As the
name indicates, during the Chalcolithic (chalco = copper and lithic = stone)
period, both metal and stone were utilized for the manufacture of the
equipment in day-to-day life.
Since
this is the first metal age, copper and its alloy bronze which melt at low
temperature were use for the manufacture of various objects during this
period. By far the most important sites of this period
are the Indus valley sites. The Indus valley
civilization is basically urban civilization with all advanced
amenities. On the other hand, the Chalcolithic culture of Central,
Eastern and Southern regions of India show somewhat entirely different features
than those of the Indus valley sites, and deserve to be dealt in a
different footing. The Chalcolithic cultures of the above
regions basically represent the farming communities that existed
during 2000-700 BC.
Depending
on the features exhibited, four important cultural trends have been
identified. They are
1) Kayatha (Dt.
Ujjain, MP)
2)
Ahar or Banas(Rajasthan)
3) Malwa (Nagda,
Navdatoli, Maheswar, Eran, Mandsor in MP and Diamabad and Inamgaon
in Maharashtra)
4)
Jorwe (Jorwe, Nasik).
A
comprehensive view of the Chalcolithic culture as revealed by the different
sites can be discussed as under.
RESIDENCES:
- Though the Chalcolithic
people of Harappa made extensive use of bricks, the
Chalcolithic people in the rest of India did not use
any such material.
- The walls were constructed out of mud
or mud and wattle.
- The houses were either circular or
rectangular on plan.
- The houses usually had only one room,
but multi roomed houses were also existing as evident at
Inamgaon.
- The houses used to be plastered with
cow dung and lime.
- They had some light
roof supported on wooden posts as post-holes were encountered
in large number in all the Chalcolithic sites.
- Inamgaon also has yielded evidence of
a pit house which is circular on plan (3 M. Dia.) with post holes on the
periphery.
SUBSISTENCE
PATTERN:
- The Chalcolithic people subsisted on
farming and hunting-fishing.
- They reared cattle, sheep, goat,
buffalo and pig, which were also slaughtered for food.
- A variety of crops were
grown.
- The principal cereal was barley though
wheat was also cultivated.
- Rice is reported from
Inamgaon.
- Other crops included Bajra, Jowar,
Millets, Ragi, Green pea, lentil, green gram, black gram,
etc.
- Absence of dishes in Jorwe ware
indicates that the preparations were semi-liquid.
- Neither plough nor hoe has been attested
to at Chalcolithic sites, but perforated stone discs, which were
used as weights for the digging sticks abound.
Fish
and animal flesh formed an important part of the diet of the Chalcolithic
people. Fish bones and fishhooks attest to active
fishing. Hunting also was an important occupation for bones of wild
animals like wild pig, deer, stage, sambhar, cheetah, etc. were found in the
excavations. Cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, pig and rarely horse were
among the domesticated animals.
POTTERY:
- Wheel made fine pottery is the
speciality of the Chalcolithic culture, though hand made pottery is also
present.
- Most of the pottery used to be given
fine slip of red, orange or russet colour.
- Pottery used to be decorated with
linear, curvilinear and intricate designs in black pigment.
- Floral, vegetal, anima, bird and fish
motifs were also used in the decorations.
- Spouted vessels are another speciality
of this period.
- The characteristic Black and Red ware
made its first appearance in the Chalcolithic sites at many places.
EQUIPMENT:
- Though copper and bronze
came to be used, its usage was limited due to the scarcity
of the material.
- They depended more on stone tool
equipment.
- The Neolithic trend of using polished
stone tools continued in this period also.
- Microlithic tools on silicious
material were very common.
- Copper and its alloys were used in
making axes, chisels, knives, fishhooks, pins, rods, etc.
- Stone grinders, mullers and hammers
were used for processing food.
ORNAMENTS:
- Personal ornaments mostly composed of
beads of semiprecious stones like chalcedony, jasper, agate, carnelian,
etc.
- Gold beads and ear ornaments were also
reported from some sites.
- Copper beads, bangles and anklets were
found in good number.
BURIALS:
- During the Chalcolithic period, the
dead used to be buried in the habitational area itself.
- The adults were buried in extended
position.
- Sometimes, the feet used to be chopped
off probably to prevent the dead from returning to this world or to
prevent them from going away.
- There are also occasions when they
bury their dead in big earthen urns.
- Infants and small children used to be
buried in pots arranged ‘mouth to mouth’.
- When two urns were not sufficient,
upto five urns with pierced bottoms were used as evident at Daimabad.
RELIGIOUS
PRACTICES:
- Female
figurines of clay, either, backed or unbaked, have been
reported from Inamgaon and Nevasa.
- This probably indicates worship of
mother goddess and also fertility cult.
- Bull worship was also prevalent as
noticed at Kayatha.
- There is also meager
evidence of other male and female divinities, but more confirmative
evidence is required.
CHRONOLOGY:
The
chronological assignments of different Chalcolithic cultures of India are as
follows:
1. Kayatha
culture 2000-1800
BC
2. Ahar
or Banas
culture 2000-1400
BC
3. Malwa
Culture 1700-1200
BC
4. Jorwe
culture 1400-700
BC.
The
above dates for different Chalcolithic cultures suggest that this culture can
broadly be dated between 2000-700 BC. At many places this
culture has been succeeded by Iron Age cultures. On the whole we can
say that the rural life pattern, started in Neolithic period has been perfected
in the Chalcolithic period, and this period forms the transition from stone
ages to pure metal age.
