The Indus Civilization c5.13

c5.13

The bricks were shaped in an open framemould of exactly the same type as that in use in India and other parts of the East to-day, and were made from the alluvial soil of the neighbourhood with no binding material. Surplus clay was removed by passing a piece of wood across the top of the mould, while the faces of the bricks were always smooth and flat, no examples of recessing or frogging being known. On the whole, they were well baked to a pleasing light red colour, the comparatively few over-fired specimens having a slightly vitrified surface of an apple-green hue. The fuel employed for firing was wood, of which there was a plentiful supply, and as no brick-kilns have been found the probability is that the bricks were stacked for firing in large heaps with flues between. The outside of the pile would then have been plastered with mud to keep in the heat.