkable.

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According to the texts, Meluhha (identified with the Harappan zone) exported a variety of timbers, copper, gold dust, lapis lazuli, carnelian and other stones, ivory figurines of birds and monkeys, etc. Most of these items were available from India, except perhaps lapis lazuli. Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Oman and Rajasthan all have copper mines. Sixteen copper furnaces from Harappa, the copper workshops in Lothal, and the large quantities of copper-oxide ore from a brick-lined pit at Mohenjodaro all suggest that copper metallurgy was a developed craft in the Indus civilization. Placer gold is found in the streams of Punjab and Kashmir and may have been the source of the gold dust.

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Wheeler’s (1968) time bracket of approximately 2500-1500 B.C. for the Harappan culture was based upon the discovery of Harappan objects in Western Asian archaeological contexts and the Mesopotamian artifacts in Harappan sites. Fairservis (1967) found it hard to accept a millennium-long monotony for the Harappan culture and preferred a range of about 2000-1500 B.C. Allchin and Allchin (1968) proposed that the period around 2150-1750 B.C. would better support the evidence. We, however, have suggested periods of 2300-2000 B.C. for the nuclear regions and 2200-1700 B.C. for the peripheral zone of the Harappan culture (Agrawal and Kusumgar, 1974).

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There is, however, more definite evidence for contacts between Mesopotamia and the Indus during the Sargon of Agade (around 2350 B.C.) and Isin-Larsa periods (about 1900-2000 B.C.). Disk-shaped beads of gold and silver with axial tubes have been reported from Akkadian and Troy II levels.

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Analyzing the data on contacts between Mesopotamia and the Indus, Buchanan concluded: "The Mesopotamian evidence, therefore, does not require a date of for the mature Indus civilization much, if at all, before the 23rd century B.C. It would be surprising if it lasted more than 300 years. We think that this is a fairly balanced conclusion from the archaeological evidence" (1967 : 107).

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A fairly large number of radiocarbon dates is now available for Harappan sites (Agrawal and Kusumgar 1974), and there are also 14C dated sites like Balakot, Damb Sadaat, and Kot Diji with both pre-Harappan and Harappan deposits. Harappa itself has few 14C dates nor do we have any dates for the lower levels of Mohenjodaro. Radiocarbon dates in the main Indus region show a spread of about 4250-3950 B.P., which agrees well with the archaeological evidence from Mesopotamia.

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In the peripheral zone, Kalibangan in Rajasthan has been exhaustively dated. Considering only those samples that were protected from more recent contamination by a good soil cover, we find that TF-607 and TF-608 date the beginning of the Harappan culture at that site around 4150 B.P. and that TF-143, TF-149 and TF-946 date the upper levels to around 3700 B.P. Lothal provides a quite consistent set of dates giving a minimum spread of 4050- 3650 B.P. (obtained by adding one standard deviation on either side). In view of the thinness of the occupational deposit at Lothal, compared to the other Harappan sites, we prefer the minimum time spread of around 4050-3750 B.P. This bracket is further confirmed by the radiocarbon dates from Surkotada, also in Gujarat, where a bracket of 4150-3750 B.P. covers the total Harappan occupation and is in conformity with the dates from Rojdi. Thus, a comprehensive bracket of 4250-3650 covers both the nuclear (main Indus) and the peripheral Harappan timespreads. (Fig. 1).

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RADIOCARBON DATES IN YEARS B.C. (BASED ON HALF - LIFE 5730 YRS)

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*Fig. 1 Chronological time spreads of different stone and metal using cultures in India*

Metal Technology of the Harappans

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Before we discuss copper artifacts and their technology, it will be useful to mention the types of ores and their main locations in India. The main Indian copper minerals are (a) chalcopyrite (CuS.Fe₂S₃), (b) chalcocite (Cu₂S), (c) malachite (CuCO₃). Cu(OH)₂, and (d) azurite (2 CuCO₃.Cu(OH)₂). The major copper mines are located in the 80 km long Khetri belt in Rajasthan and the Singhbhum copper belt in Bihar, which is 130km in length. Other important deposits occur in the districts of Guntur, Arcot, and Kumaon (Brown and Dey 1955; Agrawal 1971). Sources in Baluchistan, such as Shah Maksud and Kalih Zeri, have also been mentioned as probable mines for Harappan copper (Sana Ullah 1931).

