Ochre Coloured Pottery – UPSC Notes – Art and Culture

The Ochre Coloured Pottery culture (OCP) is a Bronze Age culture in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, generally believed to have existed between 2000 and 1500 BCE. It covered areas from eastern Punjab to northeastern Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh.

The things from this culture are similar to both the Late Harappan culture and the Vedic culture. Archaeologist Akinori Uesugi thinks it’s a continuation of the earlier Harappan Bara style. On the other hand, Parpola suggests that finding carts in this culture might indicate an Indo-Iranian migration into the Indian subcontinent, connecting with Late Harappans.

The OCP represents the final phase of the North Indian Bronze Age. After it, the Iron Age black and red ware culture and the Painted Grey Ware culture followed.

Geography and Dating of Ochre Coloured Pottery

The Ochre Colored Pottery culture existed during the Late Phase (1900-1300 BCE) of the Indus Valley Civilization.

The culture is generally believed to have thrived between 2000 and 1500 BCE. Early examples of its distinctive ceramics, discovered near Jodhpura, Rajasthan, date back to the 3rd millennium. It’s important to note that this Jodhpura is in the district of Jaipur and not to be confused with the city of Jodhpur.

Numerous sites of the Ochre Colored Pottery culture flourished along the banks of the Sahibi River and its tributaries, including the Krishnavati river and Soti river. These rivers originate from the Aravalli range and flow in a south to north-east direction towards the Yamuna before disappearing in the Mahendragarh district of Haryana.

Specific OCP sites like Atranjikhera, Lal Qila, Jhinjhana, and Nasirpur have been dated from 2600 to 1200 BC.

The culture extended to the Gangetic plain in the early 2nd millennium. Recent excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India in the Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh uncovered copper axes and pottery pieces, shedding light on this ancient culture.

Pottery of Ochre Colored Pottery

The pottery of the Ochre Colored Pottery culture featured a red slip, but it left an ochre color on the fingers of archaeologists who unearthed it, giving the culture its name. Some pieces were adorned with black-painted bands and incised patterns. It was often discovered alongside copper hoards, collections of copper weapons and various artifacts, including anthropomorphic figures.

Agriculture in Ochre Colored Pottery Culture

The OCP culture was primarily rural and agricultural. Its defining characteristics included the cultivation of crops such as rice, barley, and legumes. Additionally, the people domesticated various animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and dogs. Most OCP sites were relatively small villages, yet they were densely distributed. The houses in these villages were typically constructed using a wattle-and-daub technique. In addition to pottery, other artifacts found at these sites included animal and human figurines, as well as ornaments crafted from copper and terracotta.

Copper Hoards

The term copper hoards refers to various collections of copper-based artifacts in the northern areas of the Indian Subcontinent, believed to date from the 2nd millennium BC. Few of these hoards come from controlled excavations, and different regional groups are identifiable, including southern Haryana/northern Rajasthan, the Ganges-Yamuna plain, Chota Nagpur, and Madhya Pradesh, each with their characteristic artifact types. Initially, the copper hoards were primarily known from the Ganges-Yamuna doab, and most characterizations focus on this material.

Characteristic hoard artifacts from southern Haryana/northern Rajasthan include flat axes (celts), harpoons, double axes, and antenna-hilted swords. The doab has a related repertory. Artifacts from the Chota Nagpur area are very different, resembling ingots and having a votive character.

The raw material for these artifacts may have been derived from various sources, including Rajasthan (Khetri), Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha (especially Singhbhum), and Madhya Pradesh (Malanjkhand).

Relation with Harappan Civilization and Indo-Iranians

The Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) culture holds intriguing connections with both the Late Harappan culture and the Vedic culture. Archaeological findings suggest that the OCP artifacts share similarities with both cultures, indicating a complex relationship.

Opinions on the origins of the OCP vary. Some experts propose that it is linked to the Late Harappan phase, considering it as a continuation of this culture. Others view it as an independent cultural style. Archaeologist Akinori Uesugi dates the OCP culture to around 1900-1300 BCE, considering it a Late Harappan expansion and an archaeological continuity of the previous Bara style (2300-1900 BCE), rooted in the Indus Civilization.

The presence of horse-drawn chariots at Sinauli has sparked debates among scholars. While some archaeologists describe them as horse-drawn chariots, one scholar rejects this claim. Parpola notes similarities between the use of carts in Sinauli burials and Indo-Iranian culture. He suggests that the earliest Aryan-speaking immigrants to South Asia, the Copper Hoard people, might have used bull-drawn carts, coming through the BMAC (Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex) and having Proto-Indo-Iranian as their language. Parpola argues that they were likely followed and absorbed by early Indo-Aryans.

According to Kumar, the OCP culture had a consistent material culture and likely spoke the same language throughout its expanse, despite the eastern OCP not using the Indus script. The OCP culture coexisted with the Harappan civilization, and between 2500 BC and 2000 BC, the people of the Upper Ganga valley were using the Indus script.

FAQs on the Ochre Coloured Pottery Culture

1. Q: What is the geographical extent of the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture, and when did it thrive?A: The Ochre Coloured Pottery culture existed in the Indo-Gangetic Plain, covering areas from eastern Punjab to northeastern Rajasthan and western Uttar Pradesh. It thrived between 2000 and 1500 BCE.
2. Q: How is the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture related to the Late Harappan and Vedic cultures?A: Archaeological findings suggest intriguing connections with both the Late Harappan and Vedic cultures. Some experts see it as a continuation of Late Harappan, while others consider it an independent cultural style.
3. Q: What characterized the pottery of the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture?A: The pottery had a red slip, leaving an ochre color on excavators’ fingers, giving the culture its name. It often featured black-painted bands and incised patterns and was discovered alongside copper hoards, including weapons and artifacts.
4. Q: What crops were cultivated by the people of the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture?A: The OCP culture was primarily rural and agricultural, cultivating crops such as rice, barley, and legumes. They also domesticated various animals, including cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and dogs.
5. Q: What are the opinions on the origins of the Ochre Coloured Pottery culture?A: Opinions vary, with some experts suggesting it is linked to the Late Harappan phase, considering it a continuation, while others view it as an independent cultural style. Archaeologist Akinori Uesugi dates it to around 1900-1300 BCE, as a Late Harappan expansion and continuity of the Bara style.

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