Stone age in india part 3 

(viii)

The Jon

VAJIRAM & RAVI (vi) The house pattern in Ahar culture is marked by the use of mud, use of timber,

fairly large size, longer axis being north-south and shorter being east-west, simple

furnishing and with chullas. (vii) The Malwa houses at Daimabad, Inamgaon, Navdatoli are large in size having

partition wall nade up of mud chullahas are common. The Jorwe setement is characterised by presence of a large centre in each region. House pattern shows social differentiation with houses of prosperous farmers being larger and in the central part and houses of the artisans situated in western outlying areas. Jorwe houses were large and rectangular in shape

characterised by low mud walls. Social Structure

The regional Chalcolithic cultures are characterised by regional and village

settlements as attested by excavations. (1) There was hierarchical pattern in social organisation with prevalence of the

concept of social ranking. There was some kind of administrative authority as a suggested by the

distribution pattern of various sites. (iv) Existence of structures such as rampart, granaries, embankment too suggest.

some kind of administrative authority. Various objects (1) Chalcolithic cultures are characterised by the discovery of various copper and

terracotta objects. Copper objects comprise arrowheads, spearheads, bangles, rings, beads and flat axes. Daimabad yielded a large copper hoard comprising copper rhinoceros, elephant,

two wheeled chariots, buffalo etc. (iv) Terracotta objects comprise human and animals figurines; bull being the most

numerous in number. Pottery tradition (0) Pottery was painted and was mostly black on red. (ii) The Jorwe pottery is painted black-on-red and special forms, are bowls, jars and

globular vases. (it) Ahar pottery shows seven varieties but the most important type being black and

red ware painted in white. (iv) Malwa pottery possesses buff slip and various patterns are displayed in black or

dark brown colour. Small goblets are an important feature of Malwa pottery.

-IVAJIRAM & RAVI

(V) Kayatha pottery is marked by three types - Red slipped ware painted in dark

brown; red painted buff ware and a combed ware. (vi) Rangpur pottery is known as lustrous red ware. It is derived from Harappan red

and black ware, black used for painting. Religious Beliefs (0) Various findings in excavations throw light on the religious outlook of the people

and their religious practices. (1) Excavations rarely give any indication of male gods. Three male figurines of clay

discovered from Inamgaon give same indication of male gods. Female figures of clay both baked and unbaked have been discovered. A headless female figure from Nevasa and terracotta female figurines from Inamgaon too have been discovered. This suggests that people worshipped

mother goddesses. (iv) Excavations throw light on various practices of disposal of dead. Burial was a

common custom. Burying of dead in north-south orientation has been revealed by excavations. There are evidences of pit-burial also. A typical custom shown by excavations was burying the dead in the precincts of the house besides cutting off the feet before the burial too a peculiar outlook of people in Jorwe

culture. Megalith Cultures (0) Megaliths usually refer to burials amidst stones in graveyards away from the

habitation area. In South India this kind of elaborate burial came with Iron age

starting around 1000 BC and continuing for many centuries subsequently (ii) The material remains of the Iron age are represented by pottery with certain

specific features, besides Iron and other metal objects Megájith burials have been reported from Maharashtra around Nagpur, Karnataka in sites like Maski, Andhra Pradesh in sites like Nagarjunakonda, Tamil Nadu in sites like Adichanallur and

Kerala. () The pottery that we discover from the excavated graves is black and red ware.

Iron objects have been found universally in all the megalithic sites right from Janapani near Nagpur down to Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu with use of identical tools which testifies to the movement of a fairly tightly knit group of iron workers.

The settlements found near the Megalithic complexes have very thin debris of ; occupation. This would indicate that these people were living in one area for a

very short time. May be with the knowledge of Iron they could colonize new areas.