Prehistoric India to 1000 B.C. c12.172

c12.172

Within the limitations of conservatism, limitations that seem almost self-imposed, the Harappā metal-smiths produced a mass of competent workmanship in chisels, knives, razors, spears (though without the strengthening mid-rib so soon developed in more progressive centres of metal-working), fish-hooks and the flat axes already mentioned (Fig. 24). At Chanhu-daro especially these axes tend to take on an elongated form narrower than the archaic Iranian forms, and they are comparable with the long chisels from the Nal cemetery and other tools from North India discussed in the next chapter. There was also a wide range of bronze and less frequently silver bowls, cups, vases, and other vessels, none of which, however, shows any subtlety of form, and these compare all too well in their uninspired mediocrity with the pottery of the culture.