History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15.s4: Chalcolithic Painted Pottery (Central India and the Deccan)

History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c15.s4

Language: English

Chalcolithic Painted Pottery (Central India and the Deccan)

Kayatha Ware

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The discovery of the Chalcolithic phase in the prehistory of the Deccan in 1950 has brought to light a whole new range of ceramics which is essentially painted black-on-red and its varieties. These painted pottery cultures - characterised by the use of copper and stone tools and hence the label chalcolithic are distributed in Central India and the Deccan and are datable to the second millenium B.C.

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Of these, the Kayatha culture (Circa 2000 - 1800 B.C.), so named after the type site Kayatha, (Dist. Ujjain, M.P.), and the Malwa culture (Circa 1700 - 1300 B.C.) are both distributed in Malwa which roughly comprises the western districts of the present Madhya Pradesh. The former is characterised by three distinct ceramic wares viz., the Kayatha ware, the red-painted buff ware and the Kayatha combed ware (Fig. 3). The Kayatha ware is a sturdy fabric represented by bowls, dishes and large storage jars. It is treated with a red wash over which designs are executed in deep purple. The pottery is of extremely fine fabric, made of well levigated clay which is devoid of any impurities. The other ware is buff coloured and bears paintings in dark red; it is also of fine fabric but is thin walled. The most representative forms in this ware is a *loṭā* with blunt carination and globular jars with outcurved rim.

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The combed ware is not much different from the Kayatha ware so far as the fabric is concerned. It bears combed designs, but occasionally painted patterns also occur. The painted designs on all the Kayatha wares are linear and geometric such as lines and dashes and lozenges and triangles etc (Ansari and Dhavalikar, pp. 4-5).

Malwa Ware

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The Malwa ware is a well defined ceramic which is essentially buff or cream-slipped and bears painted patterns in dark brown. At least superficially it bears some resemblance with the red-painted buff ware of the Kayatha culture. The relationship between the two, however, has not yet been established. The ceramic is extremely rich in form and painted ornamentation.

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The core is somewhat coarse and the slip is considerably thick (*Fig.4*). The fossil forms comprise the typical Indian *loṭā* with a bulbous body and wide flaring mouth. But more interesting are the channel spouted-cups and pedestalled goblets; the latter have turned up at Navdatoli only. They have significant parallels in Iran and hence they have been associated with Aryans (Sankalia, 1964, pp. 315-17). The repertoire of painted ornamentation is quite rich and there are over six hundred motifs in all. They are primarily geometric such as triangles and lonzeges but there are many exquisitely naturalistic designs such as animals, birds, plants etc. One must agree with H.D. Sankalia who states that “Among all the painted pottery found in India so far, that at Navdatoli has given the larges repertory of designs (Sankalia, 1974, p. 457).”

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Fig.3 Kayatha pottery, 1-6 red painted buffware, 7-10 combed ware

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Fig.4 A Malwa ware bowl from Navdatoli (M.P.)

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Although we cannot say much about the technology of the Malwa ware, as it has not yet been subjected to scientific examination, we can have some idea of the kilns of the Malwa culture. In this connection it may be stated that the Malwa culture of Central India had spread into Maharashtra and its remains have been found in the Tapi, the Pravara-Godavari and the Bhima Valleys where it can be assigned to Circa 1600-1300 B.C. In fact at several sites, as at Inamgaon, the first settlers were the Malwa people. In Maharashtra, however, the Malwa painted pottery is of a finer fabric in a sharp contrast to the coarse fabric in its kneeler area. The vessels are treated with a wash of orange or pink and the painted designs are in black pigment.

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The designs consist of linear and geometric patterns, but naturalistic motifs such as dog, deer, bull etc., are also be met with. The jar with tubular spout, which is conspicuously absent in Malwa proper, is present in Maharashtra. The Malwa ware can, therefore, be said to have undergone some change in form and fabric in Maharashtra; it resembles more that from Eran.

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A MALWA HOUSE WITH POTTERY KILN, INAMGAON C. 1400 B.C.

