Chalcolithic Age !

Chanakya National Law University
Chalcolithic Age
Submitted by :- Akash shankar Roll num :- 908(BA.LL.B) 1st semester (2013 -2018) Submitted to :- Dr. pridarshni
The Chalcolithic Age(5500 -3500 BC)

Chalcolithic is some times referred to as the copper age and the word is from the greek for copper (chalcos ) and stone (lithos). The chacolithic is the name given to the period in the Near East and Europe after the Neolithic and before the bronze age ,roughly between about 4500 and 3500 BC. The beginning of the chalcolithic age meant that humankind started using copper. Towards the end of the Neolithic period began the use of metals. First metal to be used was copper and cultural of that time is called chalcolithic culture. A cultural period between the Neolithic and the bronze ages, marked by the development and use of copper tools. The lelics found in the Harda district of Bhopal belong to the chalcolithic age, when ancient human settlers began using metals like copper. Copper was used for the first time on the Island in the Chalcolithic Age from 4000 BC to 2500 BC, Which has since been known for its copper resources such elements present in legends and beliefs as the birth of fire, melting the mountains and ploughing fields and domesticating animals represents the discovery the Ice Age, the transition into the chalcolithic age and the entry into the Neolithic Age respectively. The chalcolithic men used stone, adobe, and meed bricks to build houses. They also learned how to use lime stone for whitewash. The houses had stone foundations. The rooks, however, were As a continuation of the Neolithic era, terra cotta figurines of mother goddess were common too. In this era another distinguishing feature was the sophistication in pottery making. Earthenware was decorated with variety of motifis and paint was used in the process. The chalcolithic artists spent their time mostly making monochrome and collar painted pottery instead of drawing and painting the walls of the dwellings. The chalcolithic i.e. copper bronze age or stone copper age of India produced is a splendid civilisation in the Indw vally which spread in the neighbouring regious. In this time period their economy was based on subsistence agriculture hunting and fishing copper tools was present in a limited number. Original the definition of the chalcolithic period was clear. The beginning of the chalcolithic age meant that time started the humans were using copper. Also in the chalcolithic period these was already experimentation to mix copper and tin so the current definition of the chalcolithic age seems to be out of date. It is also worth mentioning that, in addition to copper ,use of stone and obsidian was common in this period.
Chalcolithic Settlement Pattern

*Town feature at Diamanabad and Inamaga. * Town planning Inamgaon *Fortification - Nagada , Inamgaon, Diamabad, Balathal *Baked Brick Evidence Gilund *Stone Dwellings Ahar *Chiefly Circular and rectangular houses have been found *Microlithic have been found from Ahar *Flat, Rectangular Copper axe have been found frm jorwey *Chief crop Barly *Evidence of Rice has been found from Inamgaon *Fire Altars and fire worksip were prevalent *Inner Funeral system *North South direction of burials * East West direction of burials were prevalent in South India. *Large Diamabad. and chandoli
About Pottery and Types

