Anew social category that emerged during this period was placed below the shudras in the social hierarchy and considered untouchables.

The Aryans migrated to India around 1500 BCE. The Vedic texts form an important source of this period. Horses and iron are associated with the Aryans.

After the decline of the Indus Civilization numerous cultures developed across north India. Copper, followed by iron, came to be widely used. Iron helped to expand areas of cultivation leading to agrarian surplus. As this facilitated feeding of more number of people there were greater instances of in-migration and population growth. The Late Harappan cultures suggest that some of the groups moved into eastern direction, after the decline of the Indus Civilization.

The Painted Grey ware sites reveal the development of agriculture and pastoralism, and the settlements of this period grew in dimension.

Women attended assemblies and offered sacrifices. Marriage was common but primitive practices were also continued. Polyandry seems to have existed, and widow remarriage was also known. People married at the age of 16-17, according to scholars, and there is little evidence of child marriage.

They used copper objects such as flat axes, bangles, rings, antimony rods, knives, blades, socket-less axes, barbed and tanged arrow heads, choppers and chisels.

The Chalcolithic people also began to domesticate animals in addition to agriculture. They had cattle, sheep, pigs and goats and buffaloes.

Cattle rearing was an important economic activity for the Aryans, although they practiced agriculture. Cattle were considered wealth. The term for war in the Rig Veda was gavishthi which means search for cows (which is the contemporary term (goshti) for factions as well). The donations to the priests were mainly cows and women slaves but not land, which reveals the importance of pastoralism.

1. The Rig Veda refers to Arya varna and Dasa varna. The Dasas and Dasyus were conquered and treated as slaves
2. Social classes were classified as warriors, priests and common people. Sudras as a category of people appeared at the end of the Rig Vedic period.

The area of eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, Punjab and fringes of Western Uttar Pradesh.

Kodumanal, 40 km from Erode, is located on the northern bank of Noyyal river, a tributary of the Cauvery. A series of excavations were carried out during the 1980s and 1990s. The most recent was in 2012. In habitation trenches and megalithic burials of Kodumanal, the goods unearthed included pots, weapons, tools, ornaments, and beads, particularly carnelian, akin to those found at Mohenjodaro. Since carnelian was not known to this region in ancient times, it may have been brought to Kodumanal from outside.

Black and red ware, along with partial human remains and iron objects, were unearthed recently at Vadamalkunda in Krishnagiri, Tamilnadu. A few stone slabs were also found at the site. A centuries old menhir at Singaripalayam excavated near Kundadam in Tiruppur district points to the existence of an ancient settlement along the banks of River Uppar.

The concept of polity developed in the Rig Vedic time.
1. Various units of habitation and divisions such as the janas, vis, gana, grama and kula are referred to in the Rig Veda.
2. The polity of the Rig Vedic period was that of a tribal society.
3. The chief of the tribe was the main political head and he was called rajan.
4. The purohita or priest offered advice to the king. Senani was the chief of army.
5. The officer who controlled the territory was called Vrajapati.
6. He helped the kulapas or heads of fighting groups called gramini.
7. Gramini was the head of the village and fighting unit.

Ochre Coloured Pottery Ware culture is found in northern India dating to the Chalcolithic period. The OCP pottery has red slip and appears ochre in colour (the ochre colour comes off when the pottery is touched) and hence, it is called Ochre Coloured Pottery. It has black painted designs. The OCP comes in the form of jars, storage jars, bowls, and basins. The OCP sites produced copper figures and objects and therefore it is also known as "copper hoard culture." It is a rural culture and has evidence of the cultivation of rice, barley, and legumes. They also had pastoralism with evidence of cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, and dogs. The villages had wattle-and daub houses. They used copper and terracotta ornaments.