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Pre-Harappan (or Early Harappan) contexts are generally poor in copper; from the pre-Harappan levels of Kalibangan, for example, we have three artifacts, including a *parasu* (hatchet). Only from Nal, in Quetta, is there a richer repertoire composed of knives, bangles, and axes.

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The Harappans were far richer in copper and also in copper tool types, although they continued to use chert blades. They had flat celts, knives, arrowheads, spearheads, chisels, razors, fishhooks, saws, drills, etc. (*Fig. 2*), in addition to vessels and metal figurines. It may be noted here that tubular drills, true saws, and needles with eyes at the pointed ends are contributions of the Harappans to the world of instruments. The Harappans were the only people in India who used metal lavishly for vessels, including a variety of vases.

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Most of them seem to have been made in two parts, the bottom and the top, and then joined together. For vessel fabrication they used sinking, raising and lapping, and for joining metal they used *running* on and riveting techniques (soldering was used only for noble metals). Metallographic examination shows that they resorted to open and closed casting, slow cooling of casting, annealing and cold work (Agrawal 1971; Agrawal et al. 1978b).

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Small animal and female figurines (for example, see *Fig.3*) were cast by the *cire perdue* (lost wax) process (*Fig. 4*), although none of the Harappan moulds is as ornate as the Chinese, nor as intricate as the Mesopotamian examples. A number of axes from Chanhudaro and Mohenjodaro show puckered surfaces, indicating that they did not always use *green poling* in open moulds; the use of green branches for poling in molten copper releases hydrocarbons which reduce the oxides, thus avoiding blowholes.

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Pure copper is not a hard metal, but it can be made harder through beating (cold work). Too much cold work, however, makes the edge brittle and it then requires heating (annealing) to make it ductile again. Alloying copper with arsenic or tin increases its hardness considerably, and today we know that copper should be alloyed with up to 4-5% arsenic and 8-12% tin for maximal ductility and hardness. We have now more than 200 analyses of Harappan artifacts (Agrawal et al., 1978b), which indicates that only 23% were alloyed with tin, 12% with arsenic, 8% with lead, besides a smaller percentage with an admixture of these elements. It should be noted that the Harappans used both Sn and As alloying and the Chalcolithic cultures exclusively tin alloying (*Fig.5*). In an effort to locate copper artifacts, we find a hatchet at Khurdi (*Fig.6*) similar to one found at Kalibangan. As regards Fig. 2 Main Harappan metal artifact repertoire

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Fig. 3 Bronze image of a dancing girl from Mohenjodaro indicates the use of cire perdue technique

Cire Perdue Casting

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1 2 3 4

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Fig. 4 Cire Perdue casting method explained: Stage 1. The terracotta core with pins., Stage 2. Wax model of the cat enclosing the terracotta core.; Stage 3. Terracotta covering over the wax model; the arrows indicate inlet and outlet for the molten metal. Stage 4. The molten metal washes out the wax model and replaces it with the metal. The casting is allowed to cool and the clay covering is broken to uncover the bronze figure

