Lecture 7: Nature and type of Proto-historic sites

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:17]Namaskar.

[00:00:18]Welcome to the SOAM course and introduction to field archaeology method and practices. This is module number two nature and type of archaeological sites and lecture number two nature and types of protohistoric sites. So the human past has been divided into three stages.

[00:00:39]prehistory which we have already discussed in our previous lecture. Protohistory we are going to see today and the history. So the protohistory is showing the transition between the prehistory to the historical period. This period witnessed a technological enhancement in all spare of material remains and the first kind of urbanization in Indian subcontinent.

[00:01:07]It also witnessed during the protosharic period. In this fade we are going to see the the most important culture industali civilization. Ahar banas culture which is a ruler chalki culture sawa kaya malwa jorway oercultural pottery culture. Chalkulti culture of Ganga Valley and we are having an brief overview of all these cultural site to understand the protouric sites and its nature whole Indian subcontinent.

[00:01:40]So let's start from indust valley civilization. You all um aware about the it's known in a multiple names known as a harapan civilization, Indas Valley civilization, Indosaraspati civilization, Hakra civilization and so on. This is one of the earliest urban civilization in the whole world and it was very much comparable to Egypt and Mesopotamia. The area of the Indust Valley civilization spread across northwestern India, Pakistan, some part of Afghanistan and a portion of Iran as well. It was first discovered at Halapa in 1921 and Mojadalo in 1922 by Daram Sahani and Aldi Balaji respectively.

[00:02:27]Initially the cultural site has been observed on the bank of Indas river and therefore it has no nomomenclature Indas Valley civilization. However, the later exploration and surveys has revealed that the uh area of the site extended across the indas and up to the Gagar Hakra basin. And the mature period which we are looking today in our lecture is datable to 2,600 B.CE to 1900 B.CE.

[00:02:58]So, uh the geographical extent of the industation is vast. It covers near about 1.25 million square kilometer area and it covered most of the part of India as well as Pakistan Afghanistan and the major sites of this civilization are harapa situated in Pakistan Mojaro in the sind area of Pakistan Dhawira in Kach area of Gujarat Kalibanga in Rajasthan. Lothal in Gujarat and the massive site Raki in Hana. The area which having a very wide extension is a north point goes up to the shori in Afghanistan, Daimabad in Maharashtra. In the eastern boundary matched with Alamirpur and the western boundary is the remains of western boundary found at the Suktangador of Baluchasthan. When we see the industrial civilization, it's known for its uh integrated town planning. The great pattern street with advanced dish system are the key feature of this culture and the massive cities and towns are divided into the citadel, lower town and sometimes in middle town as well. They're having their all standardization in material culture with a whale size baked brick and the material culture. They're having the big buildings like renary great bath defensive structure where the massive fortification walls are visible. The streets and the straight lanes wells private as well as shared one and the bathing platform shows the very executive planning and systematic layout of the indust civilization. When we see the material culture of the of these sides, we come to know that these people were agriculture based and they grow wheat, barley and cotton. They domesticated cattle, vapello and sheep.

[00:04:58]However, the majority of the people could have been engaged in the trade activities and they are having the inland as well as maritime trade and they reached up to as far as the Mesopotamia Bahin and we are having the Indust Valley artifact at the excavation of Oman as well. So that shows these people were master in maritime ship and network and these were also master in art and craftsmanship. These people were making the very beautiful objects of copper and stone. The dancing girl and a priest are a few. The terraota fig seals and the animal motive with executive design clearly indicates their technological enhancement and artistic workmanship.

[00:05:43]When we see the social and political life of these people, it's very much uh indicative that these people having the class differentiation in their society because the house pattern where the few rooms and the multiple rooms are visible shows the socioeconomic hierarchy could be present. The centralized authority implied by urban uniformity in form of fortification, street lanes and the other artifact clearly implies standardized weights and measures evidence of organized administration.

