Chalcolithic Age or Copper Stone Age

Chalcolithic Age or Copper Stone Age

• Chalcolithic age is also known as copper-stone age
• The phase was emerged around 3000-500 BCE.
• The term Chalco-lithic is a combination of two Greek words ‘Chalco’ means- copper and ‘Lithic’ means- stone thus the meaning is Copper Stone Age.
• The copper was first used in 5000 BCE and later it was mixed with other metals such as tin or zinc to make a new metal or alloy called bronze. In course of time the people had familiar with the use of gold, silver and iron.
• In Chalcolithic phase people subsisted on agriculture and cattle rearing besides practising hunting, gathering and fishing.
• The people in this phase largely produce wheat as staple food and rice, bajra, pulses such as lentils, black gram, green gram and grass pea.
• They practised slash and burn cultivation or Jhum cultivation.
• The people domesticated cows, sheep, goat, pigs and buffaloes.
• The black and red pottery and ochre coloured pottery were popular potteries in this phase.
• In Chalcolithic phase people were expert coppersmith. They knew the work of copper smelting and were good in copper stone work.
• Chalcolithic people were found of Ornaments and decoration made up of shell, bone and beads of semi precious stone and carried finely worked combs in their hair.
• The houses in Chalcolithic-era villages were small and made up of mud walls and thatched roofs. The houses were rectangular and circular in shape.
• Chalcolithic settlements are mainly found in the region of south eastern Rajasthan, western Madhya Pradesh and western Maharashtra as well as in parts of southern eastern India.
• Large mud houses with circular pit house and ovens had been found at Songaon, Inamgaon, and Nashik.
• Spindle whorls and Chalcolithic Ceramics were found at Malwa site in Maharashtra.

Major Chalcolithic Sites:

Other important sites from Chalcolithic Phase: