Write an essay on Jorwe Culture: In this article we will understand about Jorwe Culture.
Introduction
The Jorwe Culture covered modern Maharashtra except part of Vidarbha and Coastal region of Konkan. Although the Jorwe culture was rural, some of its settlements such as Daimabad and Inamgaon had almost reached the urban stage. All these Maharashtra sites were located in semi-arid areas mostly on brown-black soil which had ber and babul vegetation but fell in the riverine tracts. In addition to these, we have Navadatoli situated on the Narmada. Most chalcolithic ingredients intruded into the Neolithic sites in South India. A significant feature of the Jorwe culture (of which more than 200 sites are known so far, though the majority of them can be classified as villages ranging from 1 to 4 hectare.) is the presence of a large centre in each region. These centres are Prakash, Daimabad and Inamgaon, respectively in the valleys of Tapi, Godavari and Bhima. The Jorwe settlement at Daimabad was the largest, covering an area from more than 30 hectares, Prakash and Inamgaon cover about 5 hectare each.
Salient Features of Jorwe Culture
Construction of Houses
A noteworthy feature of the Jorwe (both Early and Late) settlement at Inamgaon is that the houses of the artisans such as the potter, the goldsmith, the lapidary, the ivory-carver etc. were located on the western periphery of the principal habitation area, whereas those of well-to-do farmers were in the central part. The size of the artisan’s houses is smaller than those of the well-to-do. Both these aspects. Le the position and size of houses demonstrate social differentiation in terms of a lower position for artisans in the society.
At Inamgaon has been noticed a change in house types from Early Jorve (1400-1000 BC.) to late Jorwe period (1000-700 BC.J
The Early Jorwe houses were large rectangular structures with love mud walls (about 30 cm. high) surrounded by wattle-and-daub constructions. These houses were laid out in rows with their longer axis in a roughly east-west orientation. These houses have an open space in between (approximately 1.5m wide) which might have served as a road or lane. The Late Jorwe houses on the other hand depict a picture of poverty. Large rectangular huts were no more built, and instead there were small round huts (with a low mud wall) in clusters of three or fout. The pit silos were replaced by a four tagged storage jar supported on four flat stones.
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Pottery
Jorwe ware too is painted black-on-red bur has a matt surface treated with a wash, Some of the most well-known pottery forms dishes-on-stand, spouted vases, stemmed cups pedestalled bowls, big storage jars, and spouted basins and bowls.
Trade and Commerce
A good deal about the chalcolithic arts and crafts had been seen in this culture. They were clearly expert coppersmiths and also good workers in stone. We get tools, weapons and bangles of copper. They manufactures beads of semi-precious stones such as carnelian, steatite and quartz crystal. People knew the of spinning and weaving because spindle whorls have been discovered in Malwa, Cotton, flax and silk threads made of cotton silk of semal/silk (cotton tree) have been found in Maharashtra. This shoves that these people were well acquainted with the manufacture of cloth. In addition to the artisans who practiced these crafts at various sites. We find potters, smiths, ivory carvers, lime markers and torracotta artisans at Inaamgeon.
Daimabad Excavations
By a chance discovery, four objects on the top of the mound (below which is a deposit, 1.2m thick belonging to the Jorwe period) came to light at Daimabad. These are massive, all solid cast, and weigh over 60 kg:
Elephant: This is the heaviest (25 cm in height X 27 cm in length), and stands on a cast copper platform with four brackets beneath, pierced, to take axles.
Rhinoceros: This is a slightly smaller, and also stands on a cast platform. The brackets contain two solid copper axles with cast wheels attached.
Two wheeled chariot with rider: The chariot is attached by a long pole to the yoked oxen which stand on two cast copper strips, but there are no brackets for wheels. The chariot has two uprights supporting a cross-bar behind which the rider stands. This piece has no parallels.
Buffalo: This also has wheels and axle in position. This has some parallels in the figures of buffalos in both terracotta and case copper or bronze found from Mohenjo- Daro. The copper of the Daimabad hoard compares with that of other copper objects found in excavations, and spectrometric analysis of this metal has revealed that it is unalloyed by tin or other metals. According to one view the Daimabad hoard is datable to the Late Harappan period (Ca. 1600-1300 B.C.). Another suggestion is that they could probably belong to the same technological group as the Kallur hoard.
Religious Beliefs
The finds in the excavations also shed light on the religious practices and beliefs of the people.
Mother Goddess: Chalcolithic communities had a belief in the mother goddess, and worshipped her, is attested by the finding of female figures of clay (both baked and unbaked). These female figures are both with heads and without heads. From the lower levels of occupation (dated to the middle of second millennium B.C.) at Nevasa, comes a large headless female figure, which is made without clearly showing physical features. Inamgaon has also yielded similar terracotta female figurines, which show no physical features except breasts.
Evidence for the worship of the mother goddess has been recorded in the excavations of an Early Jorwe house (1300 B.C.) at Inamgaon.
Gods: Male figurines are rare in the Chalcolithic settlements. It has been suggested that the male figurines of clay (two of them being unbaked, and one baked) found in the Late Jorwe levels (1000-700 B.C.) at Inamgaon may possibly be identified as gods. Two figurines from Inamgaon, belonging to late Jorwe culture, have been identified as proto Ganesh, who is worshipped for success before embarking on an undertaking.
Burial Practices: Disposal of the dead by burial was a common custom. Adults as well as children were usually buried in a north-south orientation; the head towards the north and the legs towards the south. Adults were, in a majority of cases, buried in an extended position, whereas children were buried in urn-burials-either in single pots or, more often, in two pots-placed horizontally mouth-to-mouth in a pit.
Agriculture
At Inamgaon the early Jorwe Farmers grew Bajra, Sorghum, Black Gram, Hyacinth Bean and Horse Gram during the monsoon and Wheat, Barley, Lentil, Grass Pea and Field Pea in winter. This will mean that the agricultural economy had become much more stabilized. They kept cows, sheep, goats, pigs and buffaloes and hunted deer. Remains of the camel have also been found. But generally they were not acquainted with the horse.
Decline of Jorwe Culture
The overall evidence indicates that this shift from Early Jorwe to Late Jorwe was due to decline in agriculture as a result of drop in rainfall. Investigations in western and central India have disclosed that at the close of the second millennium B.C. there was a drastic climatic change in this region that led to increasing aridity forcing the people to resort to a semi-nomadic existence. This conclusion is based on calculations of percentages of animal bones found from different phases. It seems that increasing aridity during the Late Jorwe period led to the decline of agriculture, and economy based on farming changed over to sheep/goat pastoralism.