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{{Short description|North Indian iron age culture}}{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{HistoryOfSouthAsia}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
|name = Painted Grey Ware culture
|map = File:Painted Grey Ware Culture (1200-600 BCE).png
|mapcaption = Map of some Painted Grey Ware (PGW) sites
|mapalt =
|altnames =
|horizon =
|region = [[North India]]
|period = [[Iron Age]]
|dates = c. 1200–500 BCE
|typesite =
|majorsites = [[Hastinapur]] [[ Mathura]] [[Ahichchhatra]] [[Panipat]] [[Jognakhera]] [[Rupnagar]] [[Bhagwanpura, Haryana|Bhagwanpura]] [[Kosambi]]
|extra = Extensive Iron metallurgy Fortified settlement 
|precededby = [[Cemetery H culture]] [[Black and red ware]] [[Ochre Coloured Pottery culture]]
|followedby = [[Mahajanapadas]]
}}
[[File:Painted_Grey_Ware_sites_map_1.svg|alt=|thumb|Cemetery H, Late Harappan, OCP, Copper Hoard and Painted Grey ware sites]]
The '''Painted Grey Ware culture''' ('''PGW''') is an [[Iron Age India]]n [[Archaeological culture|culture]] of the western [[Gangetic plain]] and the [[Ghaggar-Hakra River|Ghaggar-Hakra valley]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]], conventionally dated {{circa}}1200 to 600–500 BCE,<ref name="Adams1997">{{cite book|author=Douglas Q. Adams|title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA310|date=January 1997|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-98-5|pages=310–}}</ref><ref name="Jain1972">{{cite book|author=Kailash Chand Jain|title=Malwa Through the Ages, from the Earliest Times to 1305 A.D|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZR-J6-WOH4QC&pg=PA96|year=1972|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0824-9|pages=96–}}</ref> though newer publications have suggested a range of 1500 to 700 BCE,<ref name="cambridge.org">Neogi, Sayantani, Charles A. I. French, Julie A. Durcan, Rabindra N. Singh, and Cameron A. Petrie, (2019). [https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/7EEB4F0A6653158B1160DB9B5ED61E90/S003358941900070Xa.pdf/geoarchaeological_insights_into_the_location_of_indus_settlements_on_the_plains_of_northwest_india.pdf "Geoarchaeological insights into the location of Indus settlements on the plains of northwest India"], in Quaternary Research, Volume 94, March 2020, p. 140.</ref><ref name="currentscience.ac.in">Pokharia, Anil K., Chanchala Srivastava, Bhuvan Vikram, et al. (2015). [https://www.currentscience.ac.in/cs/Volumes/109/07/1293.pdf "On the botanical findings from excavations at Ahichchhatra: a multicultural site in Upper Ganga Plain, Uttar Pradesh"], in Current Science, Vol. 109, No. 7, 10 October 2015, p. 1301.</ref> or from 1300 to 500–300 BC<ref>Possehl, G. L., (2002). ''The Indus civilization: A contemporary perspective'', AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA; Oxford, p. 29.</ref><ref>Bates, J., (2020). [https://reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S2352226719301126?token=4D05D7A0BC868D344C06DA8D4B577C5CB6C8896A914F25DD93F2488EC17DD2E0DD91AD5E98633A63E7695C011A82D2A9 "Kitchen gardens, wild forage and tree fruits: A hypothesis on the role of the Zaid season in the indus civilisation (c.3200-1300 BCE)"], in Archaeological Research in Asia 21 (2020), Table 1, p.2.</ref><ref>Uesugi, Akinori, (2018). [https://www.academia.edu/37419677/An_Overview_on_the_Iron_Age_in_South_Asia "An Overview on the Iron Age in South Asia"], in (ed.) Akinori Uesugi, Iron Age in South Asia, Kansai University, Fig. 6, pp. 9-12.</ref> It is a successor of the [[Cemetery H culture]] and [[Black and red ware culture]] (BRW) within this region, and contemporary with the continuation of the BRW culture in the eastern Gangetic plain and Central India.<ref>Southworth, Franklin, (2005). [https://books.google.com/books?id=hTwuFUW5aEgC ''Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia''], Routledge, p.177</ref>