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HARAPPA CULTURE CHALCOLITHIC CULTURE COPPER HOARD CULTURE

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Fig. 5. Histograms of alloying patterns of protohistoric cultures. Note that only the Harappans use both tin and arsenic alloying. The Chalcolithic cultures use only tin and the Copper Hoard culture only arsenic alloying. This pattern shows that these three technologies were distinctive copper sources used by the Harappans, a large number of ancient copper workings have been radiocarbon dated (Agrawal et al, 1976), but none of the dates so far is older then 3150 B.P. With further work, older working are expected to be found. We have also tried to use comparisons of trace-impurity patterns between ores and artifacts. In both the Khetri (Rajasthan) ores and Harappan artifacts, gold is absent, but a number of other trace elements (silver, iron, arsenic, antimony, lead, bismuth, tin, nickel, zinc, manganese, cobalt, aluminium, copper molybdenum, titanium, magnesium, and vanadium) are present, suggesting the use of the Khetri ores by the Harappans. This method is not foolproof, and it is therefore hoped that results can be reconfirmed by the use of lead isotope ratio comparison between ores and artifacts and also by the techniques used by Chernykh and Tarakhova (personal comm.). Circumstantially, Khetri mines of Rajasthan are likely to have been exploited by the Harappans, because they are found in roughly the same areas.

Chalcolithic Cultures

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The so-called Chalcolithic cultures are characterized by the use of stone and copper artifacts, but metal is rare, and the cultures are non-urban. Traditionally, the non-Harappan cultures of the second millennium B.C. are included in this category.

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We discuss here the main cultures belonging to this group, starting from south-eastern Rajasthan and covering Central India and Maharashtra. The Ocher-Colored Pottery cultures and the Copper Hoard culture of the Gangetic valley are discussed in the last section. During the second millennium B.C. the rest of the subcontinent was occupied either by Neolithic cultures, or by the Indus or Indus-related cultures.

The Banas Culture

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More than fifty sites of the Banas culture are known from the valleys of the Rivers Banas and Berach in southeastern Rajasthan, but the only excavated sites are Ahar and Gilund in Rajasthan and Kayatha in Madhya Pradesh. The available 14C dates (Fig.1) suggest a bracket of about 3950-3350 B.P. for this culture (Agrawal and Kusumgar, 1974).

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In contrast to the arid and flat western region where the only relief is provided by extensive sand dunes, Rajasthan is greener and more hilly in its eastern part and the Banas and the Chambal are almost perennial rivers in this area. Udaipur and its environs form a large basin, enclosed by hills, with a single broad opening on the northwestern side. Ahar, the type site of the Banas culture, is located in this basin, with good soil, fair rainfall, and plentiful game even today.

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There are schist and quartz outcrops, which the Aharians used in house building, and copper ores for their tools. It is curious that at Ahar only copper was used and no stone blades, while the Banas culture had a developed blade industry at Gilund, a mere 80km away, and also at Kayatha in Madhya Pradesh. Even copper, however, is not abundant, as only five axes, one knife blade, one sheet, a bangle, and two rings have been reported from Ahar.

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Fig. 6. Copper objects from Khurdi (in fact, Kurada), Rajasthan. These are generally included under the Copper Hoards but are typologically different from the main Copper Hoard group

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The Kayatha culture, discovered by Wakankar at Kayatha on the River Kalisindh, a tributary of the Chambal, is the earliest Chalcolithic culture in Central India and is radiocarbon dated between 3950 and 3750 B.P. (Fig. 1). This culture is mainly confined to the Chambal Valley, but, out of approximately 40 known sites, only Kayatha has been excavated (Ansari and Dhavalikar, 1975).

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The Kayathans seem to have been rich in copper; 28 copper bangles were recovered from a single pot. The two copper axes with sharp cutting edge and a lenticular section are the finest examples in the Bronze Age of India; they were cast in a mould, unlike the later Chalcolithic artifacts, which were merely hammered out of sheets. A chisel is also reported from Kayatha.

The Malwa Culture

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The Malwa Culture is characterized by Malwa ware (a buff-or orange-slipped pottery painted in black), by copper or stone artifacts, and by small settlements of wattle-and-daub huts. It was spread over the Malwa region (as were also the Kayatha culture and to some extent even the Banas culture), and also extends into Maharashtra.

