CHALCOLITHIC AGE

IN INDIA

Shishir Sompura 20BAR039

Stuti Parikh 20BAR070
 Early (5500-3500 calendar
years BC [cal BC]): began in
the Near East (Anatolia, the
Levant, and Mesopotamia)

Developed (4500-3500 BC):

arrived in the Near East and
Central and Eastern Europe in SE
Europe, followed by Carpathian
basin, East-central Europe
and SW Germany and Eastern
Switzerland
Terminal (3200-2000
cal BD): arrived in the
Iberian peninsula

ROCK ART
Late (3500-3000 cal BC):
arrived in Central and Western
Mediterranean (North and central
Italy, southern France, Eastern
France and Western Switzerland)
COPPERWARE

Timeline
CHARIOTS OF CHALCHOLITHIC
REPRESENTED THROUGH ROCK ART

02 03
 Chalcolithic farmers
built their homes out
of stone or mudbrick.
A chain structure,
which consists of a
row of rectangular
dwellings joined by
shared party walls on
the short ends, is one
of the most common
patterns

USE OF RED AND BLACK IN ARTWORK

REMAINS OF THE AGE

POLYCHROME WARE

HOUSING

Iteration I
• They are six home long links.
• Which experts deduce are
extended agricultural familes

Iteration II
• A bigger village is settlement
Polychrome paintings seen in houses made in clusters
There is a “Processional” scenario of robed and with central courtyards.
masked persons headed by a bigger figure with • Not all of the dwellings were
a raised arm at Teleilat Ghassul, in addition to the in a row, they were also in
architectural plan. trapezoid and circular houses.
The robes are made of a complicated cloth with
tassels in red, white, and black.

Some researchers have deduced that one of the

individuals wears a conical helmet with horns,
POTTERY FINDINGS
implying that Teleilat Ghassul had a priestly class of
experts.

SETTLEMENTS
04 05
 • Chalcolithic culture, also known as copper age civilization.
• The rural villages in the culture of epoch developed Copper CHALCOLITHIC AGE THRIVES
IN INDIA
tools, weaponry, and copper potteries.
• In the Indian subcontinent, the copper era was wedged
between the Neolithic and the Iron Age.
• In the Gangetic plains, it overlapped with the Iron Age, while
in South India, it overlapped with the Neolithic Age.
• In various parts of Indian Subcontinent, Chalcolithic
civilization created an opportunity for the creation of tribal
kingdoms. Name Of Culture Location Period
Kayastha 25 kms, East of Ujjain
on bank of Kalisindh, an c. 2000-1800 BCE
This is because of the metallurgy that developed in that time. afflluent of river Chambal
The Indus Valley and Harappa civilisation started in the chalco-
lithic period having and beginning with materials of the Neo- Ahar or Banas Named after river Banas
and its type site is c. 2000-1400 BCE
lithic age but evolved and became a major part of the Bronze
Age with the use of material and trade of the metals. Ahar(Udaipur, Rajasthan)

Savaldha Savaldha (Maharashtra)

mostly confined to Tapti c. 2000-1800 BCE
• Excavation study at sites such as Navdatoli, Kayatha, Eran, Valley
and Nagda shows that between 2500 and 1600 BC they were
all originally populated during Chalcolithic Phase Malwa Nimar district, (Madhya
• It was the Chalcolithic culture’s most successful phase. Pradesh) on the banks of c. 1700-1200 BCE
• These changes seems to have occurred only in some Narmada
locations
• After they became prosperous and their populations grew, Prabhas Type site is Prabhas Patan c. 1800-1500 BCE
they spread throughout central India, including the Malwa near Somnath, Gujarat
and Mewar regions, as well as the Chambal valley.
• Because prior excavators did not properly analyse the Rangpur Type site is Rangpur c. 1400-700 BCE
basal levels, the lower levels of Ahar (Udaipur District), 40
kilometres southwest of Balathal, and Gilund (Rajsamand Jorwe Type site is Jorwe in
District), 60 kilometres northeast, are expected to produce Maharashtra
early phases.

