CHALCOLITHIC CULTURES IN ODISHA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE to THE CERAMIC ASSEMBLAGE

Abstract

The pottery studies are very often called the alphabets of archaeology. In fact, potteries from the archaeological excavations constituted the primary basis of the seriation technique, which is used in the relative dating of an archaeological culture. Some potteries remain a prime signature for a period of occupation. Further, other potteries in India had long continuities, and some were very short. For example, the brw is noticed in many contexts ranging from the megalithic to chalcolithic and early historical. However, some potteries have very short time spans of circulation and are called to use the palaeontologist s term, index fossil , to characterize a short time duration of their distribution, indicating a short period of manufacture. Painted Grey Ware and North Black Polished Ware belong to this category of index fossil. Pottery is not a functional vessel alone. Nor is it merely a characteristic cultural artefact of an archaeological culture. The study of pottery reveals the nature of the physical earth, the chemistry of clay, firing technique, disposal of dead, aesthetics and abstract thought, use of animal or plant- protein as diet, functional use and many more. The ceramic study, in fact, provides a methodological apparatus to explore the technical processes and social acts involved in the step-by-step production, use, and eventual disposal of artefacts. The concept of Chaîne de opératoire has been employed by anthropologists and archaeologists in order to understand the diversity of chains of activities in pottery-making and their imbrications in the social and symbolic system of societies under study. The present work derives its content from participation in the excavation of Deltihuda, Ostaper, newline