28 Chalcolithic Cultures of Western India

Gwen Robbins Schug

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 Introduction

 

In the second and third millennium BCE, a variety of regional cultures emerged in peninsular India. These so-called Chalcolithic—copper and stone age—cultures are typified by Ahar-Banas sites on the Mewar Plain in Northeast India; Malwa and Kayatha sites in the Malwa region; Savalda, Late Harappan, Daimabad, and Jorwe sites in the Deccan region of Maharashtra. The Deccan Chalcolithic of Maharashtra is unquestionably one of the best-known of these culture-history areas. This section describes the archaeological and bioarchaeological record for the Deccan Chalcolithic based on excavations at Bahal, Buhurupa, Chandoli, Daimabad, Inamgaon, Jorwe, Kaothe, Nasik, Nevasa, Prakash, Savalda, Songaon, Tekwada and Walki.

 

2. Chronology

 

The Deccan Chalcolithic is divided into phases based on ceramic styles:

 

  • Savalda c. 2200-1800 BCE
  • Late Harappan c. 1800-1600 BCE
  • Malwa c. 1600-1400 BCE
  • Early Jorwe c. 1400-1000 BCE
  • Late Jorwe c. 1000-700 BCE

 

At some sites, there are additional phases, the Ramatirtha at Apegaon occurs around 1600 BCE and the Daimabad phase from Daimabad was contemporaneous with the “Late Harappan”. These phases are useful for establishing a relative chronology as radiocarbon dates have thus far confirmed their consistency across this region.

 

3. The Environment and Evidence About Climate Change

 

The Deccan Chalcolithic is defined geographically by the Narmada River in the North and the escarpment of the Western Ghats (the Sahyadris) to the west. The Sahyadri Range rises 700-1400 m above sea level and it creates an orographic (rain-shadow) effect, dividing the wet, forested biodiversity hotspot of the Konkan coast region from the semi-arid and flat plains of the peninsula. The Ghats are drained by two river systems, one of which flows westwards to the sea and the other flows eastwards across the Deccan plateau, following natural rifts in the underlying basalt, and perennially watering this relatively dry region. Deccan Chalcolithic people situated their villages along the high banks of these rivers—the Tapi, Godavari, Krishna, and their tributaries.

 

Settlements were placed on high banks to avoid periodic floods but also to take advantage of the adjacent floodplains for farming, nearby semi-arid scrublands for grazing, and nearby tracts of woodland for foraging and hunting activities. Farming is a principal means of subsistence in this region today, despite the low amount of annual rainfall (ranging from 250-1150 mm per year) and the propensity for drought conditions (because the majority of the rain falls in the South -West monsoon). Rain-fed agriculture is made more productive in this region because of the Black Cotton Soil, an erosional, organic rich soil that is moisture retentive and has a natural propensity to “plow itself” through pedoturbation.

 

Historically, pastoralist groups in Maharashtra have herded sheep, goat, buffalo, cattle, yak, camel, pigs and other animals. Dhangars, for example, are a pastoralist caste cluster of the Western Ghats. As a group, they keep buffalo, cattle and goats but they also practice small-scale shifting cultivation and exchange with settled communities. Some of these communities live as settled farmers, like the Hatkar Dhangars, but some members of the community maintain their pastoral traditions, perhaps to buffer the community from the uncertainty and hardship of agricultural production in this area.

 

This area provides ample resources for foraging and hunting activities as well. The dry deciduous forest of the western half of the plateau is presently home to more than 700 edible plant species, including: 383 fruiting species, 250 species with edible leaves and shoots, 110 species of nuts and kernels, 95 species of edible rhizomes, and 46 species of edible flowers and buds. This region is not rich in aquatic resources but several species of fish are exploited by local people. More importantly, this region is home to more than 250 species of birds and 75 species of wild mammals including: Elephas maximus (Asian elephant), Panthera tigris (tiger), Panthera pardus (leopard), Felis caracal (caracal), Felis lynx (lynx), Hyaena hyaena (hyena), Sus scrofa (wild pig), Cuon alpinus (wild dog), Melursus ursinus (sloth bear), Antelope cervicapra (black buck), Axis axis (spotted deer, or chital), Tetracerus quadricornis (four-horned antelope), Cervus unicolor (sambar), Bos gaurus (gaur), Hespetia edwards (mongoose), Lepus negricola (hare), and Ratufa macruora (grizzled giant squirrel).

