The Jorwe culture was a

Chalcolithic The Copper Age, also called the Chalcolithic (; from grc-gre, χαλκός ''khalkós'', " copper" and ''líthos'', " stone") or (A)eneolithic (from Latin ''aeneus'' "of copper"), is an archaeological period characterized by regul ...

archaeological culture which existed in large areas of what is now Maharashtra state in Western

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, and also reached north into the

Malwa Malwa is a historical region, historical list of regions in India, region of west-central India occupying a plateau of volcanic origin. Geologically, the Malwa Plateau generally refers to the volcanic plateau, volcanic upland north of the Vind ...

region of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital city, capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar, and Rewa, India, Rewa being the othe ...

. It is named after the

type site In archaeology, a type site is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and Hallstatt led scholars to divide the European Iron ...

of Jorwe. The early phase of the culture is dated to 1400-1000 BCE, while the late phase is dated to 1000-700 BCE. Over 200 settlements of the Jorwe culture have been found, ranging from several large and medium-sized farming villages, to many small villages, as well as temporary and seasonal camp-sites used by pastoralists. It likely reflects a

chiefdom A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

level of social organization. The largest settlement was

Daimabad Daimabad is a deserted village and archaeological site on the left bank of the Pravara River, a tributary of the Godavari River in Shrirampur taluka in Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra state in India. This site was discovered by B. P. Bopar ...

, which had a mud fortification during this period, as well as an elliptical temple with fire pits. Some settlements show evidence of planning in the layout of rectangular houses and streets or lanes. Most dwellings were small, single-room dwellings, but the chiefs lived in large houses with multiple rooms, and had granaries to store grain. The pottery is red and orange, and painted with geometric patterns in black. Agriculture was largely the same as the earlier Malwa culture, including wheat, barley, and legumes, but with the addition of new kinds of

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets ...

. The people traded with

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

for gold and ivory, and with coastal India (

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the nin ...

and

Konkan The Konkan ( kok, कोंकण) or Kokan () is a stretch of land by the western coast of India, running from Damaon in the north to Karwar in the south; with the Arabian Sea to the west and the Deccan plateau in the east. The hinterla ...

) for fish,

conch Conch () is a common name of a number of different medium-to-large-sized sea snails. Conch shells typically have a high spire and a noticeable siphonal canal (in other words, the shell comes to a noticeable point at both ends). In North Am ...

shell, and haematite. Their dead were typically buried with the feet cut off, in urns which were placed under house floors or courtyards. Most Jorwe culture sites were abandoned around 1000 BCE, possibly due to famine or drought, and the remaining sites show signs of increased poverty until their abandonment c. 700 BCE. Sites of the Jorwe culture include Jorwe,

, Inamgaon, Prakashe, Navdatoli (near

Maheshwar Maheshwar is a town, near Khargone, Khargone city in Khargone district of Madhya Pradesh state, in central India. It is located on State Highway-38 (Khargone, Khargone city-Barwaha- Bandheri Highway),13.5 km east of National Highway 3 (Agra ...

), Walki (in

Pune District Pune district (Marathi pronunciation: uɳeː is the most populous district in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The district's population was 9,429,408 in the 2011 census, making it the fourth most populous district amongst India's 640 distric ...

). The Jorwe culture was preceded by the Malwa culture and succeeded by the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

ic culture of the

Deccan The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by t ...

, and the

Northern Black Polished Ware The Northern Black Polished Ware culture (abbreviated NBPW or NBP) is an urban Iron Age Indian culture of the Indian Subcontinent, lasting c. 700–200 BCE (proto NBPW between 1200 and 700 BCE), succeeding the Painted Grey Ware culture and Bla ...

culture.

Notes

References

* * {{Cite book, url=https://archive.org/details/citycountryinear0000basa, url-access=registration, title=The City and the Country in Early India: A Study of Malwa, last=Basant, first=P. K., date=2012, publisher=Primus Books, isbn=9789380607153, language=en Chalcolithic cultures of Asia Archaeological cultures of South Asia History of Maharashtra Archaeological cultures in India

See also

Notes

References