Kayatha Culture and its salient features: In this post we will discuss about Kayatha Culture. We will also discuss about salient features of Kayatha Culture.
Introduction of Kayatha Culture -2450-1700 В.С.
The Kayatha culture is named after the site of Kayatha (25 km east of Ujjain) located on the bank of the Kalisindh, and affluent of the river Chambal. The culture of the earliest inhabitants of Kayatha has been named as the Kayatha Culture, which is distinct from all other chalcolithic cultures of the subcontinent. The tool outfit is chalcolithic in character, it has copper tools, albeit on restricted scale and a specialized blade-flake industry of siliceous material like chalcedony.
Kayatha Culture and its salient features
Construction of Houses
The settlements of Kayatha culture are only a few in number, mostly located on the Chambal and its tributaries. The people lived in mud houses with well rammed floors, which are relatively small in size and the biggest may be not over two hectares. During excavations no complete house plan was recovered.
Pottery: Diagnostic Features
The Kayatha ware is characterized by three fabrics:
A thick and sturdy red slipped ware painted with designs in dark brown;
A red painted buff ware (this ware is thin with a fine fabric); and
A combed ware having incised patterns, and generally without a slip.
The majority of the pots of the sturdy red slipped ware have a ring base. The ring base recalls the pre-Harappan Sothi types. Sothi culture (in Rajasthan) is known from several sites in the valley of Ghaggar (Sarasvati) which have yielded a pottery that is akin to the pre- Harappan pottery of Kalibangan.
Agriculture
They cultivated Wheat and Barley. They domesticated cattle, sheep and goat.
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Copper Excavations
The people of the Kayatha culture had already mastered the technology of copper before their arrival at Kayatha. This is evidenced by the find of two fine copper axes and 28 copper bangles, the latter were found deposited in two red-painted buff-ware pots, 15 in one hand and 13 in another. The most prolific item among the ornaments are beads made of carnelian, jasper, chalcedony, agate, shell, etc. A necklace made of 40,000 micro beads of steatite has been found in a pot belonging to the Kayatha culture.
Terracotta Figurines
Terracotta objects are found frequently at majority of these sites. These are in the form of human and animal figurines. The stylized terracotta bulls (which are mostly miniature sized) found in the Chalcolithic levels at Kayatha, some with a prominent hump, some with horns twisted backward, and some with the horns projecting forward horizontally, are of special interest. Considering the occurrence of numerous terracotta bull figurines at several of these Chalcolithic sites it can be suggested that bull was a sacred animal, though the possibility that some of them could have been toys cannot be ruled out.