[00:06:17]However, after the mature phase, we are having the decline of the civilization near about 1900 B.CE. And there are multiple causes but the most closed one are the environmental changes and the uh change of river bait like a Sarasati drying up overexploitation of available resources possible invasion though it's very fancy and the decline in the trade network so that must be a very important factors and the several factor could have been responsible for the decline of this important culture.

[00:06:53]So when we see the industrial civilization they are with what the main features come up our mind that they are having very innovative urban planning.

[00:07:03]They are having superior water and sanitization system. The earliest in the world they are having the standardization and weight pattern. Extensive trade network national as well as international. They are also known as early form of writing. The symbols has appeared on their ceilings and they are known as a bronze age technology and these people are also very well well known for their resource exploitation.

[00:07:32]So these people exploited as much as resources from local and as far as from the uh the far area. Let's move towards the uh other culture which some of them are parallel with the industelli civilization and a few appeared after the decline of industali civilization and these cultures are known as a ruler chalithic cultures of India and their time frame ranges between 2500 B.CE to 1,000 B.CE CE and this phase shows the transitional phase between the Neolithic and to the iron age or early historic period and this period characterized by the use of copper tools along with the stone implements and therefore the known as a chalco lithium. This culture the ruler name suggests that they are basically ruler aggreganbased and craft specialized communities living in the distinctive group of geographical areas.

[00:08:28]They spread across various river valleys and the region and this map amply shows their areas where we can see that the Aar culture situated in the area of Rajasthan somewhere. Kaita is situating Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh area. The OCP culture situating in the UP area and the jour culture is showing the extension from the Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra.

[00:08:55]So these are the their various areas and here we are going to see the aar, malwa, kaya, sawda, jorway, ocb and the other chalotic cultures. So let's have a brief overview of each of the culture original chalkic of India. Let's start with the sawalda culture. The sawa culture marks the earliest known chalkic tradition of Maharashtra state. The name Sawala it's uh type site Sawala where the first time excavation was conducted and uh therefore the name has appeared. This other supportive evidence is also coming from in the Maharashtra site name as a Dhimabad. The Sawa culture preceded by the late Halapan culture and Malwa and Jorvi culture in the region. The distribution pattern when we see the sites of this culture they are mainly occupied the area of Tapi river valley uh and the major site like Dhababad is situated in the Praarak Godavari basin of Maharashtra. The settlement pattern includes small village kind of settlements as well as hamlets. Uh also there is a big cities or town like a Daimabad where the rectangular mud houses single or multiple rooms are found in archeological excavations.

[00:10:15]Their houses was constructed by ramming mud and alum for floors and we are also having the features like a her storage pets jars for grains shows the surplus agriculture process. The substit culture were basically agropostalism.

[00:10:35]They're having the evidence of barley, lentil, common pea, grass pee, black gram etc. There were people domesticating of cattle, sheep and goats. They used copper and celicious stone tools shows a mixed technological strategy. Their pottery is uh uh very interesting. They are having the wheelmade medium course with the thick slip uh chocolate light red and pink colors paintings are available uh on the surface. It approximately dated near about 2,300 B.CE to 2,000 B.CE shows the almost parallel to the Indas Valley civilization. Let's move towards the other culture known as a aar banas culture. So the aar banana culture is also known as a banaz or tamraati culture based upon the sites found in the area. Their area is consisted in the southwestern portion of Rajasthan datable approximately 3,000 B.CE to up to the 1500 B.CE and the majority of the sites are occupied on the bank of Aar Banaz and Birach. Here this map showing the area where the aar banana cultural sites are distributed and the major excavated sites of this culture are Ahar, Gillund, Balatal and Ojana. All these sites are giving us the quite uh significant aspects of this culture. So the material culture when we see of the this phase. So the pottery is a black and red wear with a white painted pottery is a very important pottery of this period. The shapes are limited and bowels globular and bowels on stand are a few regular portraits found across excavations. Other wares includes the burnish black, bright red, insized gray and painted ceramics. artifacts. These people were master in metal tool typology. They were using uh copper axe.

