Chalcolithic age discussed by Harsh Kumar
Background
Chalcolithic is last phase of the pre-historic studies. As we have already discussed the earlier ages of Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic and Megalithic. You can access them from our website for free. Chalcolithic age started flourishing around 2800 BC. The sites of Chalcolithic are discovered most from the western part of India. The world Chalcolithic basically means the age of copper and stone as the ‘chalco’ implies for copper and ‘lithic’ for the stone, hence, Chalcolithic. During this age the copper and stone tools both used by the peoples of this culture that’s why known as the Chalcolithic Culture.
Around the middle of 4th millennium BC, humans had discovered the first metal and this metal was Cooper (Cu). Gradually, the use of copper tools became common but the stone tools were in also use by the people of this age. As of a result the Chalcolithic cultural phase commenced. This culture flourished from the 2800 BC – 700 BC in Indian Subcontinent. The Chalcolithic culture was basically is the mixture of various small cultures which are flourished in different regions of India. Most of the sub-cultures were confined to the modern-day states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh etc.
Distribution of Chalcolithic Cultures
The first is the Kyatha culture which flourished in the valley of River Kalisindh in modern-day Madhya Pradesh during the time-period 2200BC – 2000 BC. Kyatha was the most prominent site of this culture.
Second is the Ahar culture which flourished in the valley of river Banas in the modern-day state of Rajasthan during the time-period of 2000BC – 1500BC. Ahar, Gilund, Balathal are the prominent sites of this culture.
Third is the Malwa culture that flourished in the parts of the states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh which constituted the Malwa region. It flourished around the time-period of 1600 BC -1300 BC. Navadatoli was one of the prominent sites of this culture.
Fourth is the Jorwe culture that is in Maharashtra around the river Parvara which is a tributary of river Godavari around the time – period 1400 BC – 700 BC. Jorwe, Inamgaon, and Diamabad are the most prominent sites of this culture.
Savalda culture is the other prominent part of the Chalcolithic age which flourished around the bordering area of the modern-day Maharashtra and Gujarat, around the time- period 2000 BC – 1800 BC. Savalda is the most prominent site of this culture.
Rangpur culture and Prabhas culture both flourished in Gujarat in 1800 BC – 1400 BC. Prabhas Patan is actually is the ancient name of Somnath.
Pattern of living:
Economic Life of Chalcolithic Peoples
Chalcolithic peoples practiced the agriculture, domesticated animals and were also involved in the secondary activities of the economy. Agriculture was quite advanced during this age the people were aware of the irrigation and crop rotation. Dams were built during the age for storage of water that shows the technological advancement of the people of Chalcolithic age. Barley was the main crop of production during this age. But state of agriculture surplus yet to be reached.
Various kind of arts and crafts were also practiced during the Chalcolithic age, because of the use of bronze and copper. Pottery making was also a prominent craft during this age. They practiced trade and commerce through the Barter System (in this system people trade in exchange of commodities. For example, I have tomatoes and I need potatoes for making a dish, and another person have potatoes and need tomatoes. So, by exchange in these commodities we both can make dish).
Social Life
During the Chalcolithic age, for the first-time social stratification was witnessed in the Indian the differences in the size of houses and the items found in the graves indicates that some people were rich while some were poor during the Chalcolithic age. As some houses were big that may be occupied by the rich members of the society and some small houses may be occupied by the poor peoples of the age. Some of the graves yielded gold and silver and precious stones ornaments.
These graves are definitely belonging to the rich people of the age. In some graves cheap pottery and earthen beads were found. So, these graves were definitely belonging to the poor section of the Chalcolithic period. The Chalcolithic people were lived in well settled villages and lived a good life.
Politico-Administration Life
The dams and forts were built during the Chalcolithic age that indicates that there was some kind of local authority to maintain these public infrastructures as without any public authority the maintenance and construction of these kind of structure in not possible. But there are no specific evidences about the politico-admin nature that can tell us about the system of governance during the Chalcolithic age.
Religious Life
The religious life during the Chalcolithic age was well developed because there are various evidences of multiple faiths and beliefs are found during the excavation that practiced by the peoples of this age. The discovery of female figurines in large number indicates that they worshipped the Mother Goddess as their chief deity. Male figurines were rare in the discovery of Chalcolithic cultures. This is the indication that the status of male deities was inferior to the female deities.
The discovery of the common items from the graves of the Chalcolithic culture indicates that they believe in the life after death. The items of commonly used placed with dead’s so that they can use them in another world. This is the indication of the philosophical thinking was started generating in humans during this age. In some graves of Chalcolithic age from Maharashtra skeleton, it was found that the lower parts of feet were chopped off, of dead bodies. It was believed that feet below ankle were cut for preventing the dead bodies into ghosts.
Significance of Chalcolithic Pottery
Pottery was well advanced during the Chalcolithic period and these potteries provide important information about the Chalcolithic culture because there are no written evidences available for this phase. This indicates that the people of this age were not aware of the scripts yet.
From Kyatha, three varieties of red ware pottery have been found. The pots were painted in Dark Brown and buff (yellowish) color. From Ahar, the seven varieties of pottery have been found. Black and red ware having painted in white color, was the most important pottery at this place. The buff-colored pottery found in Malwa culture that was painted in black. In Jorwe, the black and red type of pottery found that was in various forms like bowls and jars.
During the excavation from the Rangpur, the lustrous red ware pottery has been discovered. From the Prabhas Patan culture, the red colored pots having painted in black, discovered. Similar type of pots was found from the Savalda culture. Discovery of various types of potteries had indicates that pottery was a high professional work during the Chalcolithic period. The refinement of the pottery indicates the technological advancement of the Chalcolithic period.
The use of different colors on the pottery indicates that the knowledge of chemical science was well know to the Chalcolithic peoples. The geometrical designs found on pottery that were in the form of parallel and curved lines, indicates some mathematical knowledge of Chalcolithic humans. This was the starting of mathematical development in the Indian subcontinent.
Pots were burnt in kiln which was the indication of the moving of peoples toward the age of burnt bricks that later used in Indus Valley Civilization in large scale for house constructions. The knowledge of wheel was known to the people of this age as they made the pots using the wheels. The food grains stored in pots tells us about the storage knowledge of Chalcolithic for keeping the food grains safe from the damage.
Thus, Chalcolithic was a major culture of Indian culture which flourished for more than 2100 years. It was a major leap in the history of India as the people of the Chalcolithic were advance in many fields like pottery, geometry, the process of pot making from kiln, color making, making of dams and forts etc. Hence, Chalcolithic was main transition phase between the pre-historic and historic studies in India.