Copper Hoard culture
Also called: Copper hoards · Topic: Prehistory: Human Origins and Stone Age Cultures · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Copper Hoard culture is the name for many hoards (hidden stores) of copper objects found in northern and central India. The objects include flat axes, harpoons (barbed spears), antenna-hilted swords and flat anthropomorphic figures, meaning copper shapes that look roughly like a human. Most come from the Ganga-Yamuna doab. Some also come from Bihar, Odisha, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. They are generally dated to the 2nd millennium BCE. They show that metal-working spread into the Ganga plains outside the Harappan zone.
Example
Gungeria in Madhya Pradesh gave the largest single copper hoard, with hundreds of copper objects. Many hoards in western Uttar Pradesh are found in the same areas as Ochre Coloured Pottery.
Don't confuse with
- Harappan copper objects: these come from planned cities with a standard set of tools. Copper hoards are mostly loose caches, often found without any clear settlement.