Ochre Coloured Pottery culture
Also called: OCP culture · Topic: Prehistory: Human Origins and Stone Age Cultures · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) culture was a Bronze Age culture of the Ganga-Yamuna doab, c. 2000–1500 BCE. A doab is the land between two rivers. It is named after its orange-red pottery, which often rubs off on the fingers because it is poorly fired or worn by water. The culture is linked with Copper Hoard objects, meaning stores of copper tools and weapons. It matters because it fills the gap between the Harappan period and later cultures of the Ganga plain.
Example
At Sinauli (Baghpat, Uttar Pradesh), OCP-linked burials have given copper objects, including weapons and coffins decorated with copper.
Don't confuse with
- Painted Grey Ware (PGW): a later culture of the same region, linked with the early Iron Age. Its pottery is fine and grey with black paint, not orange-red.