Chalcolithic period

06.03.2024

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Why in the news?

Archaeologists in northern Italy recently discovered a 5,000-year-old cemetery during a garden construction project.

About the discovered cemetery:

• Archaeologists in Italy have made a remarkable discovery of a 5,000-year-old cemetery that belonged to a Copper Age society.
• It is the cemetery is located in San Giorgio Bigarello, northern Italy.
• It contains 22 graves with human remains and various artifacts, including flint weapons, soapstone beads, and pottery.
• The discovery provides a rare opportunity to study the burial customs and social structures of an important transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze.
• The condition of the bodies in this cemetery suggests that there may have been some cultural contact or influence between the two groups, who lived in the same time and area.

Characteristics of the discovered cemetery:

• One of the most striking features of the cemetery is the consistent orientation of the bodies in the graves.
• Most individuals were buried on their left side, with their feet bent toward their chest and their head facing northwest.
• This distinctive posture resembles the burial practices of another Copper Age culture of northern Italy, known as Remedello.
• Archaeologists found flint daggers, bows and arrows and blades in some graves, which shows that people valued warfare and weapons in their society.

About Chalcolithic period:

• The Copper Age, also known as the Chalcolithic period.
• It extends from about 5,000 to 2,000 years ago, depending on the region.
• It was a transitional stage from the Neolithic period (Neolithic Age) to the Bronze Age.
• By the end of the Copper Age, people discovered that by adding tin to copper, a stronger and more durable metal could be made, marking the beginning of the Bronze Age.

Characteristics of Copper Age:

• It is characterized by the emergence of metallurgy, especially the use of copper with stone tools.
• It is also a time of social and cultural changes, such as the development of complex societies, trade networks, and warfare.
• Farmers in this era generally raised domestic animals such as sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs, whose diet was supplemented by hunting and fishing.
• Crops grown by Chalcolithic farmers included barley, wheat and pulses.

                                                           Source: PIB