Wheel made fine pottery is the speciality of the Chalcolithic culture, though hand made pottery is also present. Most of the pottery used to be given fine slip of red, orange or russet colour. Pottery used to be decorated with linear, curvilinear and intricate designs in black pigment. Floral, vegetal, anima, bird and fish motifs were also used in the decorations. Spouted vessels are another speciality of this period. The characteristic Black and Red ware made its first appearance in the Chalcolithic sites at many places Pottery Ahar Kayatha Malwa Saalda Jorwe Type Red Ware Deep Red Ware Deep Brown & Black Pictographic (Red & Black) Pictographic (Red & Black)
Prabhas Rangpur
Pictographic (Red & Black) Polished Red.
EQUIPMENT:
Though copper and bronze came to be used, its usage was limited due to the scarcity of the material. They depended more on stone tool equipment. The Neolithic trend of using polished stone tools continued in this period also. Microlithic tools on silicious material were very common. Copper and its alloys were used in making axes, chisels, knives, fishhooks, pins, rods, etc. Stone grinders, mullers and hammers were used for processing food. ORNAMENTS: Personal ornaments mostly composed of beads of semiprecious stones like chalcedony, jasper, agate, carnelian, etc. Gold beads and ear ornaments were also reported from some sites. Copper beads, bangles and anklets were found in good number. BURIALS: During the Chalcolithic period, the dead used to be buried in the habitational area itself. The adults were buried in extended position. Sometimes, the feet used to be chopped off probably to prevent the dead from returning to this world or to prevent them from going away. There are also occasions when they bury their dead in big earthen urns. Infants and small children used to be buried in pots arranged mouth to mouth. When two urns were not sufficient, upto five urns with pierced bottoms were used as evident at Daimabad.
RELIGIOUS PRACTICES: Female figurines of clay, either, backed or unbaked, have been reported from Inamgaon and Nevasa. This probably indicates worship of mother goddess and also fertility cult. Bull worship was also prevalent as noticed at Kayatha. There is also meager evidence of other male and female divinities, but more confirmative evidence is required.
CHRONOLOGY: The chronological assignments of different Chalcolithic cultures of India are as follows: 1. Kayatha culture 2. Ahar or Banas culture 3. Malwa Culture 4. Jorwe culture 2000-1800 BC 2000-1400 BC 1700-1200 BC 1400-700 BC.
The above dates for different Chalcolithic cultures suggest that this culture can broadly be dated between 2000-700 BC. At many places this culture has been succeeded by Iron Age cultures. On the whole we can say that the rural life pattern, started in Neolithic period has been perfected in the Chalcolithic period, and this period forms the transition from stone ages to pure metal age.
Executive Summary
Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Scotland is traditionally defined by the introduction and use of copper and copper alloys for the manufacture of tools, ornaments and weapons. It is, however much more than that, forming a less than well-understood tunnel into which the Neolithic cattle train disappears to emerge as an iron horse two millennia later. Gradually, what has occurred in the tunnel is being elucidated, as research reveals sites and objects, assumed to have been from earlier or later periods, to be of Bronze Age date, whether it be hillforts, Clava cairns, recumbent stone circles and small henges in north-east Scotland, or, of course, hut-circles. Bronze metallurgy, by virtue of its dependence on supplies of copper and tin (and gold) from often distant sources, provides a category of evidence through which the place of Scotland in a wider system of exchange and circulation can be explored, and allows precious insight into the dynamics of contacts at this period of prehistory. The very nature of Bronze Age technology dictated that Scotland was to become part of an international network facilitating the distribution of metal and other materials, and tracing links with communities in Ireland, England and Europe is a growing research area. The Scottish Chalcolithic and Bronze Age also offer a uniquely strong data set to study the effects of climate and environmental change on past communities. Palaeoenvironmental data for the period is strong , supplemented by increasing evidence of settlement systems. This was a period of dramatic social, economic, and cultural change, characterised by changes in social stratification, rich regional diversity and an increase in inter-regional, indeed international, interaction, and development of the landscape both as a physical and cosmological resource. The period is now being appreciated on its own terms and the fascinating insight it can provide both as a coherent region, and within a European context.
A Scottish Chalcolithic?
After many decades of conflicting terminologies for the later third millennium BC (Late Neolithic, Final Neolithic, (early) Beaker period, Copper Age, Early Bronze Age, not to mention Andrew Selkirks suggested LaNEBA), a critical debate has recently begun about how we should label and interpret the period of transition from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age. Various strands of individual research came together in a Prehistoric Society conference on the British Chalcolithic in April 2009 (publication in press). This still does not mean there is wholehearted consensus over the case for defining a Chalcolithic and it might be ventured that the case should anyway be considered independently for each region on the basis that the character of society was not uniform across Britain during the late third millennium BC.

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Chanakya National Law University

The Chalcolithic Age(5500 -3500 BC)

Chalcolithic Settlement Pattern

About Pottery and Types

Pictographic (Red & Black) Polished Red.

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