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The excavated sites of Eran, Nagda, and Navdatoli are in Madhya Pradesh, and Inamgaon is in Maharashtra. The Malwa culture has a radiocarbon range of around 3650-3350 B.P. (Fig. 1). Navdatoli is not only the site par excellence of this culture but is also well published (Sankalia et al, 1958, 1971). In the local dialect, Navdatoli means "village of the boatmen", and the site is situated on the southern bank of the River Narmada; the site of Maheshwar, also with extensive traces of settlement, is situated on the opposite bank. The site presents beautiful panorama of the tall Vindhyas in the north, the low Satpura hills in the south, and the wide expanse of the Narmada in between with considerable alluvial deposits on either side of the river. The selection of the site clearly shows that the Chalcolithic technology was adequate only for fresh alluvium and was not capable of dealing with the black cotton soil. Each household made its own stone tools of a milky chalcedony, using the crested-ridge technique.

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The use of copper is evidenced by flat celts with convex cutting edges, arrowheads, spearheads, chisels, and a mid-ribbed sword, which was cast; all other artifacts were probably hammered to shape. Copper beads, bangles and rings are also found.

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A hoard of massive copper animal figures of a rhinoceros (Fig. 7), an elephant (Fig. 8), a buffalo (Fig. 9), and a bull chariot driven by a man (Fig. 10), all mounted on wheeled platforms, was accidently discovered near Diamabad and has been ascribed by some scholars to the Chalcolithic phase.

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Each object, however, weighs several kilograms and to use such a quantity of metal for non-utilitarian artifacts seems unlikely for a Chalcolithic phase. They can only belong to historical period.

The Jorwe Culture

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Maharashtra, the home of the Jorwe culture, is composed mostly of the Deccan plateau, and only the river valleys have open plains with rich soil cover. Annual rainfall is in the range of 50-100cm, but it varies greatly from year to year and droughts are frequent. The vegetation is xerophytic (examples include acacia, tamarin, and *caparis*). The vast alluvial stretches in the Pravara-Godavari basins have more than 3m of fertile soil, and the main Jorwe culture sites are located on these alluvial flats. Smaller Jorwe sites seem to be concentrated around major centres. The former usually have only a few huts and an area of 2-3 ha whereas a major centre, such as Prakash in the Tapti Valley, Inamgaon in the Bhima Valley, and Diamabad in the Godavari Basin, may cover 20 ha. Excavated Jorwe sites include Inamgaon, Theur, Songaon, and Chandoli in Poona District, Bahal in Jalgaon District; Prakash in Dulia District; and Jorwe and Nevasa in Ahmednagar District (Dhavalikar 1979b).

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Fig. 7. Daimabad bronze rhino on wheels. For discussion see the text

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A variety of materials like agate, carnelian, jasper, chalcedony, gold, copper, and ivory were used for making ornamental beads; copper anklets and gold ear ornaments have also been reported.

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A pair of tongs and a crucible indicate local gold working, although the gold itself may have been imported from Kolar. Copper was also used to make axes, chisels, knives, fishhooks, beads and bangles. A smelting kiln has been identified at Inamgaon.

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Fig. 8. Daimabad bronze elephant. Height: 36.5cm. For discussion see the text

Chalcolithic Metal Technology

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The Chalcolithic cultures depended on stone artifacts, rather than on copper, to a greater extent than either the Harappans or the Copper Hoards people. On the whole, about 17% of Chalcolithic artifacts show tin alloying (see Fig. 5), but the range varies considerably: at Ahar, only pure copper was used; a Jorwe axe has only 1.7% tin; a Nevasa chisel has 2.7% tin; at Navdatoli, the range of tin alloying is 3-5%; the highest tin (12.8%) recorded was in an axe from Somnath. Unlike the Harappan and Copper Hoard cultures, Chalcolithic groups did not alloy with arsenic. For better fusibility, lead alloying was more common; 20% of the artifacts contain lead.

