Chalcolithic Period
• The end of the Neolithic period saw the use of
metals of which copper was the fi rst. A culture
based on the use of stone and copper arrived called
the Chalcolithic phase meaning the stone-copper
phase.
• The fi rst full-fl edged village communities evolved
in the Chalcolithic phase which was chronologically
antecedents to Harappan people. Rafi que Mughal
of Pakistan named there settlements as Early
Harappan culture.
• Though some Chalcolithic cultures are
contemporary of Harappan and some of pre-
Harappan cultures but most Chalcolithic cultures
are post-Harappan.
• Though Chalcolithic cultures mostly used stone and
copper implements, the Harappans used bronze (an
alloy of copper and tin) on such a scale that Harappan
culture is known as a Bronze Age Culture.
• Apart from stone tools, hand axes and other objects
made from copperware were also used.
• The evidences of relationship with Afghanistan,
Iran and probably Central India and visible at
Mehargarh.
• The Chalcolithic culture at many places continued
till 700 B.C. nd sometime around 1200 B.C. the use
of iron seems to have begun in the Chalcolithic level
itself. The use of iron subsequently revolutionized
the culture making progress and by 800 B.C. a
distinct Iron Age came into existence
• The Chalcolithic people used different types of
pottery of which black and red pottery was most
popular. It was wheel made and painted with
white line design.
• The Chalcolithic people were not acquainted with
burnt bricks and generally lived in thatched houses.
It was a village economy.
• They venerated the mother goddess and
worshipped the bull.
Sites
• Important sites of this stage are spread in
Rajasthan, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar,
Madhya Pradesh, etc.
• The Chalcolithic culture in Rajasthan is known as
Banas culture after the river of the same name and
is also known as Ahar culture after the typesite.
• In the Malwa region the important Chalcolithic
sites are Nagda, Kayatha, Navdatoli, and Eran.
Mud-plastered fl oors are a prominent feature of
Kayatha.
• The Kayatha culture is characterized by a sturdy
red-slipped ware painted with designs in chocolate
colour, a red painted buff ware and a combed ware
bearing incised patterns.
• The Ahar people made a distinctive black-and-red
ware decorated with white designs.
• The Malwa ware is rather coarse in fabric, but has
a thick buff surface over which designs are made
either in red or black.
• The Prabhas and Rangpur wares are both derived
from the Harappan, but have a glossy surface due
to which they are also called Lustrous Red Ware.
• Jorwe ware too is painted black-on-red but has a
matt surface treated with a wash.
• The settlements of Kayatha cutlure are only a few
in number, mostly located on the Chambal and its
tributaries. They are relatively small in size and the
biggest may be not over two hectares.
• In contrast to small Kayatha culture settlements
those of Ahar cultures are big. At least three of
them namely Ahar, Balathal and Gilund are of
several hectares.
• Stone, mud bricks and mud were used for the
construction of houses and other structures.
• Excavations reveal that Balathal was a well-
fortifi ed settlement.
• The people of Malwa culture settled mostly on
the Narmada and its tributaries. Navdatoli, Eran
and Nagada are the three best known settlements
of Malwa culture. Navadatoli measures almost
10 hectares and is one of the largest Chalcolithic
settlements.
• It has been seen that some of these sites were
fortifi ed and Nagada had even a bastion of mud-
bricks. Eran similarly had a fortifi cation wall with
a moat.
• The Rangpur culture sites are located mostly on
Ghelo and Kalubhar rivers in Gujarat.
• The Jorwe settlement is comparatively larger in
number.
• Prakash, Daimabad and Inamgaon are some of
the best known settlements of this culture. The
largest of these is Daimabad which measured 20
hectares.
• From Mesolithic culture onwards, all the culture
types coexisted and interacted with each other.
Lifestyle
• The Chalcolithic people built rectangular and
circular houses of mud wattled-and-daub. The
circular houses were mostly in clusters. These
houses and huts had roots of straw supported on
bamboo and wooden rafters. Floors were made
of rammed clay and huts were used for storage
also.
• People raised cattle as well as cultivated both Kharif
and Rabi crops in rotation. Wheat and barley were
grown in the area of Malwa. Rice is reported to have
been found from Inamgaon and Ahar. These people
also cultivated jowar and bajra and so also kulthi
ragi, green peas, lentil and green and black grams.
• Religion was an important aspect which interlinked
all Chalcolithic cultures. The worship of mother
goddess and the bull was in vogue. The bull cult
seems to have been predominant in Malwa during
the Ahar period.
• A large number of these both naturalistic as well as
stylised lingas have been found from most of the
sites of Chalcolithic settlements. The naturalistic
ones may have served as votive offerings, but the
small stylised ones may have been hung around
the neck as the Lingayats do today.
• The Mother Goddess is depicted on a huge storage
jar of Malwa culture in an applique design. She is
fl anked by a woman on the right and a crocodile
on the left, by the side of which is represented the
shrine.
• Likewise the fiddle-shaped figurines probably
resembling Srivatsa, the symbol of Lakshmi, the
Goddess of wealth in historical period represent a
mother Goddess.
• In a painted design on a pot, a deity is shown with
dishevelled hair, recalling Rudra.
• A painting on a jar found from Daimabad shows
a deity surrounded by animals and birds such as
tigers and peacocks. Some scholars compare it
with the ‘Shiva Pashupati’ depicted on a seal from
Mohenjodaro.
Two fi gurines from Inamgaon, belonging to late
Jorwe culture, are identifi ed as proto-Ganesh, who
is worshipped for success.
• Several headless figurines found at Inamgaon
have been compared with Goddess Visira of the
Mahabharata.
• Fire-worship seems to have been a very widespread
phenomenon among the Chalcolithic people of
Pre-historic India as fi re-altars have been found
from a large number of Chalcolithic sites during
the course of excavations.
• The occurence of pots and other funerary objects
found along with burials of the Malwa and Jorwe
people indicate that people had a belief in life after
death.
• The Chalcolithic farmers had made considerable
progress in ceramic as well as metal technology.
The painted pottery was well made and well fi red
in kiln, it was fi red at a temperature between 500-
700°C.
• In metal tools we fi nd axes, chisels, bangles, beads,
etc. mostly made of copper. The copper was obtained,
perhaps, from the Khetri mines of Rajasthan.
• Gold ornaments were extremely rare and have been
found only in the Jorwe culture.
• An ear ornament has been found from Prabhas in
the Godavari valley also.
• The fi nd of crucibles and pairs of tongs of copper
at Inamgaon in Maharashtra shows the working of
goldsmiths.
• Chalcedony drills were used for perforating beads
of semi-precious stones.
• Lime was prepared out of Kankar and used for
various purposes like painting houses and lining
the storage bins, etc.
