Dangwada Malwa Settlement
Dangwada Chalcolithic Site · Dangwada Malwa Culture Site
Chalcolithic Kayatha–Malwa 2400–1400 BCE·Malwa Chalcolithic — Dangwada phase with Kayatha substratum·🇮🇳 Madhya Pradesh, Ujjain District, Mahidpur Road near Dangwada village on Malwa plateau between Chambal and Kali Sindh, 30 km west of Ujjain, India
About
About Dangwada Malwa Settlement
Dangwada Malwa Settlement — Malwa Chalcolithic village (1650–1400 BCE) on Malwa plateau west of Ujjain, excavated 1978–80 and 1992 by V.S. Wakankar–Shinde with five cultural phases: Kayatha → Ahar → Malwa Black-on-Red → Late Malwa → Early Historic NBP. Dangwada revealed 8 m deposit with Malwa settlement plan (streets, drains, 3×5 m houses), painted Malwa ware (Black-on-Orange-Red), microliths, copper tools, and evidence for early wheat-barley agriculture. Cluster with Nagda and Kayatha defines Malwa core on Chambal headwaters.
Why it mattersMalwa core site with Kayatha→Ahar→Malwa five-phase sequence — complements Kayatha-Nagda transect
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Five-phase continuity vs hiatus between Kayatha and Malwa
Theories
- 01Malwa as Chambal headwater agricultural intensification
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2400 BCE Kayatha underlying; Malwa flourishing 1650–1400 BCE
- Period
- Chalcolithic Kayatha–Malwa 2400–1400 BCE
- Culture
- Malwa Chalcolithic — Dangwada phase with Kayatha substratum
- Builders
- Malwa Chalcolithic agro-pastoralists
- Purpose
- Malwa farming village on interfluve controlling Malwa plateau irrigation
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.2400 BCE
Kayatha basal pit dwellings
c.1650 BCE
Malwa street grid and drains built
1978–80
Wakankar–Shinde stratigraphic trench
On the ground
Structures & features
23.4300° N · 75.7100° E · 485 m · 2 mapped features
Northern Chalcolithic Habitation
settlementKayatha–Ahar lower levels with pit houses on northern mound
23.4310° N · 75.7105° ESouthern Malwa Street Grid
streetMalwa paved street and drain with Black-on-Red house cluster on southern mound
23.4290° N · 75.7095° E