A Protohistoric Pottery type of India associated with Copper Age implements. A remarkable milestone of Indian Archaeology in the context of Potteries, Copper Artefacts and Late-Harappan rural cultures.

1. OCPAND COPPER HOARDS
AN APPRAISAL
Presentation By
SADHISH SHARMA B
B.Tech Temple Architecture
MAArchaeology
PROTO-HISTORY SERIES
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2. CONTENT
 INTRODUCTION
 OCP – HISTORY AND EXTENT
 IMPORTANT SITES WITH GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
 COPPER HOARDS
 TYPES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION
 CHRONOLOGICALASSESSMENT
 CONCLUSION
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3. INTRODUCTION
• Ochre Coloured Pottery is a Late Harappan pottery Culture.
• Copper Hoards are associated with OCP in Indian context in general.
• Contemporary to each other and overlapping in many sites.
• OCP is limited in geographical distribution compared to Copper Hoards.
• Copper Hoards is extended in wide range in the sub-continent.
• OCP and Copper Hoards reveals the village settlement pattern and metallurgy.
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4. OCP – HISTORY AND EXTENT
• First noticed in Bisauli and Rajpur Parsu in 1949.
• Professor B.B. Lal in 1951-52 coined the term ‘Ochre Coloured Pottery’.
• Wheel-turned and made of well levigated medium-grained clay.
• Ill-fired, thick ochre washed ware which worns out while rubbed.
• The refugee or Late Harappan people ( A. Ghosh, 1964).
• Indigenous people (B.B. Lal, 1951; K.N. Dikshit, 1979).
• Pre-Harappans (R.C. Gaur, 1987; M.D.N. Sahi, 2006).
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5. SOME IMPORTANT OCP SITES
• Ambakheri (Saharanpur District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Atranjikhera (Etah District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Bahadrabad (Haridwar District, Uttarakhand).
• Bargaon (Saharanpur District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Bisauli (Badaun District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Ganeshwar (Sikar District, Rajasthan).
• Hastinapur (Meerut District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Jodhpura (Jaipur District, Rajasthan).
• Lal Qila (Bulandshahr District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Madarpur (Moradabad District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Noh (Bharatpur District, Rajasthan).
• Rajpur Parsu (Bijnor District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Saipai (Etawah District, Uttar Pradesh).
• Sanauli (Bhagpat District, Uttar Pradesh).
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6. OCP – GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION
Map Not to Scale
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7. Different types of Ochre Coloured Pottery
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8. OCP Pot shreds from BedhKheri-1
OCP Pot shreds from Jhinjhana-1
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9. OCP Pot shreds from Mansura
OCP Pot shreds from Shabga
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10. COPPER HOARDS
• Number of copper implements found in Hoards
• First reported from Bithur in Kanpur in 1822.
• Gungeria, Balaghat District, Madhya Pradesh is biggest site with 424 implements.
• Professor BB. Lal in 1951 associated it with OCP culture.
• Distributed up to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in South India.
• Dominated by Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Rajasthan.
• No single origin.
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11. Map not to scale
Copper Hoards sites in India
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12. COPPER HOARD TYPES AND THEIR DISTRIBUTION
Flat celts
• 6 Celts found from 3 sites in Haryana.
• 88 Celts found from 21 sites in U.P.
• 74 Celts found from 5 sites in Rajasthan.
• 13 Celts found from 5 sites in M.P.
• 72 Celts from 12 sites in Bihar.
• 2 Celts found from a site in Karnataka.
Shouldered celts
• 38 found from 11 sites in U.P.
• 22 found from 7 sites in Bihar.
• 5 found from 5 sites in West Bengal.
• 9 Celts found from 5 sites in Orissa.
Bar celts
• 3 Celts found from 2 sites in U.P.
• 7 Celts found from 2 sites in Rajasthan.
• 17 Celts found from a site in Bihar.
• 1 Celt each has been found from M.P., W.B., and Orissa.
Group – A: Celts
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13. Different Types of Copper Celts from various sites
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14. • 80 rings have been found 9 sites in total.
• 12 rings found from 8 sites in Haryana,
• 9 rings found from 3 sites in Uttar Pradesh,
• 47 rings found from Madhya Pradesh (at site Pondi in district Reva),
• 1 ring found from a site in Bihar,
• 11 rings found from a site in West Bengal.
Group – B: Rings
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15. Copper rings from Pondi and Daimabad
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16. Group – C
HARPOONS
SWORDS
ANTHROPOMORPHS
DOUBLE AXES
Cut and Hammered from sheets
Casted in double moulds
Antennae sword
Hooked sword
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17. Harpoons from Ahichhatra.
Copper antennae sword
with hilt from Sanauli.
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18. Anthropomorph from Ganga-Yamuna Doab, Uttar Pradesh
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19. S.No Site District Long Lat Cultural Sequence Reference
1 Ambakheri Saharanpur 77º46’ E 29º 44’ N OCP
IAR, 1963-64:56;
GHOSH, 1989:17-
18
2 Atranjikhera Etah 78º 44’ E 27º 42’ N
OCP, BRW, PGW,
NBPW, S.K, Med
IAR, 1962-63:70;
GAUR, 1983.