06 07
 Kayastha pottery

Agriculture
Distinguished by three fabrics:
• Thick and durable red slipped ware with
dark brown motifs
• Thin red painted buff with fine fabric
• Combed ware with incised patterns and
no slip.
Majority of pots are pre-Harappan red
slipped clay with a ring base. Sothi culture
(in Rajasthan) is pottery that is similar to
Kalibangan’s pre-Harappan pottery.

Ahar pottery

• It comes in seven different varieties,most

well-known isBlack-and-Red Ware with
white paint.
• Black on Red Painted Pottery with Birds,
Animals, and Fishes is a hallmark of
Savalda culture.
• Malwa ware is a coarse fabric with a
thick buff slip and black or dark brown
designs.
Prabhas and Rangpur goods are developed
from Harappan Black-on-Red painted ware.
The latter is known as lustrous Red Ware
because it has a sheen.

Jorwe Ware

• Painted Black-on-Crimson with a red

wash on the matt surface.
• All these cultures had red or grey • Black cotton soil covers a large portion of the region. It’s semi-arid, and the economy
pottery, which was manufactured both relied on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, and wild animals and fish.
on the wheel and by hand. • Cultivated Crops- Carbonized seed remnants suggest that a range of crops such as
• Bowls, basins, globular jars with concave barley, wheat, rice, bajra, jowar, lentil, horsegram, haycinth bean, grass pea, pea, black
necks, dishes, and lotas are common gram, and green gram were grown. Jaamun, Behada, wild
forms.
• Distinguishing feature of Malwa • Both tamed and wild animals have been discovered during excavations. Cattle, sheep,
ceramics are Small goblets on strong goats, dogs, pigs, and horses were all domesticated animals.
pedestals. • Cattle and sheep/goat bones were discovered at the majority of the sites.
• Carinated bowls, spouted (long neck)
jars with flared mouths, and high-
necked globular vases were all part of
USE OF POTTERY IN MALWA CULTURE the Jorwe civilization.

08 09
 SAM DERCHIC IPIENDIPIC
COPPER
Important Copper Relics
Four massive solid cast objects weighing
over 60 kg were discovered accidentally.
• Elephant: This is the heaviest (25 cm
× 27 cm) stands on a cast copper
platform with four brackets beneath,
pierced, to take axles.
• Rhinoceros: This is slightly smaller,
and stands on a cast platform.
Brackets contain two solid copper
axles with cast wheels attached. This
rhinos recalls the one inscribed on
Indus seals.
• Two Wheeled Chariot with a Rider:
chariot is attached by a long pole
to yoked oxen standing on two cast
copper strips and
there are no brackets
for wheels. The chariot IMPORTANT
has two uprights COPPER
supporting a cross-bar
behind which the rider ARTIFACTS AND
stands. This piece has REMNANTS
no parallels.
• Buffalo: This also has
wheels and axle in
position. This has
some parallels in the
figures of buffalos in both terracotta
and case copper or bronze found from
Mohenjo-Daro
Copper of the Daimabad hoard is
unalloyed by tin or other metals.
10
Copper artifacts and remnants
• Stone blade/flake tools made of
chalcedony, chert, jasper, and agate
distinguish the cultures.
• Long parallel-sided blades, blunted
black blades, serrated blades, pen
knives, were among the tools used.
• Harvesting- done using several blade-
tools that had a gleam on the sharp
edge. Flat axes or celts, arrowheads,
spearheads, chisels, fishhooks, are
examples of copper items.
• Some things, such as the axe, were
pounded into shape after being cast
in a mould.
• Beads consisting of carnelian, jasper,
chalcedony, agate, shell,
and other materials are
popular decorations.
• Bull sculptures
with a hump, twisted
backward horns, and
horns protruding
forward horizontally are
intriguing; numerous
figures imply the bull
was a holy animal as well
as a toy.
MORE FINDINGS
• 15 pots were found in one adult burial
from the Late Jorwe era.
• A big copper adornment was
discovered on the bones of an adult
burial from the Late Jorwe era.
• A necklace with twelve copper and red YOGIC REMAINS
jasper beads was worn by a kid buried
in twin urns.
• The skeleton of a guy aged 30-40 years
in a sitting posture was found in a
four-legged Urn; the section below the
ankles was not hacked off.
• A spouted pitcher with a painting of a
boat pattern with long ears was used
as a burial offering.
• The boat’s shape harkens back to the
Hindu idea that a departed spirit must
travel across water in a ferry to reach
the afterlife.
SEAL FOUND IN AHAR CULTURE
11
 Rectangular & circular houses in varying
sizes with mud walls and thatched roofs.

