IGNOU HISTORY NOTES : Modern India - CHALCOLITHIC AND EARLY IRON AGE-I

IGNOU HISTORY Study Notes for IAS, UPSC Exams

Modern India 1857-1964

CHALCOLITHIC AND EARLY IRON AGE-I

Structure

10.0 Objectives
10.1 Introduction
10.2 Ochre Coloured Pottery Culture
10.3 The Problems of Copper Hoards
10.4 Black and Red Ware Culture
10.5 Painted Grey Ware Culture
10.6 Northern Black Polished Ware Culture
10.6.1 Structures
10.6.2 Pottery
10.6.3 Other Objects
10.6.4 Ornaments
10.6.5 Terracotta Figurines
10.6.6 Subsistence Economy and Trade
10.7 Chalcolithic Cultures of Western, Central and Eastern India
10.7.1 Pottery: Diagnostic Features
10.7.2 Economy
10.7.3 Houses and Habitations
10.7.4 Other 'characteristics
10.7.5 Religion/Belief Systems
10.7.6 Social Organization
10.8 Let Us Sum Up
10.9 Key Words
10.10 Answers to Check Your Progress Exercises

10.0 OBJECTIVES

In Block 2, you have learnt about'the antecedent stages and various aspects of Harappan culture and society. You have also read about its geographical spread and the reasons for its decline and diffusion. In this unit we shall learn about the post-Harappan, Chalcolithic, and early Iron Age Cultures of northern, western, central and eastern India. After reading this unit you will be able to know about:

• a the geographical location and the adaptation of the people to local conditions,
• a the kind of houses they lived in, the varieties of food they grew and the kinds of tools and implements they used,
• a the varietie of potteries wed by them,
• a the kinds of religious beliefs they had, and
• a the change occurring during the early Iron age.

10.1 INTRODUCTION

By the second millennium B.C. several regional cultures sprang up in different parts of the Indian subcontinent. These were non-urban, non-Harappan and were characterized by the use of stone and copper tools. Hence, these cultures are termed as chalcolithic cultures.
The chalcolithic cultures are identified on the basis of their geographical location. Thus, we have:

• a the Banas culture (located in the Banas basin) in Rajasthan,
• Kayatha culture (type site Kayatha on the bank of river Kalisindh, an affluent of the Chambal) and represented by other sites in central India (in the Narmada, Tapi and Mahi valleys),
• Malwa culture (Malwa, and extending into other parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra), and
• a the Jorwe culture (Maharashtra).

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