 

The climate in this region has been relatively arid throughout the latter half of the Holocene but there was an apparent increase in aridity during the second millennium BCE. Farther afield, palynological studies and isotopic research on paleoclimate from the Ganga Basin has demonstrated an arid phase commenced circa 3000 BCE and persisted until 1000 BCE. Cores from Maharashtra’s coastal estuaries support increasing aridity by the middle of the second millennium BCE. Deep Sea cores from the Arabian Sea, pollen data from the Himalayas, and an analysis of varves in Pakistan confirm there is evidence for aridity commencing at least by the second millennium BCE.

 

Evidence for increasing pedocalcic soil toward the end of the second millennium BCE in the stratigraphic profile at Daimabad has been invoked to explain the abandonment of these settlements circa 1000 BCE but there has been some disagreement as to whether these soils represent a climate change event or a human-induced increase in salinity due to over-irrigation. As the Deccan Chalcolithic settlements emerged in the context of an already arid environment, there is room to question the degree to which a further increase around 1000 BCE would have disrupted subsistence activity and the lifeways of Deccan Chalcolithic people. This is particularly true when questions of climate over a span of decades or a few centuries are considered as climate in the Indian subcontinent has a very strong regional character; some regions experience wetter conditions as adjacent areas dry out.

 

I have argued previously that there is not evidence for a significant rapid climate change even toward the end of the Deccan Chalcolithic period but rather that these settlements were founded in a semi-arid context but other scholars have disagreed, citing frequent high amplitude fluctuations towards the end of the second millennium BCE in Pakistan, Oman, and Assam. What is clear is that the Deccan Chalcolithic was always semi-arid, Chalcolithic peoples adapted to this climate through adaptive diversity—developing a mixed subsistence economy and supporting a variety of site types and sizes—and yet, after 1000 BCE, the majority of these communities were abandoned.

 

4. Settlements and Material Culture

 

There are a wide variety of settlement types in the Deccan Chalcolithic, from ephemeral surface scatters and small encampments (e.g., Walki); small, satellite villages on the margins of large towns (e.g., Nevasa); and large settled communities of 5000 inhabitants (e.g., Daimabad). Deccan Chalcolithic people built mud and mud-brick houses, made wheel-thrown pottery, used copper implements sparingly, and practiced a mixed economy with agricultural, pastoral, hunting, fishing, and gathering elements.

 

Evidence for “houses” at Deccan Chalcolithic sites primarily consisted of circular floors, paved with layers of silt, ash, clay, and cow dung. In the smallest encampments (like Kaothe), there were pit dwellings. At the largest settlements (like Daimabad or Inamgaon), there were also larger, rectangular houses that were constructed of mud-brick. These larger, rectangular houses became increasingly common in the Early Jorwe phase, as settlement sizes increased and the Deccan Chalcolithic people entered a period of marked prosperity. It has been suggested that a chiefdom emerged during this time and that higher status figures at Inamgaon for example, occupied more centrally located houses, which were also larger and contained multiple rooms.

 

Ceramic styles and traditions have been extensively studied for the Deccan Chalcolithic. The Savalda and the so-called “Late Harappan” traditions are only represented at Daimabad. Savalda ceramics are typified by a black on red ware, painted with naturalistic motifs (e.g., elephants and peacocks) and weapons (e.g., spears and arrowheads). Coarse and fine grey wares were also used. Savalda people used copper but the majority of their tools were made of chalcedony, agate, and jasper. The Late Harappan ceramic tradition resembles Indus ceramic styles. It is a painted black on red ware and the dish on stand is a readily recognized form. Four bronze sculptures, resembling toys, are known from this period and there are several inscribed examples too of Indus script. The use of bronze and the presence of Indus script on a small collection of potsherds suggest contact with the Indus people, if not some immigration.

 

The Malwa and Jorwe phases are represented at all of the other Deccan Chalcolithic sites excavated thus far. This was a period when the population sizes began to grow, new settlements were founded, double cropping took hold to feed the growing populations, and the Deccan Chalcolithic seems to have been flourishing. Ceramic styles during the Malwa and Jorwe are somewhat different from the preceding phases. The Malwa ceramics were constructed of a coarse fabric with pink or red slips and black paintings of linear, geometric, and naturalistic motifs. In the Early Jorwe phase, the ceramic body is finer and the forms were wheel-thrown with great skill. Animals and geometric patterns decorate the forms, which are predominantly jars. These decorative elements were lost in the Late Jorwe, when the ceramics are described as “degenerate” compared to the Early Jorwe wares.

 

The Jorwe phase is also known for the manufacture of chalcedony blade and flake tools. At Inamgaon, the Jorwe phase is associated with the advent of goldsmithing, lime-making, and ivory carving. It has also been suggested that the people of Inamgaon may have distilled beer or wine in the Jorwe phase but similar evidence from other sites has yet remained elusive.