SAVADA SETTLEMENT
• The dwellings of Savalda culture
were largely single roomed rectangle
buildings with a few 2-3 roomed ones
thrown in for good measure.

AHAR SETTLEMENT
• Were built on schist (a kind of rock)
plinths, with mud/mud brick walls and
quartz cobbles for decoration, and burnt
clay or clay mixed with river gravels for
MALWA SETTLEMENT
floors.
• The bulk of exposed buildings in Malwa
• Varied in length, with the biggest home
villages at Inamgaon were positioned
measuring more than 10m.
about east-west.
• Partition walls, chulahs, and quartzite
• The houses were built close together,
saddle querns were found in larger
but there was a path between them that
dwellings.
was about 1-2 metres wide.
• The dwellings at Inamgaon were huge
rectangular buildings (7m x 5m) with a
partition wall.
• A low mud wall, gabled roof, and a
big circular fire-pit with elevated sides
adorned the houses.
• In the kitchens of Navadatoli
households, there were one or two
mouthed chullahs. Pit silos were used
to store grain (1m dia & 1m deep).
Grain-filled wicker baskets were put in a
circular mud platform (1.5m dia).

HOUSING
12
GREYWARE OF AHAR CULTURE

Initiation of
Ahar Culture
13
 • Ahar, also known as the Banas
culture. One of India’s earliest
Chalcolithic cultures.
• Derivation of titl- From the name
of the valley in which most of the
culture’s monuments are found.
• Excavations at Ahar- Uncovered
a two-part cultural sequence,
the first of which is Chalcolithic
and the second of which is Early
Historic.

• Location- In the eastern plain and

the southeastern plateau.
• Priliminary region for located
sites- Mewar, Rajasthan, in the
south-east.
• About the region- It is rich
in mineral reserves, and
archaeologists believe that this
region provided copper to the
Harappan settlements.
• During this time, a huge variety of
novel shapes and forms appeared.
• Excavated Products- The black and
red goods, as well as red and grey
wares. DEVELOPEMENT OF AHAR CULTURE THROUGH
CERAMIC POINT OF VIEW
• The rapid wheel- Slipping,
polishing, or burnishing the
vessels, and adorning them with
various sorts of ornaments are all
hallmarks of this step.

• Excavated Areas- More than
sixty Ahar culture sites have
been unearthed, with Ahar
and Balathal being the most
intensively explored.
ABOUT AHAR CULTURE
• Within a 32-kilometer radius of
Ahar, various copper ore quarrying
sites have been discovered.
This area is regarded as the
Harappans’ primary source of copper.
• Domesticated animal remains
have been discovered in
excavations
• At Ahar, rice impressions on potsherds
have been disovered.
• Wheat, barley, millet-bajra, and jawar were
among the other crops grown during this
time.
• The farming culture in Southeastern
Rajasthan came to an end due to an
unfriendly environment towards the
end of the second millennium BC. In
the Late Ahar period, there are signs of
deterioration.