Characterized by a style of fine, grey pottery painted with geometric patterns in black,<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WGUz01yBumEC&pg=PA357 |title = History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. To the seventh century A.D|isbn = 9789231028120|last1 = De Laet|first1 = Sigfried J.|last2 = Herrmann|first2 = Joachim|date = January 1996}}</ref> the PGW culture is associated with village and town settlements, domesticated horses, ivory-working, and the advent of iron metallurgy.<ref>{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC&pg=PA414 |title = Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|isbn = 9781884964985|last1 = Mallory|first1 = J. P.|last2 = Adams|first2 = Douglas Q.|year = 1997}}</ref> {{as of|2014}}, more than 1,100 PGW sites have been discovered.<ref>Vikrama, Bhuvan & Daljeet Singh, (2014). "Classification of Motifs on Painted Grey Ware", in Pracyabodha, Indian Archaeology and Tradition, Vol.2, Delhi, pp. 223-229.</ref> Although most PGW sites were small farming villages, "several dozen" PGW sites emerged as relatively large settlements that can be characterized as towns; the largest of these were fortified by ditches or moats and embankments made of piled earth with wooden palisades, albeit smaller and simpler than the elaborate fortifications which emerged in large cities after 600 BCE.<ref>James Heitzman, [https://books.google.com/books?id=RdcnAgh_StUC ''The City in South Asia''] (Routledge, 2008), pp.12-13</ref>

The PGW Culture probably corresponds to the middle and late [[Vedic period]], i.e., the [[Kuru Kingdom|Kuru]]-[[Panchala]] kingdom, the first large state in the Indian subcontinent after the decline of the [[Indus Valley Civilization]].<ref>Geoffrey Samuel, (2010) ''The Origins of Yoga and Tantra: Indic Religions to the Thirteenth Century'', Cambridge University Press, pp. 45–51</ref><ref>[[Michael Witzel]] (1989), ''Tracing the Vedic dialects'' in ''Dialectes dans les litteratures Indo-Aryennes'' ed. [[Colette Caillat|Caillat]], Paris, 97–265.</ref> The later vedic literature provides a mass of information on the life and culture of the times. It is succeeded by [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] from c.700-500 BCE, associated with the rise of the great [[mahajanapada]] states and of the [[Magadha]] Empire.

==Overview==
[[File:Painted Grey Ware - Sonkh - 1000-600 BCE - Showcase 6-15 - Prehistory and Terracotta Gallery - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 6461.JPG|thumb|left|Painted Grey Ware - Sonkh ([[Uttar Pradesh]]) - 1000-600 BCE. [[Government Museum, Mathura]]]]
[[File:PGW fragments BM.jpg|left|thumb|Fragments of Painted Grey Ware, about 1000 BC, from [[Hastinapur]] and [[Radhakund]], [[Uttar Pradesh]], and [[Panipat]] and [[Tilpat]], [[Haryana]]. [[British Museum]].]]
[[File:BaraSite.jpg|thumb|Shards of Painted Grey Ware (right) and Harappan red pottery (left) from [[Rupnagar]], [[Punjab (India)|Punjab]].]]
[[Image:Indo-Iranian origins.png|thumb|Archaeological cultures associated with [[Indo-Iranian migration]]s (after [[Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture|EIEC]]). The [[Andronovo culture|Andronovo]], [[BMAC]] and [[Yaz culture]]s have often been associated with [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] migrations. The [[Gandhara grave culture|GGC]] (Swat), [[Cemetery H culture|Cemetery H]], [[Copper Hoard Culture|Copper Hoard]] and PGW cultures are candidates for cultures associated with [[Indo-Aryan peoples|Indo-Aryan]] [[Indo-Aryan migration|migrations]].]]

