737 FAUNA AND SUBSISTENCE PATTERN IN THE CHALCOLITHIC CULTURE OF WESTERN INDIA, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO INAMGAON Seema J. PAWANKAR* and Pappy K. THOMAS* Summary Résumé Zusammenfassung The Chalcolithic culture of western La faune et l'économie de subsistance Fauna und Subsistenz im Chalkolithi­ India, particularly in the state of dans le Chalcolithique de l'Inde occi­ kum Westindiens, mit besonderer Maharashtra, is dated ta c. 2000-700 dentale, en particulier à Inamgaon. Berücksichtigung von lnamgaon. be. A number of Chalcolithic sites like La culture chalcolithique de l'Inde Das Chalkolithikum Westindiens, Daimabad, Nevasa, Apegaon, Chandoli, occidentale, en particulier dans l'état de speziell das des Staates Maharashtra. Inamgaon, Walki, etc. have been exca­ Maharashtra, est datée d'environ 2 000 datiert zwischen 2000 und 700 v. Chr. vated by various institutions. A majority à 700 be. De nombreux sites chalcoli­ Eine Anzahl kupferzeitlicher Siedlungen of these sites are located in the semi­ thiques, tels que Daimabad, Nevasa, >vie Daimabad, Nevasa, Apegaon, Chan­ arid zone with an average annual rain­ Apegaon, Chandoli, Inamgaon, Walki, doli, Inamgaon, Walki etc. ist von ver­ fall ranging from 400 to 1000 mm. The etc., ont été fouillés par différentes insti­ schiedenen Institutionen ausgegraben black cotton soi/ of" this area was per­ tutions. La majorité de ces sites est worden. Ein GrojJteil dieser Siedlungen haps an important factor for the devel­ située dans la wne semi-aride, avec une befindet sich in der semi-ariden Zone opment (~l the early farming communi­ pluviosité annuelle moyenne de 400 à mit einem durchschnittlichen Jahresnie­ ties, which subsisted on farming, l 000 mm. Le sol noir très fertile de cette derschlag von 400-1000 mm. Die gute stock-raising, hunting and fishing. région a peut-être été un facteur impor­ Erde dieser Gegend (black cotton soi/) Animal remains from a majority of the tant pour le développement des pre­ war wahrscheinlich ein wichtiger Fak­ Cha/colithic sites have been studied in mières communautés agricoles. Elles tor für die Entstehung früher Ackerbau­ detail and it appears that cattle is the ont subsisté grâce à l'agriculture, l' éle­ ernkulturen. Diese lebten vom Acker­ predominant animal in this cultural vage, la chasse et la pêche. Les restes bau, der Tierhaltung, der Jagd und dem phase. Probably for an agricultural animaux de la majorité des sites chalco­ Fischfang. Die Tierknochen eines GrojJ­ society the signijïcance of this animal in lithiques ont été étudiés en détail et il teiles der chalkolithischen Sied/ungen the food economy as well as in the agri­ apparaît que le bœuf était l'animal pré­ sind einer eingehenden Untersuchung cultural operations cannot be ruled out. dominant de cette phase culturelle. Il est unterzogen worden. Es scheint, ais ab Inamgaon, a Chalcolithic site in the probable que, pour une société agricole, das Rind in diesem Kulturabschnitt Pune district has revealed Malwa, early l'importance de cet animal dans l' éco­ wichtigstes Tier gewesen ist. Vermutlich Jorwe and late Jorwe cultural phases. nomie alimentaire autant que dans les ist es in einer produzierenden Wirtschaft The faunal material from this site is travaux agricoles ne peut être éliminée. ais Erndhrungsgrundlage und Arbeits­ being studied by the present authors. Inamgaon, site chalcolithique du district tier nicht wegzudenken. Inamgaon, eine lnamgaon has revealed some very inter­ de Pune, a livré des phases culturelles kupferzeitliche Siedlung im Distrikt von esting evidences regarding the subsis­ Malwa, Jonve ancien et Jorwe récent. Pune, erbrachte Schichten der Malwa, tence pattern in the different cultural Le matériel faunique de ce site est étudié frühen Jorwe und spdten Jor>ve Kultur­ phases. As mentioned earlier cattle par les auteurs. Inamgaon a fourni des phase. Die Siedlung erbrachte einige forms a major part in the di et of the peo­ données intéressant /'économie de sub­ sehr interessante Ergebnisse zur Sub­ ple in the Malwa and early Jorwe phas­ sistance des différentes phases cultu­ sistenz der verschiedenen Kulturphasen. es. However, in the late Jonve phase relles. Comme il a été dit plus haut, le Die Rinder stellen in den Phasen Malwa ( 1000-700 be) a greater emphasis has bœuf joue un rôle majeur dans le régime und Früh-Jorwe einen bedeutenden Teil been given ta hunting wild animais to alimentaire des habitants des phases der Erndhrung. ln der Phase Spiit­ substantiate their food economy. This Malwa et Jonve ancien. Cependant, Jorwe ( 1000-700 v. Chr.) wurde bei der variation in the composition of animais dans la phase Jorwe finale ( 1 000-700 Erndhrung jedoch grojJeres Gewicht auf is also reflected in the other cultural be), la chasse aux animaux sauvages die Jagd gelegt. Dieser Unterschied aspects such as dec/ine in farming, the tient une place plus importante dans zeigt sich auch in anderen Aspekten der absence of storage jars, change in the l'économie alimentaire. Cette variation Kultur wie dem Rückgang des Acker­ shape and size of the houses, etc. This dans le spectre faunique se reflète aussi baus, dem Fehlen von VorratsgefdjJen, drastic change around 1000 be at dans d'autes a5pects culturels, comme le der Anderung von Umr(/3 und GrojJe der Inamgaon may have been due ·ta envi- déclin de l'agriculture, /'absence de Hauser etc. Dieser drastische Wandel *Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, Pune-41 /006, lndia. ANTHROPOZOOLOGICA. 