 

5. Subsistence and Lifeways

 

Chalcolithic peoples relied on a very mixed economic base. Like their Indus neighbors to the Northwest, they farmed Hordeum vulgare (barley), some Triticum spp. (wheat) and Oryza sativa (rice). Three additional species of cereal were adopted in the Early Jorwe phase: Eleusine coracana (finger millet), Sorghum bicolor (sorghum millet), and Paspalum scrobiculatum (Kodo millet). Deccan Chalcolithic people grew peas, beans, and lentils, including some species imported from South India. Pulses found in the floral remains at Daimabad and Inamgaon included: Lens esculenta (lentils), Pisum arvense (common pea), Dolichos biflorus (horse gram), Dolichos lablab (hyacinth bean), Phaseolus mungo and P. aureus (black and green gram), Vigna radiata (mung beans), and Vigna mungo (black gram). Seeds used for oil production included Linum usitatissimum (linseed) and Carthamus tinctorius (safflower). Charred seeds and grains at Inamgaon and Daimabad indicate both kharif and rabi crops were farmed; double cropping began as population sizes increased in the Malwa phase and persisted through the Early Jorwe.

 

Chalcolithic people also raised livestock and exploited wild resources. Domesticated animals were present in the faunal remains at Daimabad, including Bos bubulus (buffalo), Bos indicus (cow), Capra/Ovis (sheep/goat), and Canis familiaris (dog). Wild animal species used for food included Antelope cervicapra (blackbuck), Axis axis (chital), Cervus unicolor (sambar), and Tetracerus quadricornus (four-horned antelope). Avian and aquatic species were also exploited for food (Kajale 1977) as was the wild species Zyziphus jujube (jujube), which was present in the floral remains after the Malwa phase. Charcoal from Daimabad indicated Acacia was used for firewood throughout the Chalcolithic. In the Malwa phase, charcoal samples also included Anogiessus latifolia (axelwood tree), Cassia fistula (Indian laburnum), and Dalbergia latifolia (Indian rosewood). Zyziphus mauritania (jujube), Pterocarpus marsupium (Malabar or Indian kino tree), and Trema orientalis (charcoal tree) were more commonly used for fuel in the Jorwe phase. All of these tree species are commonly found in dry to moist deciduous forests today and must have been brought from forested tracts in the past.

 

The species represented in the archaeological record changed over time. Savalda phase people relied more heavily on hunting and wild food gathering. In the Malwa and Early Jorwe phases, farming underwent an intensification process, probably brought about by increasing population sizes and density. However, there was a more fundamental shift in the floral and faunal remains between the Early and the Late Jorwe phases at Inamgaon, one of the few sites to preserve remains from a Late Jorwe occupation. While agricultural activities were focused on growing drought resistant barley in the summer monsoon and hyacinth bean in the winter dry season throughout the Malwa and Early Jorwe phases, the Late Jorwe saw a focus on more lentils (a saline tolerant crop) and gathered vegetal foods, like jujube.

 

Similarly, bovine remains dominated the faunal assemblages from the Malwa and Early Jorwe but the Late Jorwe at Inamgaon witnessed an increasing proportion of sheep, goat, antelope and deer remains. The cows that were present in the Late Jorwe assemblage died at older ages than those in the earlier deposits. Late Jorwe people also relied more heavily than their predecessors on invertebrate species, fish, reptiles, and birds as a source of food. Freshwater mussels might have been used for food but their shells were also used for jewelry and other decorative objects.

 

6. Burials and the Bioarchaeology of Deccan Chalcolithic People

 

Unlike some Harappan communities, Deccan Chalcolithic people did not bury their dead in formal cemeteries. The majority of adults were probably cremated but minimally, we can argue they were not buried in the settlements. A small minority of adults were buried under house floors in large jars, suggesting that there were some cultural prescriptions against cremation in certain cases. Infants and children under five years of age were buried in sealed urns, under house floors. These urns are globular, with a constricted neck and flared rim. The clay body and decorative style was unique to funerary uses. These large grey vessels had simple decorations (fingertip impressions or short incised designs) or were undecorated. Two urns were sealed mouth-to-mouth in the majority of cases.

