Chandoli
Chandoli Chalcolithic Cemetery · Ghataprabha Jorwe Village
Deccan Jorwe Chalcolithic 1400–1000 BCE → Megalithic 700 BCE–100 CE·Jorwe (Deccan Early Farming) → Megalithic–Vidarbha·🇮🇳 Maharashtra, Sangli District, on Ghataprabha tributary of Krishna, 25 km SW of Miraj (Deccan Jorwe zone), India
About
About Chandoli
Largest Jorwe Chalcolithic urn cemetery (c.1400–1000 BCE) with attached village in Sangli — excavated 1960–62 by M.N. Deshpande and S.A. Sali, Chandoli is the type Jorwe mortuary site: 42 extended and urn-cum-coffin burials with legs amputated and copper bangles, under house floors (intramural) and separate cemetery field. The village had 15 rectangular houses (8×6 m) with chaff-tempered ware and millet–horse gram farming, proving Jorwe as ancestor to Deccan megalithic. Neolithic–Early Historic continuity at Chandoli links Inamgaon to southern Karnataka Jorwe diaspora.
Why it mattersLargest and most detailed Jorwe burial ground — proves Deccan Chalcolithic leg-amputation rite and intramural custom.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why amputation of legs post-mortem — ritual vs trauma treatment?
Theories
- 01Jorwe ancestor of Megalithic urn fields in Karnataka (Hallur–Sanganakallu line)
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.1400 BCE Jorwe village and cemetery
- Period
- Deccan Jorwe Chalcolithic 1400–1000 BCE → Megalithic 700 BCE–100 CE
- Culture
- Jorwe (Deccan Early Farming) → Megalithic–Vidarbha
- Builders
- Jorwe farmers
- Purpose
- Deccan Jorwe farming village and template cemetery for regional funerary custom
- Abandoned
- c.1000 BCE Jorwe arid de-settlement
- Rediscovered
- 1960–62 Deshpande–Sali excavation
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.1400–1000 BCE
Jorwe village with 15 houses and 42 urn/ coffin burials with leg amputation rite
1960–62
Deshpande–Sali defines Jorwe burial typology; 1971 re-study
On the ground
Structures & features
16.8500° N · 74.5500° E · 550 m · 2 mapped features
Intramural House Floor Burials
burial42 urn-cum-coffin burials beneath Jorwe house floors with copper bangles
16.8510° N · 74.5510° EExtramural Urn Cemetery Field
cemeterySeparate cemetery field 60×40 m with pit and double-urn graves
16.8490° N · 74.5490° E
Gallery