Overview
Widespread pottery tradition; transition to iron use in Gangetic and other regions.
Black and Red Ware Culture
Widespread Chalcolithic pottery tradition across South Asia characterized by inverted firing producing black interior and red exterior. Found across many communities, signaling the spread of settled agriculture, copper/iron tools, and interaction networks. Not a single polity.
Territory Phases
Black and Red Ware2000 BCE – 1000 BCE
Black and Red Ware tradition in the western and central Deccan-Rajasthan zone. Strong presence in Ahar-Banas, Malwa, and Jorwe Chalcolithic cultures. Associated with copper tools, agriculture (wheat, barley, rice), and craft production.
Black and Red Ware2000 BCE – 1000 BCE
Black and Red Ware in the Gangetic plain. Marks the spread of settled farming communities from the upper Ganga (Doab) eastward to Bihar and Bengal. Precedes and transitions into Painted Grey Ware (PGW) in the west and NBPW in the east.
Black and Red Ware2000 BCE – 1000 BCE
Black and Red Ware in Gujarat, overlapping with late/post-Harappan cultural transitions. Found at sites like Lothal and Rangpur alongside declining urban Harappan elements.
Black and Red Ware2000 BCE – 1000 BCE
Scattered Black and Red Ware finds in eastern India (Odisha, Chotanagpur) and early Deccan contexts. Less dense than western or Gangetic zones but indicating broad cultural interaction networks.
Sources
- Hand-drawn polygon
- Lal, B.B. (1954) Examination of Some Ancient Indian Glass Beads and Painted Grey Ware
- Sankalia, H.D. (1974) Prehistory and Protohistory of India and Pakistan
- Tripathi, V. (2001) The Age of Iron in South Asia