3 Bahadrabad Haridwar 78º 02’ E 29º 55’ N OCP, Copper Hoards
Y.D.Sharma, 1971-
72:39; GHOSH
4 Bargaon Saharanpur 77º 34’ E 30º 04’ N
L.H & OCP, Copper
Hoards
IAR,1963-64:56-57;
GHOSH, 1989:54
5 Bisauli Badaun 79º 07’ E 28º 22’ N OCP, Copper Hoards
AI, No.7:24;
Dhavalikar,1997:26
2
6 Ganeshwara Sikar 75º 51’ E 37º 40’ N OCP, Copper Hoards
HOOJA, 1995:325-
339
7 Hastinapur Meerut 78º 03’ E 29º 09’ N
OCP, PGW, BRW,
NBPW, Med
LAL, 1954-55:1-9;
GHOSH, 1989:164
8 Jodhpura Jaipur 76º 18’ E 26º 58’ N
OCP, Copper Hoards,
BRW, NBPW, S.K
IAR,1972-73:29;
HOOJA,1995:325-
339
9 Lal Qila Bulandshahr 78º 12’ E 28º 10’ N OCP, Copper Hoards GAUR, 1995
10 Madarpur Moradabad 78º 48’ E 29º 12’ N OCP
IAR, 2000-01: 127-
140
11 Noh Bharatpur 77º 30’ E 27º 13’ N
OCP, BRW, PGW,
NBPW, S.K
IAR, 1964-65:34;
GHOSH, 1989:318-
19
12 Rajpur Parsu Bijnor 78º 09’ E 29º 08’ N OCP, Copper Hoards
LAL, 1951:24-27;
GHOSH, 1989:365
13 Saipai Etawah 78º 58’ E 26º 27’ N OCP, Copper Hoards
IAR, 1969-70:40;
GHOSH, 1989:384
14 Sanauli Baghpat 77º 21’ E 29º 14’ N OCP, Copper Hoards ijarch.org
CHRONOLOGICALASSESSMENT
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20. • OCP and Copper Hoards are inter-related and overlying.
• Origin of the OCP people is still unclear.
• Copper Hoards and its distribution in the sub-continent.
• Further explorations and excavations required.
• Detailed and explicit study needed.
CONCLUSION
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21. Reference
Agrawal, D.P. 1971. Copper Bronze Age in India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal.
Agrawal, R.C. 1981. Fresh Light on the Ochre Coloured Pottery from Rajasthan,
in M.S. Nagarangan (ed.). Madhu Sri M.N Despande Felicitation Volume, pp.77- 80. Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan.
Deva, Krishana. 1969. Problems of Ochre Coloured Pottery, in B.P Sinha (ed.).
Potteries in Ancient India, pp.75-82. Patna.
Dhavalkar, M.K. 1997. Indian Protohistory. Delhi: Books & Books.
Dikshit, K.N. 1979. The Ochre Coloured Ware Settlement, in Ganga-Yamuna
Gaur, R.C. 1983. Excavations at Atranjikhera: Early Civilization of the Upper Ganga Basin.
Delhi: Delhi University Press.
Gaur, R.C. 1987. OCP Culture and its Association with Pre- Harappan in Bhagwat Sahai (ed.)
B.P Sinha Felicitation Volume History and Culture, pp.33-42. Delhi: Ramanand Vidya Bhawan.
Gaur, R.C. 1995. A Unique Copper Hoard from Kirarpur, in R. C. Gaur (ed.).
Excavations at Lal Qila (Dist.Bulandshahar) - A Habitational OCP Site. pp. 184-188 Jaipur: Publication Scheme.
Gaur, R.C. 1995. The Excavations at Lai Qila-A Habitational OCP Site and A Unique Copper Hoard
from Kiratpur. Jaipur: Publication Scheme.
Ghosh, A. 1989. An Encyclopadia of Indian Archaeology (vol-2). New Delhi:Munshiram Manohar Lal.
Hooja, Rima and Vijay Kumar. 1995. Aspects of Early Copper Age in Rajasthan in Raymand Allchin and
Bridget Allchin (eds). South Asian Archaeology. Vol. 1 pp 325-339. New Delhi: Oxford IBH Publishing Co.Ltd.
Ojha, Ram Prakash. 1972. Bronze & Copper age. Prakashan Kendra, Lucknow.
Sahi, M.D.N. 2006. Ochre Coloured Pottery: Further Investigations into its Earliest Chrono-Culture Horizon in
P. Cheena Reddy (ed.). Dr. I. K Sharma Felicitation Volume. Riches of Indian Archaeology and Culture Studies,
pp. 50-71. Shahdara Publiction House.
Sharma, Y.D. 1958-59. Indian Archaeology-A Review. Excavation at Alamgirpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Sinha, B.P. 1969. Potteries in Ancient India. Patna University, Patna.
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