Copper Hoard culture describes find-complexes which mainly occur in the western Ganges–Yamunadoab in the northern part of theIndian subcontinent. They occur in hoards large and small, and are dated to the first half of the2nd millennium BCE,^{[1][note 1][2]} although very few derive from controlled and dateable excavation contexts. The copper hoards are associated with theOchre Coloured Pottery (OCP), which is closely associated with theLate Harappan (or Posturban) phase of the IVC. Associations with theIndo-Aryan of the second millennium BCE have also been proposed,^[3][4] though association with theVedic Aryans is problematic, since the hoards are found east of the territory of the Vedic Aryans.^[2][5]

The Copper Hoard finds occur mainly in Yamuna–Gangesdoab of the northern part of theIndian subcontinent, and are dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE,^{[1][note 1][2]} As early as the 19th century, stray hoard objects became known and established themselves as an important find group in the two-river land of northern India. The first Indian Copper Hoard harpoon was published in 1822. In 1951B. B. Lal published 35 artefacts from theGangetic basin, from the central peninsula and the eastern part of India.^[6] In 1985Paul Alan Yule published 1083 examples from 'Copper Hoards' but also other peninsular prehistoric metal finds.^[7] These added a new group: those fromsouthern Haryana and northernRajasthan. By 1992 284 further examples followed specifically of the Copper Hoard types.

Several hoard artifacts have turned up without an archaeological context, which raises doubts about their authenticity.^[8] Although on their discovery frequently questioned, today few voice doubts about the fourDaimabad copper finds.^[9]

The different assemblages are known mostly by only their metallic artifacts, and thus the term 'culture' is misleading.^{[citation needed]} Many finds are deposited in the Kanya Gurukul museum inNarela/Haryana.^[7]

• 
  Selected hoard artifacts from 1-2 South Haryana, 3-4 Uttar Pradesh, 5 Madhya Pradesh, 6-8 South Bihar-North Orissa-Bengalen.^[10]
• 
  Indian Copper hoard artifact fromRewari, Haryana is probably not a use-object but more likely had a religious function.
• 
  Recorded Indian Copper hoards objects, statistic.

Four regional find-groups are identifiable with their characteristic find-types:

• Characteristichoard-finds from South Haryana/North Rajasthan (recorded: 383) include flat axes, harpoons, double axes,swords with so-called antenna grips and others.
• In theGanges-Yamuna Doab (235) related types occur.
• Those fromChota Nagpur differ (235) entirely from these. They include finely worked pieces, and mostly look at first like axe-heads but are probably ingots.
• Fewer are those known fromMadhya Pradesh (120), although originally there were some 424 from theGhangharia hoard alone.

Of the four find groups, the largest number derives from southern Haryana, especially fromHansi, 120 km west of Delhi^[11] These are purchases and are not excavated. R.A.E. Coningham believes that one of the largest hoards is that from Daimabad with 60 kg.^[12] It is an isolated contemporary phenomenon with little to do with the four main find-groups. Several writers do not distinguish between any early copper-based artefacts and the more narrowly defined Copper Hoards.

Artifacts from Al-Aqir, Oman,Lothal,Gujarat andKallur,Karnataka also comprise other finding spots of the copper hoard culture.

Thecopper ore used derives from different ore ranges inRajasthan (Khetri), southernHaryana,Bihar/WestBengal/Orissa (especially Singhbhum) as well as Madhya Pradesh (Malaj Khand), to judge from the proximity to the find spots.

Hoard objects contain from 78 to 99% copper. Six contain up to 32.9% iron.^[13] Artefacts from Haryana show the greatest chemical variation. Those from Ghangharia are chemically the most homogeneous. Variations in the amount of different constituent metals are considered to be unintentional. Harappan metallurgists seem better able to produce usable alloys.

Certain copper artifacts from the late 3rd millennium contexts inOman resemble the anthropomorphs of the Indian Copper Hoards.^{[14][note 1]}

The copper hoards are associated with theOchre Coloured Pottery (OCP), which is closely associated with theLate Harappan (or Posturban) phase of the IVC. They may also be associated with theIndo-Aryan migrants of the second millennium BCE, or with theBMAC, from where the Indo-Aryans came into India.^[3] The association with the Vedic Indo-Aryans is problematic, since the hoards are mostly found east of the territory of the Vedic Indo-Aryans.^[2][5] Falk proposes an association with the middleVedic period and the realm of theKuru-Pancalas, who had expanded eastwards.^[2]Asko Parpola associates the copper hoards witha first wave of Indo-Iranian migration into the Indian subcontinent, who reached farther east than the later Vedic Aryans.^[4]

An interpretation byD.P. Agrawal explains the anthropomorphs as throwing weapons,^[15] and they have been posited by Das Gupta to the basis of thevajra, a divine weapon of Indo-European origins fashioned for the Vedic and later Hindu deityIndra.^[16] However, these interpretations ignore the find circumstances of associated hoard objects, not to mention the weight (up to 7 kg) of certain examples.^{[citation needed]} Considering the find circumstances and constituent hoard patterns, Yule found no evidence for a functional use, but interprets them as ritualistic objects.^[17]

Alternatively,Harry Falk associated thebar celts with the vajra.^[18][2][19] P. Kuznetsov also associates this artefact with the vajra of Indra, noting similarities with a symbolic cudgel-scepter found in a burial of theYamnaya culture of the Eurasian steppes.^[20]

Zin acknowledges the possibility that CHC-objects may be related to Indo-European culture, stating "Falk’s identification of the vajra as a bar-celt seems to be the right one; the Avestan word vazra means a ‘hammer’."^[19] She disputes the association with Indra's vajra, noting that when in the 1st century BCE the iconography of Indra took form, the memory of Vedic weapons had since vanished. Thus the vajra of Hindu art corresponds to thekeraunos (thunderbolt) of the Greek deity Zeus, and "[t]he iconography may have been transported via coins and small objects of art."^[21]

• Kallur archaeological site
• Pottery in the Indian subcontinent

• B.B. Lal (1972).The Copper Hoard Culture of the Ganga Valley. Heffer.

• Yule (1997),The Copper Hoards of Northern India, Penn Museum

• Archaeological cultures of South Asia
• Chalcolithic cultures of Asia
• Bronze Age cultures of Asia
• Archaeological cultures in India
• Indo-Aryan archaeological cultures

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