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A few artifacts have been examined metalographically (Agrawal et al, 1978b), Pathak and Medhekar 1955). An axe from Chandoli shows casting fins all over the surface. Although equiaxial grains and the absence of coring indicate a slow cooling of the cast, yet the holes on the surface show that the molten metal was not "green poled". An axe from Somnath shows evidence of cold work and annealing, and specimens from Navdatoli and Ahar indicate a knowledge of casting and annealing. The report of "glassy" slag at Ahar indicates local smelting.

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Hegde (1965) has spectroscopically examined several Chalco- lithic artifacts and compared their trace impurities with those of the Khetri copper ore. He finds a close similarity between the two, thus indicating the possibility of the Khetri ores having been used by the Chalcolithic cultures. The Khetri mines are quite close to Ahar.

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Fig. 9. The bronze buffalo from Daimabad. For comments see the text

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The most *beautiful* examples of the Chalcolithic craft are the cast axes from Kayatha. Most Chalcolithic metal artifacts, however, are of simple, non-diagnostic types. The main forms are beads, nails, rods, wires, fishhooks, rings, flat celts, and daggers. The Chandoli dagger has been compared with the antennae- hilted sword from Fatehgarh, but we consider that there are very important technological differences between the two. The total length-to-blade ratio in the Chandoli-dagger is only 1:6, compared to 1:5 in the Fatehgarh example, the tang was cut with a chisel and the incipient antennae so produced do not compare at all with the 10-15cm long, cast antennae of the Copper Hoards types.

The Ochre-Coloured Pottery and the Copper Hoards Cultures

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The third important group of copper-using cultures is the Copper Hoards culture, and there is some circumstantial evidence to associate it with the Ochre-Coloured Pottery (OCP). At Saipai the OCP sherds included those giving off ocherous colour on rubbing, those with intact red slip and some with black, painted designs or incised decoration. The site also yielded rubbers, querns, a chert and a chalcedony blade, a burnt brickbat, chunks of burnt clay with reed impressions, bones of *Bos Indicus*, a copper harpoon, and a hooked spearhead (Lal 1972).

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Fig. 10. A chariot with its driver found near Daimabad. It has been suggested that it is a late Harappan artifact. The author does not agree with this view as explained in the text

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It is difficult, however, to believe in the association of the Copper Hoard implements with the pottery at Saipai, and, with its spouted, handled and black-painted vessels and chert blades, Saipai appears to be quite unique. Moreover, the Copper Hoard artifacts have generally been found in caches rather than individually, so that the occurrence of only stray tools at Saipai raises doubts. I therefore feel that at present the association of the OCP and the Copper Hoard should be treated only as provisional.

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*The Copper Hoard Culture*

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Most of the tools of the Copper Hoard culture (Fig. 11, 12) have been found in hoards or caches, mainly from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. Since most of the artifacts were chance finds, there was no control of a definite associated assemblage. As a result, finds from such far-flung sites as Shalozan in north-western Pakistan, Bhargrapir in Orissa, and Kallur in the south have been included in the Copper Hoard culture zone. A wide variety of types of tools was included in this amorphous collection: rings, a variety of celts, trunnion axes, anthropomorphs, harpoons, swords, double-edged and socketed axes, and so on. Naturally, such an odd assortment of tools have given rise to a plethora of hypotheses, and it fell to Lal to bring some order to the Copper Hoards.

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In a brilliant analysis, he showed that a number of types (such as the Fort Monroe sword, axe-adze, socketed axes, and trunnion axes) were confined to the north-western part of the subcontinent (now Pakistan) and never occurred in the *Fig. 11. Two shouldered axes in bronze from village Itawa, Dist. Varanasi*

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*Fig. 12. Three typical Copper Hoards artifacts from Bisauli, Dist. Badaun. Fromn left to right: barcelt, anthromorphic figure, a harpoon* Gangetic doab. Other types of artifacts (such as antennae- hilted swords, anthropomorphs, harpoons and barcelts) were concentrated mainly in the Gangetic doab.

