Copper Hoard Culture
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Copper Hoards describe find-complexes which occur in the northern part of India. These occur in mostly in hoards and are believed to date to the 2nd millennium BC, although very few derive from controlled and dateable excavation contexts. The dating is unclear. These hoard artefacts are a main manifestation of the archaeology of India during the metals age. More hoard finds have come from Rewari than any other place in India.
Four regional find-groups are identifiable: South Haryana/North Rajasthan, the Ganges/Jamuna plain, Chota Nagpur und Madhya Pradesh, with their characteristic find-types. As early as the 19th century, stray hoard objects became known and established themselves as an important find group in the two-river land of northern India.
Characteristic hoard finds from South Haryana/North Rajasthan include flat axes, harpoons, double axes, swords with so-called antenna grips and others. In the Ganges-Jumna Doab related types occur. Those from Chota Nagpur are quite different. They include finely worked pieces and those similar to ingots.
Since most show no clear signs of antique use-wear and often are over-sized, they appear to be dedicatory and not use-implements.
The copper ore derives from different ore ranges in Rajasthan(Khetri), Bihar/West Bengal/Orissa (especially Singhbhum) as well as Madhya Pradesh (Malanjkhand).
[edit] Sources
- Paul Yule, The Bronze Age Metalwork of India, Prähistorische Bronzefunde XX,8 (München 1985), ISBN 3-406-30440-0
- P. Yule/A. Hauptmann/M. Hughes, The Copper Hoards of the Indian Subcontinent: Preliminaries for an Interpretation, Jahrbuch des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums Mainz 36, 1989 [1992] 193-275, ISSN 0076-2741
