Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c17.s2.t2.4

v1.c17.s2.t2.4

Apart from these copper implements no other material evidence has been found which may indicate their way of life. The theory of B.B. Lal that the authors of copper hoard culture are the same group who used ochre coloured pottery (OCP) (yet to be confirmed with further discoveries) may be applicable to the Doab sites but not to the easterly sites of Bihar and Bengal. OCP has not been found with any of the copper hoards discovered in West Bengal. So the scanty idea that we form about their socio-economic life is on the basis of these copper implements alone. Shoulder celts were used as hoes for digging and ploughing, double-edged axes were used for felling trees and cutting wood, bar-celts for deep digging, leverage, breaking of stones etc. and circular discs for hunting. The pattern of their economic life was therefore very simple, based on rudimentary agriculture, jungle clearance and of course hunting. (Bose, 1987: 42-43)