Words to describe people
Several ways to describe people on some
basis like
•Work they do
•The language they speak
•The place they belong to
•Their families and communities.
•Cultural practices
There are some words used for people in
Rigveda.

• Two groups described according to their work.
1. Priests(brahmins)
2. Rajas (Not rajas like we read later)
• Two words used to describe people or
community as a whole.
1. JANA
2. VISH
Reference:- Puru jana or vish, the bharat jana or
vish, the yadu jana or vish etc.

• People who composed hymns described
themselves as Aryas.
• Opponents :- Dasas or Dasyus(who didn’t
perform sacrifices and spoke different
languages )
• Dasa and dasi came to mean as slave.
• Who are slaves?
• Rigveda was being composed in North west
area and What about other areas?

Silent sentinels – Story of Megaliths
• Mega means Big and lith means stone
• It is a burial sites
• Stone Boulders
• Stones used to mark the
Burial sites.
• The practice of erecting
This megalithic began
About 3000 years ago.
• Deccan, South India, North East and Kashmir.

Megalithic Sites
• Megaliths can be seen by so many ways.
1. On Earth Surface
2. Under Ground
3. Circle of stone boulders
or
one big stone standing on
ground.
( indication of burials.)

Features of Burials
• Dead were buried with distinctive pots called red
and black ware.
• Tools and weapons of Iron, Skeleton of horses
• Horse equipment, ornaments of gold and stones.
• Social differences were there because different
and more things were found with dead bodies

Brahmgiri
• One skeleton was buried with
33 gold beads, 4copper
bangles, 1 conch shell
• Other skeleton was
buried with only few pots.
• There was differences
in people’s status-
• rich, poor, chiefs,
followers.

Burial Spots meant for families?
• Sometimes Megalith
contain more than one
skeleton.
• Stone circles or boulders
were considered as sign
posts to find burial site.
• Whenever they want they
can return to that spot for
burying dead bodies.
• The bodies of those who
died later were brought
into the graves through
portholes.

Special Burial at Inamgaon
• Site on river Ghod, a tributary of
bhima.
• Activities or things started
around 3600 and 2700 years
ago.
• Adult buried in the ground-
straight, head towards north.
• Some burials found within the
houses with vessels containing
food and water.
• A man body was found in the
courtyard of five rooms at centre
with four legged clay jar and in
cross legged position

What skeleton Studies Tells Us?
• It is easy to identify skeleton
of an adult and a child.
• Can we identify whether
the skeleton was that of a
man or woman.
• Sometimes people decide
on the basis of what is
found with the skeleton :-
Jewellery (problem with
this).
• By bone structure of the
skeleton it was better way
to figure out the sex of a
skeleton.

• The hip or pelvic area of women is generally
larger to enable child bearing.
• These distinctions based on
modern skeletal studies.

• About 2000 years, ago.
• A Physician :- Charaka
• Wrote a book on
medicine.
• Human body has 360
bones.
• But according to
modern anatomy it is
much larger.
• Charaka arrived at this
figure by counting
teeth, joints and
cartilage

Occupation at Inamgaon
• Archaeologists have found Seeds of Wheat, Barley, rice,
pulses, sesame, millets, peas, have found.
Farming
• Bones found… of animals with cut marks have found.
Hunters and Gatherers.
Cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, dog, horse, ass, pig, sambhar,
spotted dear, black buck, antelope, hare, mongoose,
birds, crocodile, turtle, crab, fish.
• Fruits- ber, amla, jamun, dates, variety of berries were
collected.

H.W.
• Read elsewhere and what skeletal studies tell
us.