Chalcolithic Culture or Copper Stone Age

Chalcolithic Culture or Copper Stone Age:

The end of the Neolithic period saw the use of metals such as copper giving rise to the copper-stone phase.

In South India, the Neolithic phase imperceptibly faded into the Chalcolithic, and so these cultures are called Neolithic-Chalcolithic.

Chalcolithic cultures were followed by the Bronze Age Harappa culture.

• The pre-Harappan cultures are the earliest Chalcolithic cultures of India, and they are found in the time before the beginning of the mature phase of the Harappan culture and continued to exist in the later period. Metal dominantly used: Copper.

• Unlike the mature urban phase of the Harappan civilization, Chalcolithic cultures were pastoral and based on farming, generally rural in nature. They used stone and copper objects, but they also occasionally used low-grade bronze and even iron.

• The largest Chalcolithic Settlements was Daimabad in Maharashtra in the Godavari valley.

• Their settlements were sedentary or semi-sedentary.

• Tools and weapons:

• Stone tools:

• People used tiny tools and weapons made of stone in which the stone blades and bladelets were an important element.

• The stone blade industry flourished in south India and stone axes continued to be used.

• Pottery:

• Black-and-red ware was widely prevalent and produced channel-spouted pots, dishes-on-stand, and bowls-on-stand.

• OCP (Ochre-Coloured Pottery) which is a Red- slipped ware often painted in black and largely in vase forms.

• Practice of Agriculture and Domestication of Animals:

• People of the Chalcolithic age domesticated animals like cows, sheep, goats, pigs, and buffaloes, and also hunted deer. Camel remains have been found, although they were generally not familiar with horses.

• The diet of these people included beef, pork, and fish.

• They practiced agriculture, cultivating wheat, rice, bajra, and various pulses such as lentils (Masur), black gram, green gram, and grass peas.

• The people of Navdatoli in Maharashtra were known for producing beer, linseed, and a wide variety of cereals, making it one of the largest producers in India.

• Houses:

• TheChalcolithic    people    we    regenerally        not acquainted with burnt bricks.

• Their houses were made of mudbrick, with wattle and daub.

• Houses in Ahar: People in Ahar lived in stone houses.

• Houses in Inamgaon: This site is a large Chalcolithic settlement having mud houses with ovens, circular pit houses fortified and surrounded by a moat, and numerous grave sites.

• Chalcolithic arts and crafts:

• They crafted tools, weapons, and copper bangles, as well as beads made from semi-precious stones like carnelian, steatite, and quartz crystal.

• The people were skilled in spinning and weaving, as evidenced by the discovery of spindle whorls in Malwa.

• Cotton, flax, and silk threads made from both

cotton silk and small silk (cotton tree) were found in Maharashtra, showcasing their expertise in cloth manufacturing.

• Their society included various craftsmen such as potters, smiths, ivory carvers, lime makers, and terracotta artisans.

• Ornaments were made from copper and terracotta.

• Society and regional differences in social structure:

• Burial practices: In Maharashtra, people buried their dead in urns beneath the floors of their houses, placing the bodies in a north-to-south orientation, without using separate cemeteries. Pots and some copper objects were placed in these graves as offerings.

• Religion:

• Terracotta figures found in Inamgaon of women suggest that the Chalcolithic people venerated the mother goddess.

• In Malwa and Rajasthan, stylized bull terracottas show that the bull was the symbol of a religious cult.

• Social Inequality:

• Indicated by diverse burial practices and a kind of settlement hierarchy visible in several Jorwe settlements.

• There were two-tier habitations with the larger settlements dominating the smaller ones.

• Chalcolithic cultures and Harappan civilization: The Chamoli culture existed in Pre-Harappa, contemporary to Harappan culture and post-Harappa period. Some of them are associated with Harappa and some are non Harappan.

• Pre-Harappan Chalcolithic cultures: Kalibangan in Rajasthan, Banawali in Haryana, and Kot Diji in Sindh in Pakistan.

• Mature Harappan Chalcolithic cultures: Ganeshwar (Rajasthan) contributed to the making of the mature Harappan culture.

• Non-Harappan Chalcolithic cultures: Malwa culture (1700-1200 BC) found in Navdatoli, Eran, and Nagda; Jorwe culture (1400-700 BC); settlements of the Vindhya region, Bihar, and West Bengal.

• Importance of the Chalcolithic Phase:

• They knew the art of copper smelting.

• Use wheel-turned black-and-red pots.

• First to use painted pottery.

• Used both the lota and thali.

• The Chalcolithic people seem to have been colonizers

in western Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

• Establishment of the first large villages in peninsular India.

• Cultivation of far more cereals than were known to the Neolithic communities.

• Distinct burial practices: In Maharashtra, the dead body was placed in the north-south position, but in South India in the east-west position.

• Limitations of Chalcolithic Cultures

• The domesticated animals were slaughtered for food and not used for milk and dairy products.

• Neither hoe nor plow has been found at Chalcolithic sites.

• The rate of infant mortality was very high.

• People were unaware of bronze.

• People were unable to write.