Early India and Pakistan to Ashoka c9.34

c9.34

Thirdly, there is the pottery. The distinctive ware of the megaliths, and only less so of the urn-fields, is the Black-and-red to which passing references have already been made. This is typically the product of inverted firing, so that the top and inside of the pot, in direct contact with the fire, turn black whilst the lower part (upper in the firing) is a terracotta red or, rarely, as at Bahal and Tekwāḍā (p. 145), grey. Sometimes the whole pot is black. The ware is slipped and polished, usually fairly thin, and is wheel-turned. It is said in some instances to have been salt-glazed, with a resultant shining and crackled surface. Resemblance of the blackened pots or sherds to the Northern Black Polished Ware is only superficial; the 'megalithic' ware has been fired at a lower temperature and altogether lacks the metallic hardness and lustre of the N.B.P. fabric. Shapes are for the most part simple and utilitarian: bowls and dishes, globular vessels, and occasionally tall lids. Most of the vessels are round-bottomed, and cylindrical or concave-sided pot-stands are not uncommon. A jar with three or four feet is characteristic of certain areas, notably northern Mysore and Kerala. Decoration, when present, is rudimentary and consists of horizontal grooves, incised herring-bone or leaf impressions, or, rarely and usually early, simple painted linear patterns, usually in white; but graffiti, scratched after firing and of unknown meaning, are common. Within a general similarity of type and fabric, local preferences or phases are discernible.