The PGW culture cultivated rice, wheat, millet and barley, and domesticated cattle, sheep, pigs, and horses. Houses were built of [[wattle-and-daub]], mud, or bricks, ranging in size from small huts to large houses with many rooms. There is a clear settlement hierarchy, with a few central towns that stand out amongst numerous small villages. Some sites, including Jakhera in [[Uttar Pradesh]], demonstrate a “fairly evolved, proto-urban or semi-urban stage” of this culture, with evidence of social organization and trade, including ornaments of gold, copper, ivory, and semi-precious stones, storage bins for surplus grain, stone weights, paved streets, water channels and embankments.<ref>Singh, Upinder (2009), ''A History of Ancient and Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century'', Longman, Delhi, pp. 246–248</ref>

The plough was used for cultivation. There are also indications of growing complexity of society as population increased and the size and number of settlements multiplied. Arts and crafts of the PGW people are represented by ornaments (made from terracotta, stone, [[faience]], and glass), human and animal figurines (made from [[terracotta]]) as well as "incised terracotta discs with decorated edges and geometric motifs" which probably had "ritual meaning," perhaps representing symbols of [[Historical Vedic religion|deities]].<ref name="Kenoyer">Kenoyer, J. M., (2006), "Cultures and Societies of the Indus Tradition. In Historical Roots" in ''the Making of ‘the Aryan’'', R. Thapar (ed.), National Book Trust, New Delhi, pp. 21–49.</ref> There are a few [[stamp seal]]s with geometric designs but no inscription, contrasting with both the prior [[Indus script|Harappan seals]] and the subsequent [[Brahmi script|Brahmi]]-inscribed seals of the Northern Black Polished Ware culture.<ref name="Kenoyer" />

The PGW pottery shows a remarkable degree of standardization. It is dominated by bowls of two shapes, a shallow tray and a deeper bowl, often with a sharp angle between the walls and base. The range of decoration is limited - vertical, oblique or criss-cross lines, rows of dots, spiral chains and concentric circles being common.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Rise of Civilization in India and Pakistan|last=Bridget and Raymond Allchin|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1982}}</ref>

At [[Bhagwanpura, Haryana|Bhagwanpura]] in the [[Kurukshetra]] district of [[Haryana]], excavations have revealed an overlap between the [[Cemetery H culture|late Harappan]] and Painted Grey Ware cultures, large houses that may have been elite residences, and fired bricks that may have been used in Vedic [[altar]]s.<ref name="Kenoyer" />

Fresh surveys by archaeologist Vinay Kumar Gupta suggest [[Mathura]] was the largest PGW site around 375 hectares in area.<ref name="Gupta">Gupta, Vinay Kumar, (2014).[https://www.academia.edu/7025503/Early_Settlement_of_Mathura_An_Archaeological_Perspective_An_Occasional_paper_published_by_Nehru_Memorial_Museum_and_Library_N._Delhi "Early Settlement of Mathura: An Archaeological Perspective"], An Occasional paper, in History and Society, New Series 41, [[Nehru Memorial Museum & Library|Nehru Memorial Museum and Library]], New Delhi, pp. 1-37.</ref> Among the largest sites is also the recently excavated [[Ahichatra]], with at least 40 hectares of area in PGW times along with evidence of early construction of the fortification which goes back to PGW levels.<ref>Mani, B. R., (September 17, 2013). [https://www.educationtimes.com/article/65781437/69519720/What-Lies-Beneath.html "What Lies Beneath"], in Educational Times.</ref> Towards the end of the period, many of the PGW settlements grew into the large towns and cities of the [[Northern Black Polished Ware]] period.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://a.harappa.com/sites/g/files/g65461/f/CulturesSocietiesIndusTrad.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140101140624/http://a.harappa.com/sites/g/files/g65461/f/CulturesSocietiesIndusTrad.pdf |archive-date=2014-01-01 }}</ref>

