Reporting Two Black and Red Ware Sites at Dantan: The Cult of Mother Goddess, Material Culture and the Chalcolithic Imagination.

The author along with his colleagues undertook explorations at various places of Dantan over a long period from 2017 to 2021 and it resulted in the discovery of two large black and red ware sites, one at Satbahini sacred grove at the village, Kusturia and another at the village, Urisal. The article reports on the archaeological sites and the artefacts recovered from the places. Since the sites are a kind of conglomerates of various cultural phases, the article primarily comments on the early medieval Saptamatrika cult and the late medieval cult of Chandi and tries to locate the prehistoric cult of Mother Earth in the immediate context of the region. Based on the prehistoric and ancient artefacts, the author tries to comment on the Chalcolithic material culture of the region and makes an effort at relating them to other BRW sites recently discovered in the adjoining district of Purba Medinipur. Then, in the context of the Subarnarekha river and the larger techno-complex, the author tries to go beyond the material culture in order to explore their social formations based on totemic values. Finally, it seeks to explore the intellectual exercises reflected in the art of image-making and creating symbolic connections and representing through early art from the Chalcolithic times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]