Neolithic and Chalcolithic Ages in India

The Neolithic period began around 10700 to 9400 BC in Tell Qaramel in Northern Syria. In South Asia the date assigned to Neolithic period is 7000 BC and the earliest example is Mehrgarh Culture.

The Neolithic Revolution

The human settlements in the Mesolithic era got more sedentary and this was the beginning of establishment of villages. Man now could keep cattle, sheep and goats and protect crops from pests. In due course, as the efficiency of agricultural production improved, some farmers were able to generate surplus food. As a consequence, a section of the population were freed from the task of food production and their talents and energies were diverted to tasks such as the production of pots, baskets, quarrying of stone, making of bricks, masonry and carpentry.

This was the beginning of the new occupations such as the oil presser, washerman, barber, musician, dancers etc.  This transition from hunting-gathering to food production is called the Neolithic revolution. Around 6000BC, the smelting of metals such as Copper began which was used for raw material to be used in tool production. Later, Tin was mixed with cooper and bronze appeared which stronger metal than both tin and copper was. Use of bronze for tools led to the invention of wheel which revolutionized transport and pottery production.

Mehrgarh Culture

Mehrgarh is located on the Bolan River, a tributary of the Indus, at the eastern edge of the Baluchistan plateau overlooking the Indus plain.  It is supposed to be the oldest agricultural settlement in the Indian subcontinent. Despite being an agriculture settlement, the Mehrgarh people used only stone tools so considered a part of Stone Age. This culture flourished from 7000BC to 2600 BC and showed improvisation in almost every area of life until it was abandoned.

Important Facts about Mehrgarh

• The main domesticated animals in Mehrgarh were cattle, sheep, goat and water buffalo while the main cultivated plants were wheat and barley.
• Houses made in mud and mud-bricks, created rooms to store grains, buried dead under floors of houses where they lived, used ornaments of steatite, turquise, sea shells etc.
• Domesticated cotton for the first time. Used pottery decorated with images of birds, animals.
• Learnt use of making stone beads, copper smelting, timber, terracotta, commercial transactions.
• The first evidence in human history for the drilling of teeth in a living person was found in Mehrgarh.

Mehrgarh was discovered after discovery of Indus Valley Civilization and it is now seen as a precursor to the Indus Valley Civilization. The above features of Mehrgarh have changed the entire concept of the Indus civilization.

Other Important Neolithic Sites

• In Kashmir valley, Burzahom (meaning place of birth) and Gufkral (meaning cave of the potter) are important Neolithic / Chalcolithic sites.
• In Uttar Pradesh, Belan valley is a Neolithic site known as earliest rice-farming community in India.

Chalcolithic Period

Use of metals along with stones began with the Chalcolithic or Eneolithic period with abundant use of Copper. The economy of this period was based upon agriculture, stock raising, hunting and fishing. The earliest settlements of the Chalcolithic period in India range from the Gangetic basin to Chhotanagpur Plateau.

Salient Features

• The use of painted pottery is a hall mark of the Chalcolithic period. Chalcolithic pottery ranges from red ware, deep red ware to deep brown and black, pictographic red and black and polished red.
• The burial practice was another striking feature and the dead were buried in a particular direction all over a particular area. In Kashmir, the people of Neolithic settlements used to bury dogs with their masters.
• The largest site of the Chalcolithic period is Diamabad situated on the left bank of the Pravara River.

Some Chalcolithic Cultures

• Ahara Culture:The sites of Ahar Culture were Aahar (Rajasthan), Balathal, Gilund etc. The distinctive feature is black and red ware.
• Kayatha Culture:Located in Chambal and its tributaries, the sturdy red slipped ware with chocolate designs is main feature
• Malwa Culture:Narmada & its tributaries in Gujarat. One of the largest Chalcolithic settlements.
• Svalda Culture:The well-known sites are in Dhulia district of Maharashtra.
• Prabhas & Rangpur Culture:Both of them are derived from the Harappa culture. The polished red ware is the hall mark of this culture.