[00:12:44]Along with the copper, they also uses several ornaments, terraota figurines and seal. So the seal is found in the archeological deposit shows uh their association with indust valley civilization. They are also having the reference of granaries in the archaeological excavation found at Gillund Balatal shows the advanced planning of architecture as well as the surplus production of agriculture. When we see the coalology and phases so it shows the gradual growth of this uh period and the early algorithmic datable to 3,700 B.CE CE to 2,600 BC where the people using the simple pottery having the simple bowels globular parts and the basic village life settlements in the maturity which is comparable to the mature harapan phase where the pottery shapes and sizes and wear increases and the plan villages or some sort of planning is identified in the uh settlement pattern in the late chalkithic which is across comparable to the late harapan phase where the diversified artifact and it's and the decline into the material culture is observed. The aar banana culture when uh when we see the economy and subsistence the community practiced mixed agropostalism they cultivated wheat, barley, patty, gram and other items. They domesticated cattle, sheep, goat and pigs. They exploited the area nearby that is Araali hills for copper and other uh resources.

[00:14:27]This uh facilitated trade with the neighboring region they also traded with the other area as well as the industelli civilization. And when we see this the the uh identification of ceiling and the surplus production shows that these people having kind of trade and exchange network and they were very much comparable with the indust valley civilization. So they shows that they having the interactions uh with indust valley people and they declined this culture around 1800 BCE.

[00:15:01]Let's move towards the other culture of the area known as a ka. So the kaya is a earliest algorithic culture of Malawa region and the Malawa is present in area of Madhya Pradesh and some part of Rajasthan. This culture datable approximately 2,450 to 2,000 years BCE and the culture is named after the type site Ka which is situated near Ujin.

[00:15:27]uh the this site particularly kita is situated on the bank of chi gali which is the tibutri of chumbal and the excavation was conducted by vsankar mk dhikar and ziari and the excavation revealed the multicultural occupation and district cultural horizon and yet uh over 40 settlements of the kayar culture has been found and the very prominent sites are kaya iron nagda nai Dangara and Azad Nagar all are situated in the area of Malwa.

[00:16:03]So the kata culture settlements were very much small and shows the ruler settlements their houses like a herds circular or rectangulars having rammed floor and thatch roof having the mud walls. No large public architecture has been found in any of the excavation.

[00:16:22]Their pottery is a ka type is a chocolate slipware. Along with that there also uses red wear, combed redear, red painted buff wear and other pottery and uh their chronology shows that the earliest in the Malawa area the Kaida culture was settled in 2450 to 2,000 years. Then Aar people came 1950 to 1700 B.CE and then the Malva people appeared on 1700 to400 B.CE. So the when we see the Malva culture their distribution is basically on the Madhya Pradesh specifically the north part of Madhya Pradesh and datable to 1700 B.CE to400 B.CE. these people having a small sides ranging from 2 to 5 hectares and their economy was basically agricultural. uh their agriculture products are wheat, barley, lentils, rice and millets and they're having a relationship uh and trade and exchange with the other culture like a Malawa having the Malawa culture association with the Jorway and having the relationship with the other sites of Maharashtra. Let's move towards the uh distinctive culture of Maharashtra known as a Jorway culture.

[00:17:40]So the jorway was a major charic archaeological tradition in the Dean area and this jorway named after the type site jorway which is found in a aanagar district of Maharashtra and this site distribution shows that the area is covered by Maharashtra and some part of Madhya Pradesh and these sites are basically found on the bank of Tapi to the Godavari river. They are this culture datable to 1400 B.CE to 700 BC.

