Pre-Iron Age Cultures

1200 BCE

Late Harappan settlements along the Yamuna and Sutlej Rivers carry markers of rural economies and infrastructure. These settlements see a shift towards Chalcolithic cultures as characterised by the presence of copper hoards found in northern India, and wheel pottery made in red, orange, black and white. These overlap with the late phase of Ochre Coloured Pottery and the emergence of early Iron Age cultures such as Painted Grey Ware.

Bibliography

Dangi, Vivek. “Iron Age Culture of North India.” In Iron Age in South Asia, edited by Akinori Uesugi, 50–100. Osaka: Research Group for South Asian Archaeology, Archaeological Research Institute, Kansai University, 2018.

Lal, B. B. “The Painted Grey Ware Culture of the Iron Age.” In History of Civilisations in Central Asia Volume 1, edited by A. H. Dani and V. M. Masson, 412–31. Paris: UNESCO Publishing, 1992. https://en.unesco.org/silkroad/sites/default/files/knowledge-bank-article/vol_I%20silk%20road_the%20painted%20grey%20ware%20culture%20of%20the%20iron%20age.pdf.