The Copper Hoard Culture and associated Ochre Coloured Pottery (OCP) represent a significant protohistoric cultural horizon of the Gangetic plain, dating to the 2nd millennium BCE. The Indian Journal of Archaeology has published extensively on these topics, documenting thousands of antiquities from museums and private collections across Uttar Pradesh.

OCP Culture

OCP was first identified by B.B. Lal in 1951 during excavations at the lowest levels of Hastinapura. It is characterized by ochre-coloured pottery with a distinctive wash that tends to rub off. The journal’s research has:

  • Documented 133 OCP sites in Aligarh district alone through village-to-village survey by Vijay Kumar (VOL-1-03)
  • Identified burnished OCP at Barood Khera, Aligarh — pottery with a lustrous slip comparable to NBPW (VOL-1-03)
  • Mapped OCP settlements across police stations of Aligarh and Hathras districts (VOL-6-02)
  • Traced the association between OCP and Copper Hoard weapons, confirmed by the Saipai excavation (VOL-1-01)

Copper Hoard Antiquities

Major copper hoard collections documented in the journal include:

  • Kailash Deep Shikhar Sangrahalaya, Meerut — 19 copper hoard weapons including flat celts, shouldered axes, lugged axes, harpoons, and ingots (VOL-1-01)
  • Shahjad Rai Research Institute, Baraut — multiple catalogues of copper hoard finds from Baghpat, Amroha, Chandauli, and other districts (VOL-6-01, VOL-7-04, VOL-8-03)
  • Nigohi Hoard, Shahjahanpur — 221 antiquities including 29 shouldered axes, 97 harpoons, 14 anthropomorphic figures, and swords (VOL-8-01, VOL-8-03)
  • State Museum Lucknow — copper hoard weapons and implements from across Uttar Pradesh (VOL-5-01)
  • Rohilkhand Museum, Bareilly — copper hoard artefacts (VOL-7-04)
  • Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Bareilly — additional copper hoard collection (VOL-7-04)
  • Madarpur, Bajpur, and Ganeshpura — newly discovered copper hoards from Moradabad, Shahjahanpur, and Mainpuri (VOL-8-03)

Notable Discoveries

  • Currier’s knife from Ludhiana — definitive evidence of leather working during the Chalcolithic period (VOL-6-01)
  • Bangles associated with OCP culture — identified as ring currency (VOL-10-02, VOL-10-03)
  • Horned deity on a harpoon from Nigohi — earliest识别 religious iconography in OCP culture (VOL-8-02)
  • Garuda anthropomorphs — bird-like copper figures interpreted as early Garuda imagery (VOL-8-01)
  • Carbon dates from Nigohi area copper hoard weapons, providing absolute chronology (VOL-7-04)