EXCAVATIONS TOOLS AND WEAPONRY

AGRICULTURE
14 15

• The Early Ahar Phase has only been
observed in Balathal. It is distinguished
by mud and mud brick buildings, some
of which have hearths. The potters
created the black and red ware using
inverted firing process.
• The Material Culture- defined by eight
varieties of wares.
• The Inverted Method- Placing the pots
in an inverted position during the fire
process, such that the areas that did not
receive oxygen turned black, while the
parts that did receive oxygen turned
red.
• There is a lot of red ware, red slipped
ware, and painted Buff ware. A large
quantity of steatite and terracotta beads
have been recovered. This period is
dated to the fourth millennium BC.
• The Second phase- Balathal, a
transitional period with a short
duration. The Mature Aharian eventually
became more visible in the top levels.
The ceramic kinds demonstrate this.
• The Mature Phase- saw the
establishment of a significant number
of communities, as well as a few main
locations and numerous satellite sites.
16
CONCLUSION
• Stone, mud, and mud brick were now
used to construct homes.
• Hearths, storage pits, saddle querns,
and tiny storage jars are all features
linked with the homes.
• The rise of bead industries, as well as
mass production of ceramics and metal
works, were all hallmarks of industrial
activity.
SEALS DISCOVERED IN AHAR CULTURE
TRANSITION IN
AHAR CULTURE
VILLAGE LIFE OF AHAR
• Belief- Harappans in Gujarat
played an important role in the
origin and development of the
Chalcolithic in western India.
• This hypothesis was propounded
on the basis of the evidence of a
sudden appearance of advanced
technologies of pottery, copper
and bead manufacture.
• Village life arose before the
Mature Harappan developed
approximately 2500 BC.
• The Pre/Early Harappan
civilizations of western
Rajasthan and Saurashtra were
contemporaneous with the
Chalcolithic era in the Mewar.
• The Harappans in Gujarat have
long been thought to have
played a significant role in the
genesis and development of the
Chalcolithic in western India.
• Evidence- the abrupt advent of
advanced pottery, copper, and
bead manufacturing technology.
• Simple mud and wattle-and-
daub buildings were built by the
inhabitants who founded their
hamlet on the bedrock.
• There were the remains of a
circular house about 2 metres in
diameter with a well-made floor
coated with cow dung and lime.
Alternate layers of brown silt and
black clay were driven onto the
floor.
• The existence of a few postholes
on the tower’s circumference
implies that the structure was
supported by wooden posts. In
this early era, the use of stone
and mud brick for construction
was apparent by its lack.
17
 • Excavations at Balathal yielded abundant
of terracotta objects, as well as large
amount of locally made pottery and mud-
bricks used in construction of houses
• Some of these can be locally
manufactured as the fine quality clay

BALATHAL is available in the vicinity of the site as

evident from the natural depression area
near the site and some other seasonal
streams were also source of clay for
Chalcolithic. EXCAVATIONS

