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Home/Anthropology/Mains PYQ/2017/Paper II/Prehistoric Archaeology
UPSC MainsAnthropology Optional Paper II 2017 15 Marks Model Answer Available

Chalcolithic Cultures of the Deccan — 2017 Paper II

Question · 2017 · Paper II · 15 Marks

Describe the salient features of chalcolithic cultures of the Deccan.

Model Answer

VAID ICS

Approach

  • Demand of Question:Present the Deccan Chalcolithic as a regional cultural sequence, with diagnostic pottery, settlements, subsistence, crafts, burial/social organisation and decline.
  • Structuring the Response:Define Chalcolithic; identify major Deccan/Maharashtra phases and sites; organise evidence under economy, material culture, settlements, social/religious life and ecological change.
  • Key Dimensions to Cover:Savalda, Malwa, Early/Late Jorwe; Prakash, Daimabad, Nevasa, Inamgaon; painted pottery, blade industry and copper; farming-pastoralism; irrigation at Inamgaon; burials and social differentiation; climatic stress.

Model Answer

Introduction The Deccan Chalcolithic represents a phase of village-based farming communities that utilized both copper and advanced stone-blade technology, primarily concentrated in Maharashtra and adjoining regions. It is characterized by regional interactions rather than a single homogeneous culture, thriving between 2000 BCE and 700 BCE.

Body (Draw a rough Map of Maharashtra/Deccan outlining the Tapi, Godavari, and Bhima-Ghod basins, marking key sites: Prakash, Daimabad, Nevasa, and Inamgaon)

  1. Cultural SequenceThe Deccan Chalcolithic follows a distinct chronological evolution:
  • Savalda Culture: Earliest phase in the Tapi valley.
  • Malwa Culture (c. 1700 BCE): Spread southwards into Maharashtra.
  • Jorwe Culture (c. 1400-700 BCE): The most defining and widespread phase, exceptionally documented through the Early and Late transitions at the site of Inamgaon.
  1. Material Culture and EconomyThe period is defined by diagnostic painted ceramics, notably the black-on-red painted Jorwe ware. Technologically, there was a prolific chalcedony/chert microlithic blade industry alongside limited copper tools. The economy was heavily agro-pastoral; they cultivated barley, wheat, millets, and pulses, supplemented by cattle rearing and hunting. At Inamgaon, archaeological evidence of a channel and embankment suggests early community water management and irrigation.
  2. Settlement and Social OrganizationSettlements consisted of rectangular wattle-and-daub houses with storage pits. Anthropologically, these sites reveal emerging social stratification. At Inamgaon, M.K. Dhavalikar noted differences in house sizes, distinct artisan quarters, and an unusual adult burial in a four-legged jar, inferring the rise of a ranked society or chiefdom.
  3. Mortuary Practices and RitualsBurials were typically located beneath house floors, indicating ancestor veneration. Infants were buried in twin-urns, while adults received extended inhumation (often with the feet chopped off, possibly to prevent the spirit from returning). Terracotta figurines, especially mother goddesses, suggest fertility cults.

Conclusion The Late Jorwe phase (c. 1000-700 BCE) marks a decline characterized by smaller circular huts, pastoral shift, and reduced agriculture, driven by increasing climatic aridity. Thus, the Deccan Chalcolithic serves as a classic study of ecological adaptation and growing social complexity before its eventual transition into the Megalithic Iron Age.

2026 Give the distribution of Palaeolithic sites around the Himalayan and Sub-Himalayan areas, highlighting the typo-technologies of the tools. 2026 Thermoluminescence dating method. 2026 Write a detailed note on the characteristic features, chronology, geographical distribution, tool types and lifeways of Magdalenian cultural tradition of Europe. 2026 What are the evidences available regarding crops and domesticated animals of Indus Valley Civilization? What are the views of the scholars regarding Indus script?

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UPSC Anthropology Optional 2017 — Paper II

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