Ancient genomic data shed light on the demise of the Copper Age

Subject :History

Section: Ancient India

Why in news:

An analysis of ancient human genomic data suggests that Copper Age farmers and steppe pastoralists may have interacted 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.
The findings may aid our understanding of the demise of the Copper Age and the expansion of pastoralist groups around 3,300 BC.

Backgeound:

Previous analyses of ancient genomic data have suggested that two major genetic turnover events occurred in Western Eurasia;
- one associated with the spread of farming around 7,000-6,000 BC and
- a second resulting from the expansion of pastoralist groups from the Eurasian steppe starting around 3,300 BC.
The period between these two events, the Copper Age, was characterised by a new economy based on metallurgy, wheel and wagon transportation, and horse domestication.

What has the new study found?

However, what happened between the demise of Copper Age settlements (around 4,250 BC) and the expansion of pastoralists is not well understood.
According to the paper, the researchers analysed genetic data dating to between 5,400 and 2,400 BC and they found that while there was genetic continuity between the Neolithic and Copper Age groups, from around 4500 BC groups from the northwestern Black Sea region carried varying amounts of ancestry from Copper Age and steppe-zone populations.
This finding shows that the groups had cultural contact and mixed nearly 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.
The transfer of technology between farmers and transitional hunters from different geographical zones was integral to the rise, formation and expansion of pastoralist groups around 3300 BC.
According to the authors, the early admixture during the neolithic appears to be local to the NW Black Sea region of the fourth millennium BC and did not affect the hinterland in southeastern Europe.
In fact, the Early Bronze Age individuals from Yunatsite and Pietrele do not show traces of steppe-like ancestry but instead a resurgence of hunter-gatherer ancestry observed widely in Europe during the fourth millennium BC.

About the Copper Age (or Chalcolithic age):

About: The end of the Neolithic period saw the use of metals. Several cultures were based on the use of copper and stone implements.
- Such a culture is called Chalcolithic and as the name indicates, during the Chalcolithic (Chalco = Copper and Lithic = Stone) period, both metal and stone were utilised for the manufacture of the equipment in day-to-day life.
- The Chalcolithic cultures followed the Bronze Age Harappa culture.
- It spanned around 2500 BC to 700 BC.
Salient Features: The Chalcolithic culture of a region was defined according to certain salient features seen in ceramics and other cultural equipment like copper artefacts, beads of semi-precious stones, stone tools and terracotta figurines.

Characteristics:

Rural Settlements: The people were mostly rural and lived near hills and rivers.
- The people of Chalcolithic Age survived on hunting, fishing, and farming
Regional Differences: Regional differences in social structure, cereals and pottery become visible.
Migration: Migration and diffusion of population groups were often cited as causes for the origin of different cultures within the Chalcolithic period.
First Metal Age of India: Since this was the first metal age, copper and its alloy bronze which melt at low temperature were used for the manufacture of various objects during this period.
Art and Craft: The specialty of the Chalcolithic culture was wheel made pottery mostly of red and orange colour.
- Different types of pottery were used by the people of the Chalcolithic phase. The Black-and-Red pottery among them was quite common.
- The Ochre-Coloured Pottery(OCP) was also in use.
Agriculture: The major crops cultivated were barley and wheat, lentil, bajra, jowar, ragi millets, green pea, green and black gram.
- Traces of rice cultivation are also found. This shows that their food included fish and rice. Eastern India produced rice and Western India produced barley.