Copper Hoard culture

Copper Hoard culture describes find-complexes which mainly occur in the western Ganges–Yamuna doab in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent. They occur in hoards large and small, and are dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE, although very few derive from controlled and dateable excavation contexts. The copper hoards are associated with the Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP), which is closely associated with the Late Harappan (or Posturban) phase of the IVC. Associations with the Indo-Aryan of the second millennium BCE have also been proposed, though association with the Vedic Aryans is problematic, since the hoards are found east of the territory of the Vedic Aryans.

Artefacts

Historical finds

The Copper Hoard finds occur mainly in Yamuna–Ganges doab of the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, and are dated to the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE, 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 1951 B. B. Lal published 35 artefacts from the Gangetic basin, from the central peninsula and the eastern part of India. In 1985 Paul Alan Yule published 1083 examples from 'Copper Hoards' but also other peninsular prehistoric metal finds. These added a new group: those from southern Haryana and northern Rajasthan. 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.