• Balathal is one of the important sites in Only Balathal in central India has been
EXCAVATIONS
Mewar region of Rajasthan. This excava- unearthed in the early Chalcolithic era. It
• Part of an outer defensive wall built
tion took back the antiquity of village life is contemporaneous with the Pre/Early
of stones set in mud mortar has been
in the region to 3000 BC. Harappan era, which may be discovered in
uncovered on the eastern edge of the
a few sites in Rajasthan’s northern region,
mound at Balathal.
Enabled identification of three phases such as Kalibangan and Sothi.
• It’s possible that the wall was built in two
of the Chalcolithic
stages. The first phase is represented
namely Early, Mature This phase appears to COPPER TOOLS FROM BALATHAL BEARING
by the lowest 1.15 m of the wall, which TYPOLOGICAL SIMILARITY WITH
and Late with traces have occurred between
tapers higher. To a height of 85 cm, the HARAPPAN CONTEMPORARIES
of infant urbanization 2900 and 2600 BC, ac-
wall is absolutely vertical.
or proto- cording to a sequence of
• There are remnants of mud brick
urbanization. dates.
construction on the top.
Some of the other contri- Balathal was a well-for-
tified settlement and • The nature of the outer fortification, the
butions of the
underwent a period of inner fortified enclosure, the well-planned
excavations include new
economic development settlement with multi-roomed building
domestic and
and then a decline. complexes on either side of a street,
public architecture,
This decline entailed a decrease in popu- and the constructional methods are all
strong evidence for
lation and corresponded with the rise of a evidence for this.
class-structured society and craft specializa-
tion. contemporary Harappan Civilization.
• Commonality with Harappan architecture
Chalcolithic people of Balathal practiced and technology- Harappan citadels, like
For the first time the Early Historic phase was
mixed economy based on farming, stock Balathal’s, were built around mud brick
systematically and extensively excavated,
raising and occasionally hunting but agri- platforms, with defensive walls that
which produced the evidence of large-scale
culture was the main occupation. broadened towards the base.
use of iron implements suggesting its OUTER FORTIFICATION AT BALATHAL
important role in the economy of that
period. FORTIFICATION
18 19
• Stones which are used for construction or
making other stone objects - some of these
are present in the vicinity of Balathal site.
• Included granite gneissic, marble, schist
etc.
• These stones might have provided raw
materials to the Chalcolithic farmers for
• Floral remains - evidence of floral re-
preparing stone objects such as hammer
stones, rubber stones, and also used for
construction purposes.
USE OF STONE
• From the inception of the colony, food
• Established trade contacts with the other
regions for acquiring material, which is not
available locally.
• Large amounts of copper may have been
obtained from the Khetri region of Western
Rajasthan through their contemporaries
the Ganeshwara-Jodhpura culture people.
• Maybe they acquired gold from Karnataka
as the Karnatka is the only known source of
gold in the Neolithic and
Deccan Chalcolithic.
TRADE AND COMMERCE
20
RUINS AT BALATHAL
mains suggest practice of agriculture.
• Storage facilities in the guise of
cylidrical silos (average diameters and
depths of 1 m) have also been discov-
ered, either lined with grass or plas-
tered with lime.
processing equipment such as bad-
ly worn saddle querns and rubbing
stones made of locally available gran-
ite were widely used.
• This data is noteworthy and implies
that agriculture has always played a
vital role.
BLACK AND RED WEAR AT BALATHAL
After the Chalcolithic phase, Bal-
COMPLEX AT BALATHAL athal was abandoned for a long
time until the Early Historic phase
(500-200 B.C.) of the site’s activity.
• The largest complex is located east of It was discovered that there was
the roadway and consists of a number
a cultural vacuum that persisted
of chambers, eleven of which have been
from five to six centuries. This new
revealed thus far. settlement already had the knowl-
• The outside wall, especially on the edge of iron, which enabled the
western side, is built of stones placed
inhabitants to establish agricul-
in mud mortar and is relatively thick
ture practice and production.
(average thickness 90 cm).
• The variously sized chambers, which
were rectangular, square, or rhomboidal
in design, were used for storage and
cooking.
• Domestic hearths may be found in two
of the rooms. Storage might have been
done in five rooms.
• The size and shape of the chambers, as
well as their contents, such as clay bins,
storage jars, and circular stone-topped
clay platforms and silos, lead to this
conclusion.
PART OF THE FLOOR OF A CIRCULAR HUT, BALATHAL
THE END OF BALATHAL
21
 References:

• https://egyankosh.ac.in/
bitstream/123456789/41362/1/Unit-3.pdf
• https://journals.lib.washington.edu/index.
php/BIPPA/article/viewFile/11731/10360

• file:///C:/Users/Stuti%20Parikh/
Downloads/202004021910157821anil_
kumar_Chalcolithic_Cultures_of_India%20
(1).pdf
• https://www.jagranjosh.com/
general-knowledge/the-chalcolithic-
culture-1430564033-1
• https://www.thoughtco.com/chalcolithic-
period-copper-mettalurgy-170474
• https://www.ancient-asia-journal.com/
articles/10.5334/aa.10205/
• https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Balathal
• https://ancientindiaera.blogspot.
com/2018/09/ahar-culture-ahar-banas-
culture.html

22