==Chronology==
Two periods of PGW were identified recently at Ahichhatra by archaeologist Bhuvan Vikrama and his group, the earliest from 1500 to 800 BCE, and the late from 800 to 400 BCE.<ref name="currentscience.ac.in"/> Cameron A. Petrie's team regards PGW lasted from 1500 to 700 BCE.<ref name="cambridge.org"/>

On the other hand, Akinori Uesugi regards PGW as having three periods within '''North Indian Iron Age''' which are: '''Period I''' (1300-1000 BCE) when it makes its appearance in the Ghaggar valley and the upper Ganga region, '''Period II''' (1000-600 BCE) when it spreads into the western part of the Ganga valley, and '''Period III''' (600-300 BCE) with interactions to the east.<ref>Uesugi, Akinori, (2018).[https://www.academia.edu/37419677/An_Overview_on_the_Iron_Age_in_South_Asia "An Overview on the Iron Age in South Asia", in (ed.) Akinori Uesugi, Iron Age in South Asia, Kansai University], Fig. 6, pp. 9-12.</ref>

Vinay Kumar Gupta and B.R. Mani, in a recent analysis conclude that the earliest and late phases of PGW could have begun around 2300 BCE and 700 BCE respectively, making this the longest surviving pottery tradition in Indian archaeology, and they consider the [[Braj]] region as the core area of PGW, located in the Western banks of [[Yamuna river]] in the [[Mathura district]], expanded to [[Hathras district]] in [[Uttar Pradesh]], and to [[Bharatpur district]] in Rajasthan.<ref>Gupta, Vinay Kumar, and B. R. Mani, (2017). [https://www.academia.edu/36067852/Painted_Grey_Ware_Culture_Changing_Perspectives "Painted Grey Ware Culture: Changing Perspectives"], in Heritage, Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies in Archaeology 5 (2017), pp. 373 and 377.</ref>

==Interpretations==
In the 1950s, archaeologist [[B. B. Lal|B.B. Lal]] associated [[Hastinapura]], [[Mathura, Uttar Pradesh|Mathura]], [[Ahichatra]], [[Kampilya]], [[Barnava]], [[Kurukshetra]] and other sites of PGW culture with the [[Mahabharata]] period. Furthermore, he pointed out that the Mahabharata mentions a flood and a layer of flooding debris was found in Hastinapura. However, B.B. Lal considered his theories to be provisional and based upon a limited body of evidence, and he later reconsidered his statements on the nature of this culture (Kenneth Kennedy 1995). B.B. Lal confirmed that [[Mahabharata]] is associated with PGW sites in a recent 2012 presentation at the International Seminar on Mahabharata held by Draupadi Trust and gives a date to c. 900 BCE for the War recounted in the Mahabharata.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://es.slideshare.net/sfih108/mahabharata-historicity-prof-b-b-lal |title=Archived copy |access-date=29 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303235516/http://es.slideshare.net/sfih108/mahabharata-historicity-prof-b-b-lal |archive-date=3 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[pottery]] style of this culture is different from the pottery of the [[Iranian Plateau]] and [[Afghanistan]] (Bryant 2001). In some sites, PGW pottery and Late Harappan pottery are contemporaneous.<ref>Shaffer, Jim. 1993, Reurbanization: The eastern Punjab and beyond. In Urban Form and Meaning in South Asia: The Shaping of Cities from Prehistoric to Precolonial Times, ed. [[Howard Spodek|H. Spodek]] and D.M. Srinivasan.</ref> The archaeologist [[Jim Shaffer]] (1984:84-85) has noted that "at present, the archaeological record indicates no cultural discontinuities separating Painted Grey Ware from the indigenous protohistoric culture." However, the continuity of pottery styles may be explained by the fact that pottery was generally made by indigenous craftsmen even after the [[Indo-Aryan migration]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ejvs.laurasianacademy.com/ejvs0703/ejvs0703article.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-02-13 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523094912/http://www.ejvs.laurasianacademy.com/ejvs0703/ejvs0703article.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-23 }}</ref> According to Chakrabarti (1968) and other scholars, the origins of the subsistence patterns (e.g. rice use) and most other characteristics of the Painted Grey Ware culture are in eastern India or even [[Southeast Asia]].{{refn|group=note|See also [[Indo-Aryan migration#Archaeological evidence]].}}