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*Fig. 5 A pottery kiln of the Malwa period*

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A pottery kiln of the Malwa period (Fig. 5) was uncovered at Inamgaon (Dist, Poona, Maharashtra). Structurally it is almost identical with that of the succeeding Jorwe period at the site which will be described later. In size, it is half of the latter. It is round (diameter, 1.55 m) with a fire chamber attached to it, and is provided with fuels for hot gas. The kiln was located in a house which could be identified as that of a potter.

Jorwe Ware

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The Jorwe culture, named after the type site in Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, was accidentally discovered in 1950 but its chronological position was fixed by the excavation at Nasik where the remains of this culture were found in the lowest levels assignable to the first half of the first millenium B.C. A number of Jorwe settlements have since been excavated during the last thirty years which has increased our knowledge of the material culture of these first farmers of Maharashtra. They were spread almost all over the present state of Maharashtra save the coastal strip of Konkan on the west and parts of Vidarbha in the east. A series of radio-carbon determinations suggest that the culture can now be dated to Circa 1400-1000 B.C.

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The most distinguishing feature of the Jorwe culture is its black-on-red painted pottery. It is wheel thrown and of thin to medium fabric. It is made of well levigated clay which is devoid of impurities. The vessels have a mat surface and are treated with orange to red wash. The most distinctive vessels are a concave-sided carinated bowl with a round bottom and a spouted jar with carinated profile and a wide flaring mouth. Besides these, there are high necked globular jars and storage jars with constricted neck and bulging belly. The painted decoration is in black and repertoir of designs is extremely limited. The patterns are mostly linear and geometric such as sets of lines, triangles, lozenges loops etc. (Fig. 6).

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Fig.6 Jorwe ware

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An interesting feature is the occurrence of some peculiar symbol on each and every vessel which has been taken to be the potter’s mark. Associated with this is a crude handmade red/grey ware which is characteristic of the southern Neolithic.

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A potter’s kiln was uncovered in the course of excavations at Inamgaon (Dist. Poona). It belongs to Early Jorwe period (Circa 1400-1000 B.C.). It is like a huge trough made of clay and embedded in the ground on stone foundations (Dhavalikar et al 1988; Vol.1, pt.i, pp.255ff). It appears to have been built in situ. Its maximum diameter is 1.75 m and at a depth of 60 cm from the top were found clay cushions in the kiln placed over the fire chamber. These cushions are oval in shape and have a hole in the center and a groove on the middle of each side; the holes in the center obviously served as outlets for the hot gas. In the base of the kiln were flues or air ducts radiating from the center. To the north east of the kiln was the fire passage lined with stones and reaching below the bottom of the kiln where an andiron or firedog of clay was placed. It is rectangular in shape with projecting corners and curved upper sides for supporting firewood. At the time of baking pottery the firewood on the andiron was lit and the resulting hot gas would be passed above through the flues and holes and grooves in the clay cushions. It is thus a unique kiln which has so far no parallel within the country or even beyond. But in principle it is akin to those from Indus cities which were provided with several holes for the hot gas (Mackay, 1938). The clay and iron inside the fire chamber has, however, parallels in West Asia where they have been dated to Circa 2700-200 B.C (Braidwood, Jr, pp. 371-73, Fig.290-91,A&B)

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A coarse variety of the Jorwe ware has been found recently in the excavations at Inamgaon and at a few sites in the Bhima valley. The coarser fabric is due to a lot of gritmixed as the tempering material and the tradition of painting is also on the decline. This late Jorwe ceramic is datable to Circa 1000-700 B.C.

Lustrous Red Ware

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The Lustrous Red Ware, a ceramic derived from the Harappan, is almost contemporaneous with the Jorwe ware. It occurs in Gujarat in the post-Harappan levels (AI, WS. 18-19, 1963, p.136, fig.34, pl.XXII). The lustre, according to B.B. Lal is the result of smooth burnishing with pebbles of haematite when the pot was in the green state. This left a fine powder of iron oxide securely adhering to the surface. The pot was then fired in oxidising conditions.