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Lal also showed the significant technological differences between the Koban examples (compared by Heine Geldern to prove his Aryan equation) and the antennae swords (Lal 1951: 20)

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Following Lal, the distinctive types that can be included under the Copper Hoard category are: flat and shouldered celts (Fig. 11) antennae swords, harpoons, anthropomorphs, hooked swords, and double-edged axes (Fig. 12). The last type has been reported from Bhagrapir (Orissa), where, although they are up to 40cm wide, their thickness is less than 3mm; they could not therefore have been used as tools. Their association with the main Copper Hoard types is, in any case, doubtful. The hooked swords seem to have parallel elsewhere, but closer examination reveals the distinctive features of the Copper-Hoard-associated hooked sword: in the apparently similar Harappan examples, a hole is provided for hafting and not a hook; in the Chalcolithic example from Navdatoli, there is hardly any median ridge, nor any hook. Moreover, the hooked sword has been found in association with such distinctive Copper Hoard types as anthropomorphs, antennae swords, and harpoons from Bahadurabad, Sarthauli, Fategarh, and Niori (all in Uttar Pradesh).

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Anthropomorphs have been identified as ritual objects. We examined several specimens and have found three main features: externally sharpened and in-curved forearms, plain hindlimbs, and a thickened head (Fig. 12).

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We have proposed their possible use as missiles to kill birds: the sharp arms could cut the bird; the thick head could stun it; and the in-curved arms could entangle and bring it down. When thrown, a replica of an anthropomorph travelled in a whirling fashion and followed a trajectory not unlike that of a boomerang (Agrawal 1969).

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Sankalia (1974) has objected to this hypothesis on the ground that such a device would be too complicated to have been used by primitive people. The boomerang, however, was not invented by civilized people.

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Rao (1973a) discovered a fragmentary copper piece with a convex end and two broken side lugs (Fig. 13) in the Harappan levels of Lothal, and compared it with the anthropomorphs from the doab. If it had had longer arms like those of the Copper Hoard examples, however, it would not be mechanically feasible for it to break so near the body (Agrawal 1971:192). It should also be noted that in the whole range of the Harappan artifacts, this piece alone has alleged resemblances to the anthropomorphs.

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Like the mid-ribbed sword, the harpoon has backward-pointing barbs and holes at the ends of the barbs. Two varieties of harpoons are known: one cut from a thick sheet, and the other cast in a double mould. Such harpoons could have been used either for killing fish or big game, as depicted in a rock shelter in Mirzapur (Fig. 14).

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The antennae sword type is confined to the doab zone. Its total length varies from 42 to 75 cm and the antennae projections on the hilt end are more than 10cm in length. I feel that such long antennae would be definite handicaps in using these artifacts as swords and have proposed that they could have been better used to kill wild game by fixing the swords upright in pits, with the antennae sitting in slits across green logs. If game were stampeded into the pits, the swords would pierce them without buckling, since the green logs (with branches) would serve as shock absorbers. Admittedly, this hypothesis would be difficult to test, except perhaps by examining use marks on a large number of such artifacts.

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Fig. 13. A flat copper object found at Lothal, a Harappan site in Gujarat, has been compared with the Anthropomorph of rectangular section however shows that it is a different category of object.

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From the foregoing discussion it is obvious that the essential core of the Copper Hoards consists only of the anthropomorph, the harpoon, the hooked sword, and the antennae sword (Fig. 12).

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These types are found together for example, at Bisauli, harpoons and anthropomorphs occur together; at Bithur, antennae swords and harpoons are associated; antennae swords and anthropomorphs were found together at Fatehgarh; and the hooked sword was associated with the other three types at Fatehgarh, Sarthauli, Bahadurabad, and Niori (Agrawal 1971).

