Chalcolithic South Asia: Aspects of Crafts and Technologies

Technology forms an important aspect of culture, as it gauges the economic and social developments of a society during its various phases. The rate of technological change that took place until the Chalcolithic period was slow and that spread over a long period of time. For, that was in response to the basic social needs, like the search for food and shelter. However, 5,000 years ago, during the Chalcolithic period, a momentous cultural transition began, which generated news needs and resources. That was accompanied by a significant increase in technological innovation.

In this book, an attempt has been made to explore the possibility of reconstructing various aspects of Chalcolithic technologies in South Asia. In order to reconstruct that, the archaeological evidences related to the craft and manufacture and the ethnographic data of the modern communities, which is technologically at par with the Chalcolithic, have been considered.

Besides the already published data, a detailed analysis of artefacts from many excavated sites, like Mehrgarh, Ahar, Navdatoli, Balathal, Gilund, Inamgaon, Daimbad, Kayatha, etc has been included in this book. The book also incorporates data related to the tools and workshops used for the manufacture of various crafts during this period.

This book provides first hand information on numerous aspects of South Asian chalcolithic technologies for the common readers. The data as well as the interpretations have been presented in a lucid manner. Thus, this book is a step forward in reconstructing the South Asian chalcolithic technologies, which in turn enables understanding of the emergence of human civilization and complex socio-economic organizations.