 

The largest assemblages of skeletons are found at Inamgaon (approximately 255 individuals), Nevasa (74 individuals), and Daimabad (74 individuals, only 35 of which are available for research). Mortuary traditions at Inamgaon remained remarkably consistent from the Early to the Late Jorwe for infants and children less than 10 years of age, particularly considering the social and cultural changes that took place across this time span. There was a consistent preference for double urn burials through time. About half of the subadults were interred in twin urns regardless of specific age. Approximately 40 percent of the burials were non-urn burials in the Early and the Late Jorwe phases; single urn burials were uncommon. The proportion of graves that contained grave goods did not change significantly over time: 24% in the Early Jorwe and 28% in the Late Jorwe phase had at least one item interred with the body, usually one to three small ceramic pieces. These were placed either inside or outside the urn. The only significant difference in mortuary treatment over time was that Jorwe ware slowly replaced red/gray ware for use in a funerary context. Red/gray ware was preferred in the Malwa and Early Jorwe phases (50-60% of burials) and was less commonly used in the Late Jorwe phase (28%). This development paralleled changes in ceramic styles throughout the site and was not unique to funerary vessels.

 

Nevasa is one of the least well-understood of these three sites as it was excavated in the 1950s, prior to the development of processual archaeology and middle range theory. Three adults and 71 infants and children were placed in funerary urns or large storage jars and these were laid directly on the ground, except for two individuals who were placed in a shallow pit. Ceramic items were accompanied in these burials by beads and copper decorative objects or tools.

 

At Daimabad, burial practices were fairly heterogeneous in the Malwa and Jorwe phases. Most of the burials were double urns (80%) but large grey funerary jars were also used (10%) in the Jorwe phase. Ceramics were the most common item included in the burials, groundstone mortars were second most common, and beads were relatively uncommon. There were some mortuary behaviours that were unique to Daimabad: two symbolic burials contained dharba or kusha grass, one adult was buried in a brick-lined tomb in the Late Harappan Phase, and one individual was buried in two urns decorated with a sun, dog and peacock motif. This burial also contained 255 steatite beads, 22 carnelian beads, and a ceramic bowl.

 

Bioarchaeological research demonstrates that Early Jorwe infants were affected by social, cultural, and subsistence changes in the Jorwe phase. While skeletal pathology is not common, at Inamgaon and Nevasa there is evidence for periosteal infection on long bones and a small number of greenstick fractures. Statures were short and a growing proportion of infants were stunted over time. At Inamgaon, three individuals had congenital defects, a large proportion of infants had evidence for disruptions in enamel formation in the deciduous canines, and there was a high prevalence of caries (which is consistent with expectations for infants being fed agricultural products during weaning). The prevalence of dental defects and growth stunting is higher in the Early Jorwe at Inamgaon than it is in the Early Jorwe samples from other Chalcolithic sites, suggesting that this mid-sized village faced greater challenges than other small or very large settlements in the region.

 

7. Connections to the Indus Civilization and the Southern Neolithic

 

The Deccan Chalcolithic, and other small-scale regional cultures of the second millennium BCE have often been studied in contrast to the Indus Age that preceded them. Questions remain about the origins of the Deccan Chalcolithic and about connections among these settlements and the cities to the North-West. The Deccan Chalcolithic villages were founded toward the end of the Indus Integration Era. Like Indus people, Chalcolithic people grew drought-resistant barley and wheat. Larger settlements, like Daimabad, seem to bear traces of culture contact until 1600 BCE and it is clear that there was increasing population density from 1400-1000 BCE that has been explained as an influx of migrants. However, the Deccan Chalcolithic villages were already established before the Indus Localization Era so it is also clear that while these villages might have absorbed some immigrants from the “collapse” of the Indus civilization, that was not the origin of these communities and the Indus people seem to have had less influence than nearer neighbors in the Malwa and Kayatha regions.

 

There are some similarities and some important differences in the lifestyle and the material culture of the Deccan Chalcolithic settlements and those referred to in the literature as the Southern Neolithic. The Southern Neolithic is used to describe communities in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, occupied from 3000-1000 BCE. Southern Neolithic ceramics were coarse red or grey ware (e.g., Brahmagiri ware), which resembles some of the ceramics found at Deccan Chalcolithic sites, like Inamgaon. Unlike the Deccan Chalcolithic, Southern Neolithic people did not use copper and relied instead on polished stone tools but there are strong similarities in the manufacturing techniques used in these two traditions, particularly in the lapidary arts.

 

Southern Neolithic villages were very similar to Deccan Chalcolithic villages on the whole, with circular and rectangular houses made from mud or mud-brick. Their subsistence profiles were also basically similar. Both Deccan Chalcolithic and Southern Neolithic people had a mixed economy—hunting, gathering, farming, stock-raising—and this region of the peninsula is also characterized by tracts of Black Cotton Soil. Double cropping provided some staple foods but importantly, Southern Neolithic people seem to have relied somewhat less on wild foods and lacustrine resources and substantially more on cattle raising, exemplified at sites like Budihal, where there are large cattle pens and significant ash mounds of accumulated cow dung ash.