[00:18:10]So this is the very late ruleric culture. They developed from preceding Malva culture and it shows the shift to advanced agropostalism and distinctive material culture and complex social organization has been found in their archaeological excavation. The notable sites of the Jorway culture are Jori, Daimabad, Inama, Nwasi, Prakash, Bahal and Wali etc. So the settlement pattern up to now more than 200 settlements of this of this culture has been identified. These people were living in the small houses. Sometimes they are rectangular, sometimes they single room or sometimes it also shows that multiple room as well. uh the evidence of plan layout sometimes visible for example at uh in among these people having uh intensive agricultural practices and produce wheat, barley, lentils and millets. They domesticated cattle, sheep, goats and several animals. They use irrigation infrastructure for enhance the agricultural production and for that production they have large garage as well and they are also having the contact with the regional cultures. They are trade with the Karnataka for gold, Gujarat and Koken area for shale and fish and other items like hematite.

[00:19:39]Their artifacts and pottery motives indicate the contact with the Neolithic and the Malva culture of Madhya Pradesh.

[00:19:46]And it's also observed that the sudden site abandonment after 1,00 B.CE and this possibly led to the climate change or the change in a environmental area and this sustain up to 700 B.CE. When we see the chronology of Jorway culture, it is divided into two phases. Early jou datable to 1400 B.CE to,000 B.CE and the late Jori where the uh decline of this culture is observed datable to,000 B.CE to 700 B.CE. Let's move and see the other culture of northern India. The OCP culture. OCP is a occurred color pottery. This culture flourish in north India during the bronze age. This culture generally dated to 2,200 BC to 1500 B.CE and it marks a tangential phase between the Indust Valley civilization and the emergence of painted graver in North India. This culture named after its characteristic pottery covered in ochre color or ochre sleeve often associated with the copper hold artifacts. Therefore the OCP and the copper hood are supposed to be the same culture and the major sites of the OCP culture are found in the northern India area covering the Hana, Rajasthan, UP, Jharand and some part of uh Bihar as where these sites are found and the major sites are Hastinapur, Atranji, Ait Chhatra, Jodur, Sai, Ara, lal kila, burga, sinoli, kilaturur and so on. So, OCP culture having the distinctive pottery which is the reddish orang-ish uh sleeved pottery which is often removed uh when you touch the pottery and it has a thick red slip and the types of this pottery are pods storage jar bows and was the the site is associated with the copper hold artifacts and copper hold artifacts are the copper thick heavy copper artifacts which are uh very interesting in nature and they could be used for symbolic as well as ceremonial or for multi-purpose and they're having the implements like a shouldered ax, chisels, flat axes, anthropomorph like this, harpoon swords and so on. There must be items could be traded or exchanged uh along with the contemporary culture. And this heavy artifact shows that these people master in copper technology. And the settlement pattern and architecture of these sites shows that the most sites were ruler in nature small villages kind of their houses were small vetand they produce agriculture production like rice barley some pulses and the domesticated animals cattle and goat.

[00:22:50]The other culture of this period is a chalkotic sites of Ganga plane. So the Ganga area which is quite vast and productive fertile and this area was covered by the several sides of Chalkotic period. This phase is shows the transition from Neolithic to iron age. And this period shows the continuation of of culture from Neolithic to iron age. And this period marked with the introduction of copper and shows the growth of population because new several new site has been occupied during this period and indicated the increased settlements increase the size of the settlements and up till now near about 200 sites has been observed and these are dating roughly around 300,000 B.CE to 1,000 B.CE CE and the important sites of these periods are Kulihawa, Sugola, Emli, Khur, Wina, Bhunadi, Chirand, Chetcher, Angyabir and others. So the when we see the chalitic sites of Ganga plane so these houses of these people are ruler and people living in the small huts kind of houses they were basically built by mud and wood. They're sometimes circular as well as oval and house floors were generally rammed with the pot and the other lime and the cow dung. They the pottery they're having multiple pottery wares worth the people using red wear, black slipware, burnish black, rusticated wear, gray wear, wheelmade and a few handmade specimen are also found. The shapes are basically bowels, lived bowels, dishes, basin and others.

[00:24:36]And a few pottery is also having the paintings uh in size decoration as well as oblique pattern as well. The this culture is also having continuity and contact with the other adjacent culture.