==Recent research==
In 2013, the [[University of Cambridge]] and [[Banaras Hindu University]] excavated at [[Alamgirpur]] near [[Delhi]], where they found a period overlap between the later part of the Harappan phase (with a "noticeable slow decline in quality") and the earliest PGW levels; Sample OxA-21882 showed a calibrated radiocarbon dating from 2136 BCE to 1948 BCE, but seven other samples from the overlap phase that were submitted for dating failed to give a result.<ref>Singh, R.N., Cameron Petrie et al., (2013). [https://www.academia.edu/8246061/Recent_Excavations_at_Alamgirpur_Meerut_District_A_Preliminary_Report "Recent Excavations at Alamgirpur, Meerut District: A Preliminary Report"], in Man and Environment 38(1), pp. 32-54.</ref> A team of the [[Archaeological Survey of India]] led by B.R. Mani and Vinay Kumar Gupta collected charcoal samples from Gosna, a site 6 km east of [[Mathura]] across the [[Yamuna]] river, where two of the radiocarbon dates from the PGW deposit came out to be 2160 BCE and 2170 BCE, but they mention that "there is a possibility that the cultural horizon which is now regarded as belonging to the P.G.W. period might turn out to be as belonging to a period with only plain grey ware."<ref name="Gupta" /> However, later on, other two datings confirming early PGW horizon in Kampil excavations were published as 2310 +/- 120 BCE and 1360 +/- 90 BCE by archaeologist D.P. Tewari.<ref>Tewari, D.P., (2014). "The Ceramic Traditions from Kampil Excavations", in Puratattva No.44, pp.194-207.</ref>

Excavation at [[Anuradhapura]] in Sri Lanka has unearthed PGW pottery from the 'Basal early historic' period of [[Anuradhapura]] (600 BC-500 BC) showing connections with North India.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tyagi|first=Manisha|title=Commercial Relations Between North India and Sri Lanka in Ancient Period: A Study|date=2006|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44147927|journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress|volume=67|pages=106–117|jstor=44147927|issn=2249-1937}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Kuru Kingdom]]
*[[Panchala]]
*[[Mahajanapadas]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note|1}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
*{{cite book|first=Edwin|last=Bryant|author-link=Edwin Bryant (author)|title=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|isbn=0-19-513777-9|title-link=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture}}
*Chakrabarti, D.K. 1968. The Aryan hypothesis in Indian archaeology. Indian Studies Past and Present 4, 333–358.
*[[Jim Shaffer]]. 1984. The Indo-Aryan Invasions: Cultural Myth and Archaeological Reality. In: J.R. Lukak. The People of South Asia. New York: Plenum. 1984.
*[[Kenneth A.R. Kennedy|Kennedy, Kenneth]] 1995. ''“Have Aryans been identified in the prehistoric skeletal record from South Asia?”'', in George Erdosy, ed.: The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, p. 49-54.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Painted Grey Ware}}

*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060908052851/http://pubweb.cc.u-tokai.ac.jp/indus/english/3_1_07.html Indus Valley Civilization]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Painted Grey Ware Culture}}
[[Category:Iron Age cultures of South Asia]]
[[Category:Prehistoric Pakistan]]
[[Category:Prehistoric India]]
[[Category:Iron Age cultures of Asia]]
[[Category:13th-century BC establishments in India]]
[[Category:6th-century BC disestablishments in India]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in India]]
[[Category:Indo-Aryan archaeological cultures]]

Painted Grey Ware culture - Revision history

IolaWatriama22: further updated structure for accuracy and updated info

UpdateBot: robot: Update article (please report if you notice any mistake or error in this edit)

imported>Dev0745 at 14:27, 15 June 2021