Place · Chalcolithic settlement · India
Ahar
The Ahar-Banas Chalcolithic settlement at Ahar in Udaipur district, Rajasthan, 2 kilometres from Udaipur — the type-site that gives its name to the Ahar-Banas Chalcolithic culture (c.3000-1500 BCE) of southeastern Rajasthan and northern Madhya Pradesh. H.D. Sankalia's 1961-62 excavations and the Udaipur University excavations under V.N. Misra from 1996 have documented a 14-hectare settlement with distinctive black-and-red ware pottery, copper axes and chisels (Ahar is one of the earliest documented copper-smelting sites in India), stone bull terracotta figurines, and brick house foundations. The Ahar-Banas culture coexisted with the Mature Harappan period 400 kilometres to the west, with limited archaeological evidence of trade contact. The site extends the prehistoric map beyond the Harappan urban core. ASI protection since 1961.
- Function
- Authority & administration
- Tradition
- South Asian archaeology
- Confidence
- Established / referenced
- Location
- 24.580, 73.690
Connections (2)
- Trade routeGaneshwar-Jodhpura
The Ahar-Banas towns worked copper and the Ganeshwar-Jodhpura field in the Khetri belt is where a good deal of it came from — thousands of copper objects, and almost certainly the source of much of what the Harappan cities used as well. A Chalcolithic culture with no writing and no cities was supplying the metal for the ones that had both.
- Site withinUdaipur
Ahar lies within Udaipur — the two sites sit about 2 km apart, well inside the city's historical boundary and part of the same urban or peri-urban landscape. Ahar is one of the specific sites that give Udaipur its layered character, and reads differently when seen as a stop within the larger city rather than as an isolated monument on an open map. The surrounding neighbourhoods, roads and other heritage ensembles belong to the same single urban fabric.
On these journeys
Sources
Wikipedia, “Ahar”. Archaeological Survey of India and State Archaeology monument records, and the standard regional literature.
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