 

8. A Case Study—Inamgaon

 

Inamgaon is the best-known Deccan Chalcolithic site, thanks to extensive, systematic excavation and detailed reporting. Inamgaon is an important site in the sense that it is one of the few sites to preserve evidence of the Late Jorwe phase.

 

Inamgaon was founded in the Malwa phase (1600-1400 BCE), when the inhabitants of this small village built round pit dwellings and large rectangular houses with hearth and storage facilities, courtyards, and two rooms. During this time, the people of Inamgaon hunted and kept cattle, sheep, and goats. They practiced some farming but it was not intensive. They began the practice of burying infants and children under the house.

 

By the Early Jorwe, Inamgaon was becoming a prosperous settlement. The proportion of small circular dwellings declines and the buildings of this phase are large, rectangular, permanent structures with paved floors and low mud walls. Subsistence was increasingly based on farming and the people took up double cropping; they grew barley and wheat in the dry season and focused on lentils and peas in the rainy season. Early Jorwe ceramics were locally made, elaborately decorated, and fired in a large kiln at the settlement. Infant and child burials increased during this phase and a few adults were also buried. The children were relatively healthy, despite a heavy reliance on cereals. Their stature largely matched expectations for contemporary Indian children although their dental health suffered from the agricultural lifestyle. They had a high rate of caries (dental cavities) and dental enamel defects that suggest growth suppression in utero and in the first few months of life, possibly due to hypovitaminosis A, anemia, or other micronutrient deficiencies. Few adults were buried at Inamgaon, suggesting social identity, cause or manner of death may have played a role in the mode of disposal. In some cases, the feet of the dead were missing; this practice began at Harappa, where feet were removed for skeletons in cemetery H in cases of leprosy.

 

The excavators at Inamgaon suggested that the village social organization was akin to a chiefdom during the Jorwe phase, based on evidence for public architecture (a granary, irrigation channels, a jetty, and embankments), craft specialization, variation in the size of structures, the number and quality of their facilities, and evidence for religious practices (ceremonial hearths and human figurines). This idea was also based on evidence for a large structure in the center of the habitation, where a man was buried in a seated posture inside a four-legged jar. Another four-legged jar was found in the structure but it was empty and thus it was described as a “symbolic burial”. Because the house was located in close proximity to a granary, it was decided the chief was responsible for administering the surplus or collecting tribute as well. In addition, the workshops and production areas were located on the periphery of the mound.

 

The Late Jorwe at Inamgaon begins around 1000 BCE. Most of the sites in western Maharashtra were abandoned at this time. Inamgaon persisted but there was a notable shift in the lifestyle, subsistence, and material culture at the site. The proportion of rectangular houses declined and a haphazard arrangement of small circular dwellings returned. The number of houses is much smaller and it appears that large areas of the settlement were abandoned, empty houses used as trash dumps and stretches of the settlement burned. The ceramics were no longer of a fine quality, or finely decorated. The kiln from the Late Jorwe was a shallow pit, very different from the large elaborate kiln of the Early Jorwe. Farmers still produced food but at a much smaller scale and the species preferences shifted from barley and wheat to lentils and peas (saline tolerant crops, which might indicate one reason for the smaller scale of production was over-irrigation and soil exhaustion). People began keeping fewer cattle and shifted to keeping sheep and goats, which are easier to feed and fodder. People relied more heavily on wild foods, including lacustrine resources and invertebrates.

 

An analysis of the infants and children buried in this phase supports several claims about life in the Late Jorwe phase. The age structure of the human skeletal remains demonstrates an increase in fertility and infant mortality, with a decline in life expectancy at birth and some confounding effects from emigration. The demographic profile suggests a stressed population in the Late Jorwe, with mortality outpacing fertility to a degree that resembles a catastrophic circumstance and which is unsustainable in the long term. In regard to health, infants’ dental health improved as they were fed less cereal during the weaning process but their skeletons demonstrate severe stunting and wasting became increasingly common over time. In the Late Jorwe, 22% of the infant skeletons were emaciated and most of those also suffered from osteopenia. Whether these changes were brought about by human-induced environmental degradation or large-scale climatic changes, within a few hundred years, Inamgaon too was abandoned.

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  • http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4615-0023-0_34
  • http://swapsushias.blogspot.in/2013/10/chalcolithic-cultures-kayatha-ahar.html#.VhitQfmqqko
  • http://vandemataram.com/www/vindex.jsp?sno=404
  •  http://www.facts-about-india.com/chalcolithic-age.php
  • http://www.gktoday.in/chalcolithic-age-in-india/

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