The Chalcolithic cultures flourished during the third millennium and second millennium B.C. Some of these cultures were contemporary with the Harappan culture and other were decidedly later than Harappan.
Must read: Chalcolithic Culture : Regions and Features
Must read: Religion in Chalcolithic Cultures
Agriculture in Chalcolithic Cultures
Subsistence agriculture, stock-raising, hunting and fishing were practised in the Chalcolithic cultures of India.
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 kulth, ragi, green peas, lentil and green and black grams.
Almost all these Chalcolithic cultures flourished in the black cotton soil zone. This clearly represents an
ecological adaptation dictated by available technology, knowledge and means.
Trade and Commerce in Chalcolithic Cultures
There is evidence to show that the Chalcolithic communities traded and exchanged materials with other contemporary communities.
Large settlements like Ahar, Gilund, Nagada, Navdatoli, Eran, Prabhas, Rangpur, Prakash, Daimabad and Inamgaon would have served as major centres of trade and exchange.
It appears that Ahar people, settled close to the copper source, supplied copper tools and objects to other contemporary communities in Malwa and Gujarat.
It has been suggested that most of the copper axes found in Malwa, Jorwe and Prabhas cultures bear some identification marks, which are almost identical, suggesting that they may be the trademarks of the smiths who made them.
Conch shell for bangles were traded from the Saurashtra coast to various other parts of the Chalcolithic regions.
Similarly, gold and ivory may have come from Tekkalkotta (Karnataka) to Jorwe people who in tum traded these to their contemporaries.
The semiprecious stones may have been traded to various parts from Rajpipla (Gujarat).
It is interesting to note that the Jorwe people traded even the pottery to distant places, as Inamgaon pottery has been found at several sites located away from it. This reminds us of Northern Black Polished Ware being exported with the trade from the plain Gangetic to far off regions, in the early historical period.
Wheeled bullock carts, drawings of which have been found on pots, were used for long distance trade, besides the river transport.
Technology in Chalcolithic Cultures
The Chalcolithic farmers had made considerable progress in ceramic as well as metal technology.
The painted pottery was well made and well fired in kiln. It was fired at a temperature between 500-700° C.
In metal tools we find axes, chisels, bangles, beads, hooks, etc. which were 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 also.
The find of crucibles and pairs of tongs of copper at Inamgaon shows the working of goldsmiths.
Chalcedony drills were used for perforating beads of semiprecious stones.
Lime was prepared out of Kankar and used for various purposes like painting houses and lining the storage bins, etc.
For more information: External link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chalcolithic
