View source for Ahar Banas culture

{{Infobox archaeological culture
|map         = 
{{location map+|Rajasthan|float=right|width=250|caption=Ahar–Banas culture sites|places=
{{location map~|Rajasthan|label=Ahar|position=left|lat=24.58|long=73.73}}
{{location map~|Rajasthan|label=[[Balathal]]|position=right|lat=24.72|long=73.98}}
{{location map~|Rajasthan|label=[[Gilund]]|position=left|lat=25.01|long=74.25}}
{{location map~|Rajasthan|label=Ojiyana|position=left|lat=25.88|long=74.35}}
}}
|mapalt      =
|altnames    =
|horizon     =
|region      = [[South Asia]]
|period      = [[Bronze Age]] (black and red ware culture)
|dates       = {{circa|3000|1500 BCE}}
|typesite    = Settlement
|majorsites  = in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, India
|extra       = Contemporary of [[Indus Valley Civilisation]], [[Ochre Coloured Pottery]], [[Cemetery H]]
|precededby  = [[Chalcolithic]]
|followedby  =[[Black and red ware culture]], [[Vedic Period]]
}}

{{History of South Asia}}
The '''Ahar culture''', also known as the '''Banas culture''' is a [[Chalcolithic]] [[archaeological culture]] on the banks of [[Ahar River]] of southeastern [[Rajasthan]] state in [[India]],<ref name="Hooja">{{cite journal|journal= Serindian: Indian Archaeology and Heritage Online|issue= 1|date=July 2000|url=http://www.serindian.com/sa-research/sa0aa21.htm|last=Hooja|first=Rima|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20000818060316/http://www.serindian.com/sa-research/sa0aa21.htm|title=The Ahar culture: A Brief Introduction|archivedate=18 August 2000}}</ref> lasting from {{circa}} 3000 to 1500 BCE, contemporary and adjacent to the [[Indus Valley Civilization]]. Situated along the [[Banas River|Banas]] and [[Berach River]]s, as well as the [[Ahar River]], the Ahar–Banas people were exploiting the copper ores of the [[Aravalli Range]] to make axes and other artefacts. They were sustained on a number of crops, including wheat and barley.

==Geographical extent==
More than 90 sites of the Ahar culture have been identified to date. The main distribution seems to be concentrated in the river valleys of Banas and its tributaries. A number of sites with Ahar culture level are also found from [[Jawad, India|Jawad]], [[Mandsaur]], [[Kayatha]] and Dangwada in [[Madhya Pradesh]] state. In Rajasthan, most of the sites are located in [[Udaipur district|Udaipur]], [[Chittorgarh district|Chittorgarh]], [[Dungarpur district|Dungarpur]], [[Banswara district|Banswara]], [[Ajmer district|Ajmer]], [[Tonk district|Tonk]] and [[Bhilwara district|Bhilwara]] districts, which include, Ahar, [[Gilund]], Bansen, Keli, [[Balathal]], Alod, Palod, Khor, Amoda, Nangauli, Champakheri, Tarawat, Fachar, Phinodra, Joera, Darauli, Gadriwas, Purani Marmi, Aguncha and Ojiyana.<ref name="Hooja"/>

In 2003 excavations at Gilund, archaeologists discovered a large cache of seal impressions dating to 2100–1700 BC. A large bin filled with more than 100 seal impressions was found by a team led by archaeologists from the [[University of Pennsylvania Museum]] and the [[Deccan College (Pune)]].

The design motifs of the seals are generally quite simple, with wide-ranging parallels from various [[Indus Civilization]] sites. But also, there are parallels with seals from the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]] (BMAC) in [[Central Asia]] and northern [[Afghanistan]], 1,000 miles to the northwest.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110629091226/http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?674&soc Cache of Seal Impressions Discovered in Western India Offers Surprising New Evidence for Cultural Complexity in Little-known Ahar–Banas Culture, Circa 3000–1500 B.C.] University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology</ref>

==Ceramic assemblage==
Typical Ahar pottery is a Black-and-Red ware (BRW) with linear and dotted designs painted on it in white pigment<ref name="singh1">{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Upinder|title=A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone Age to the 12th Century|year=2008|publisher=Pearson Education|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-317-1677-9|pages=116–8}}</ref> and has a limited range of shapes, which include bowls, bowls-on-stands, elongated vases and globular vases. The Ahar culture also had equally distinctive brightly slipped Red Ware, a Tan ware, ceramics in Burnished Black that were incised Thin Red ware, as well as incised and otherwise decorated Gray ware fabrics.<ref name="Hooja"/>

The pottery had a black top and reddish bottom, with paintings in white on the black surface. Because of these distinctive features, Ahar, when it was first noticed by R C Agrawal, was called the "black and red ware culture".{{citation needed|date= August 2014}} This is in a way true, because this was primarily the pottery used by the inhabitants of Ahar for drinking and eating.

==See also==
*[[Malwa culture]]
*[[Jorwe culture]]
*[[Pottery in the Indian subcontinent]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
*Jane McIntosh, ''The ancient Indus Valley: new perspectives'',  ABC-CLIO, 2008, {{ISBN|978-1-57607-907-2}}, 77f.
*{{cite web|url=http://www.rajasthan-tour-package.net/Excavations-Ahar.htm|title=Excavations at Ahar (South Rajasthan)|website=rajasthan-tour-package.com|access-date=2012-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014205240/http://rajasthan-tour-package.net/Excavations-Ahar.htm|archive-date=2007-10-14|url-status=dead}}

==External links==
*Rohit Parihar, [http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/ahar-culture-provides-clues-to-links-between-harappans-and-their-predecessors/1/232800.html Piecing the Ahar puzzle.] Excavation of sites from the 4,500-year-old Ahar culture provide clues to the link between the Harappans and their predecessors. March 12, 2001 indiatoday.intoday.in
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110629091226/http://www.upenn.edu/researchatpenn/article.php?674&soc Cache of Seal Impressions Discovered in Western India Offers Surprising New Evidence for Cultural Complexity in Little-known Ahar–Banas Culture, Circa 3000–1500 B.C.] University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahar-Banas culture}}
[[Category:Chalcolithic cultures of Asia]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures of South Asia]]
[[Category:History of Rajasthan]]
[[Category:Archaeological cultures in India]]