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We would divide the Copper Hoards into two zones: the main doab (Uttar Pradesh) types are specialized tools: the anthropomorph, the antennae sword, the harpoon, and the hooked sword; the main eastern (Bihar) type is the barcelt. Flat and shouldered celts are common to both zones. The barcelt, from sites in copper-rich Bihar, is about 60cm long with a bevelled edge and a thick body. Its sturdiness and length suggests its use as crowbar for digging copper ores, and the use marks on barcells do indicate their use against hard surfaces. The barcelt is the only specialized type in the eastern group; if typology is any clue, the simpler types of Bihar may have preceded the more specialized types of Uttar Pradesh. Except for a reported harpoon from Mitathal, no doab types have been discovered from Haryana or Rajasthan. The parasu seems to be a type of this area and has been reported from Mitathal (Suraj Bhan 1975) and Kurada (Fig. 6) in Rajasthan (Agrawala 1980).

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Fig. 14. A rock art illustration from Mirzapur indicating the use of harpoons for big game hunting.

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The distribution of the Copper Hoard types is therefore mainly confined to Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh. It is beyond doubt that the Copper Hoards have an individuality of their own and were not influenced by either the Harappan or the Chalcolithic cultures. This is further supported by the exclusive arsenic alloying of the Copper Hoards. As regards the authorship of the Copper Hoards, there is considerable controversy. Heine Geldern (1936) identified them with the Aryans, Piggott (1950) with the Harappan refugees; Lal (1951) and Gupta (1963) with the Mundari-speaking Australoid tribes of the primaeval doab; and Sankalia (1974), as usual, finds Western Asiatic affinities for the OCP, and therefore for the Copper Hoards.

Copper Hoards Metal Technology

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Because most of the Copper Hoards have been found in caches, they give an impression of abundance of metal. For example, at Gungeria, 424 artifacts with a total weight of more than 400 kg were discovered. Until we find these implements in regular excavations or habitation sites, however, it will be difficult to infer the real abundance of metal in an archaeological context.

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An examination of the Copper Hoards artifacts shows that they were made both by hammering and cutting metal sheets, as well as by closed casting. A small percentage of the artifacts (Fig. 5) show lead alloying, probably for better fusibility. Metallographic examination of the artifacts indicates slow cooling, cold work, and annealing.

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We have few data on the trace impurity pattern of the Copper Hoards, but circumstantial evidence points to the use of Bihar mines. The exclusive occurrence of barcelts in the eastern region may also indicate their use for crowbar-like operations in mining.

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More interesting is the evidence of arsenic alloying. Out of the 46 artifacts analyzed by us, 50% show more than 1% arsenic. None of the artifacts, however, has any tin (Fig. 5). It is thus obvious that the Copper Hoards technological tradition is different from that of the other cultures. We may recall here that in the earliest phases, both in the Near and Middle East, only arsenic alloying was used (Eaton and Mckerell 1976); tin replaces arsenic only in the third millennium B.C. in Western Asia. At Tepe Yahya, they used arsenic copper ores, which made arsenic alloying easier for them, but there are no significant sources of arsenic in India, although small out-crops are known from Rajasthan, Kashmir, and Bihar. Nal in Pakistan, yielded lollingite (FeAs2). Both of these features, exclusive arsenic alloying and characteristic tool-types, indicate the possibility of the Copper Hoards being an autochthonous, and perhaps the oldest, metallurgical tradition in India.

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Before we conclude the discussion on the Copper Hoards, we should take note of some remarkable discoveries made recently in Rajasthan (Agrawala 1979:159-160; Agrawala 1980:89-92). Sixty copper flat celts and some arrowheads were discovered from Ganeshwar in Sikar District of Rajasthan.

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Two points deserve notice: first, the arrowheads are of Harappan type; second, the site is only 80km from the rich Khetri mines. Although we cannot technically include them with the Copper Hoards, they do indicate a factory site.

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The Khurdi Hoard was reported earlier by Sankalia, but Agrawala (1980:89) reports that the site is actually Kurada, in Nagaur District of Rajasthan. The original hoard consisted of 103 artifacts, but only 10 now remain in the Jodhpur museum. None of the types is typical of the Copper Hoards artifacts; in fact, the channel-spouted bowl has affinities with the Malwa channel-spout and the hatchets with those found at Kalibangan.