1997. N° 25-26 738 ronmental degradation caused by pro­ jarres de stockage, le changement dans um 1000 v. Chr. mag mit einer anthro­ longed human interjerence with nature. la forme et la taille des maisons, etc. Ce pogen bedingten Verschlechterung der changement brutal observé à Inamgaon Umweltbedingungen zusammenhangen. aux alentours de 1 000 be peut être dû à une dégradation environnementale cau­ sée par une interférence humaine pro­ longée avec la nature. Key Words Mots clés Schlüsselworte Maharashtra, Chalcolithic, Animais, Maharashtra, Chalcolithique, Maharashtra, Chalkolithikum, Tiere, Subsistence, Environment. Animaux, Subsistance, Environnement. Subsistenz, Umwelt. Introduction Detailed faunal reports are available only for Inam­ The Deccan trap of the Cretaceous-Eocene age extends gaon, Walki and Kaothe out of the 14 Chalcolithic sites in almost from the southern flanks of the Narmada valley to western Maharashtra (tab. 1). The faunal reports from sites the banks of river Krishna. The dominant soi! type of this like Apegaon, Nevasa, Damdama and Nasik are merely area is the black cotton soi! and the colour is due to the brief accounts of species. From the other sites, the excava­ presence of clay humus, colloidal complex which is formed tion reports mention nothing about the faunal remains by bio-inorganic processes. This is often referred as self except for stray references of animal motives on terracotta ploughing soi!. Western India is a subtropical monsoonic wares, which are of little help for finer archaeozoological region and the rainfall occurs mostly during the southwest interpretations. monsoon. Coastal Maharashtra, western Ghats and south Gujarat receive more than 2000 mm rainfall and are cov­ Subsistence ered with thick deciduous and semi-evergreen forests, while The remains of flora and fauna at archaeological site the plateau of Maharashtra, north Gujarat, Saurashtra and help in reconstructing the past subsistence systems. In Kutch receive rainfall Jess than 1000 mm and are covered addition to the biological and environmental factors, the by thin deciduous and thorny scrub forest (Rajaguru, 1973). subsistence system is often linked with cultural and techno­ The Chalcolithic culture in western India flourished in logical aspects of the prehistoric cultures. In this paper, we the Tapi, Godavari and in the Krishna valleys. Very fertile are more concerned with the role of domestic and wild ani­ black cotton soi! occurs in this region, which may have mais in the food economy of the ancient farmers. The zoo­ attracted the early farmers to settle down in this tract. The lo gical remains in the form of bones, shells, etc. from areas receiving low rains are at present covered with xero­ archaeological sites reveal information about the animais phytic vegetation like bor (Zizyphus jujube), babhul (Aca­ exploited for subsistence. These remains are different from cia arabica wild), chinch (Tamarindus indica), etc. The the natural burials. The animal bones which depict eut concentration of Chalcolithic sites are found mainly in marks, charring, fragmentation due to marrow extraction, western Maharashtra. The beginning of settled life in etc. are clearly different in appearance from those found in Maharashtra can chronologically be placed into four cul­ the natural burials and thus could be attributed to the sub­ tural phases: the Savalda (2200-1800 be), late Harappan sistence activities. Fortunately, such remains have been (1800-1600 be), Malwa (1600-1400 be) and Jorwe (1400- unearthed from a vast majority of protohistoric sites. 700 be), ail based on diagnostic terracotta wares. The domestic animais associated with the early farm­ A large number of Chalcolithic sites are reported from ing communities demonstrate the very sedentary nature of Maharashtra, such as Prakash, Bahal, Kaothe and Tekwada the agriculturalists settlements. A high percentage (more (Tapi valley), Nasik, Jorwe, Daimabad, Nevasa and Ape­ than 70%) of cattle bones in almost ail the sites reveals the gaon (Godavari valley) and Chandoli, Walki, lnamgaon significance of this animal in the food economy. The mani­ and Songaon (Bhima valley) (fig. 1). The Chalcolithic cul­ fold uses of cattle can be the reason for their abundance in ture in this region is characterised by the presence of stone a majority of protohistoric sites in India. For instance, in blades, wheel-made pottery, copper-bronze tools and huts addition to the meat requirement of the inhabitants, cattle with wooden posts (Thomas, 1984). These early farming have also contributed to the agricultural activities as indi­ communities subsisted on farming, animal husbandry, cated by the representation of both young and old animais hunting and fishing.