The Indus Civilization (Cambridge History of India, Supplementary Volume) c15.18

c15.18

Amongst the minor mechanism of trade, a special interest attaches to the weights which have been found in very large number throughout Mohenjo-daro, Harappā and Chanhu-daro, and at other Harappan or related sites, a few of the examples in an unfinished state indicating local manufacture. They are made alternatively of chert, limestone, gneiss, steatite, slate, chalcedony, a black and white schist (probably from Rajputana), and a hard black stone which may be hornblende, and are of carefully finished workmanship. They range from large examples that had to be lifted by a rope or metal ring to minute ones which may have been used by jewellers,¹ and their shape, unlike those prevalent in Mesopotamia, is usually cubical, though flattened-spherical, cylindrical, conical and barrel-shaped forms are also known. Remains of weighing-scales are disproportionately rare, possibly because wood was generally used; but metal or pottery scale-pans are sometimes found, and with a pair of them was associated a bronze or copper bar which is thought to have been part of a scale-beam.² At the end of the bar were "traces of the thread by which one of the pans was supported". There is no evidence for the use of the steelyard.