[00:24:49]The evidence of culture connection shows with the harpman civilization in form of stereotype beads. The chalkic phase at some sites overlap and gradually give way to the and later painted grave culture which is a foundation of iron age culture in India and the sites indicate increasing complexity with trade exchange and multicultural influences among the uh other area. So when we see the all uh sites and the period of uh protosharic sites of India.

[00:25:23]So there are basically Indas Valley civilization, Kaida, Malva, Aaral, Banana, Jori and OCP. So after this overview what we see so the indust valley civilization which covers the area of Sinda, Punjab, Gujarat and northwest part of India. The major sites of Muja, Haralapa and Dhabira and this settlements pattern shows that these people were urban in nature or this settlement or this culture was urban culture where people were living in the cities. uh the cities were fortified having very intricate town planning systematic roads lanes and all kind of sopristication these people were mal and they're having very wonderful pottery in the mature in the kaya which is also very much comparable to the indust civilization covers the area of Malwa and the prominent sites are kaya Aaron and Dangawala and these people living in the small village settlements Malwa in the area of Malwa, Madhya Pradesh where the major sites of Navali, Nagda and Iran and these people are also living in the ruler settlements, town, village and few uh sites with fortification is also found in archaeological excavation. Ahar Ban which is comparable to the Indust Valley civilization covering the area of southeast Rajasthan and major sites are Ahar, Gillund and Balathal where the people were living in the Hamlets near the river valleys and some planned granary shows that a surplus production.

[00:26:56]These people having the culture contact with indust valley civilization and the finding of seal is indicating the same.

[00:27:04]The Jory culture which is datable to 1400 B.CE CE it is the earliest culture of chalkotic in Maharashtra covering the Dean area the major sites of Daimabad Inam Jurway and Praashe and these people living in the ruler life living in the small houses or huts single room or multiple rooms and the OCP culture covering the area of upper Gatic plane Rajasthan Hana and Punjab major sites are Hastapur Atanji and Jhothpur the people living in the ruler life living in the villages or farmstead land and the Ganga culture of Chaloic period is equally the same like OCP they're also living in the middle gandic area to the vinda and these people were the earliest copper productive people in this area so when we see the nature of protohistoric sites so these sites are generally situated on the banks of the river where the aloeium zone or the fertile soils are situated or near the source of raw material like a copper or stone or anything. This cultural sites are varying in their deposit. As few sites, this picture is showing the sites of Kalibanga where the mature upon phase deposit is over over more over than 3 to 4 m and uh this vary depend upon the varess depend upon the cultural activity of the particular site. The settlements and architecture shows that the few ev evidence of planned settlement in case of indust valley civilization and no planning in the uh ruler chalitic sites of jour.

[00:28:42]This uh ceramic assemblage are distinctive of each culture. Each culture has their own ceramic types and based on the ceramic types we can identify their cultural pattern. The type sides are the sides can be divided into urban, ruler and the trade sides.

[00:29:00]The urban sides are basically the indust valley sides. The ruler sides are the jorway or the malwa sides and the trade sites can be both industal as well as the rural chalki. These sides are also involved in the trade and exchange national as well as international and they're also having the evidence of burial practices. We are having the symmetries at uh symmetry in the IBC indust civilization and the burial practices differently practiced in the jour culture where the buried inside the houses. We are also having ecoact where the botanical remains, animal bones and food residues were obtained from the archeological excavations. So these are the nature of sides and when we see this is the actual picture of excavation of Kalibanga where the deposit is was all covered with soil and excavation reveals the town planning. This is the main road of the uh city and this is the picture of uh Dha Vira where the uh uh water reservoir was excavated in the rock and constructed throughout the rock. This picture shows this is the picture of Lothal where the bathing platform and the drains is visible and this is the congestional view of Lothal and Dhavira shows how in during the industal civilization the people were uh systematically lay out their cities their roads drainage system and so on.

[00:30:28]So this is the end of my presentation.

[00:30:30]Thank you.