An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s11: 6.11 Lamps
An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c11.s11
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6.11 Lamps
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Lamps are available in terracotta, stone and metal (copper and iron), specimens in the first material being the earliest. Typologically they show a variety: (1) miniature shallow bowl with pinched/beaked edge or without it; (2) variant of (1) with a central handle with/without water-container; (3) with a lip having a single or multiple channel; (4) spouted, plain and decorated; (5) shaped like an animal (tortoise); (6) with lugs and nozzle; (7) held in hand by a standing human figure; and (8) rectangular with an ornamented spout. In (4) the spouts are decorated with human/animal heads.
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Types (4) to (7) exhibit Hellenistic/Roman influence. Roman lamps are reported from ARIKAMEDU and TER. They consist of a globular container with a top hole for pouring oil, a projecting nozzle for the wick and a pierced lug on the opposite side of the nozzle for hold. They are plain or decorated. While most of the types have gone out of use, type (1) still continues. The survival of type (2) is reflected in the stemmed bronze lamps of Kerala. A combination of types (2) and (3) is seen in the stemmed bronze lamps of s. India, while the *dīpa-lakṣmī* in metal is a natural development of type (7).
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Though lamps are seemingly ageless there is no evidence of their use in the Stone Ages, their first appearance being at the Chalcolithic [4.14] sites. However varieties appear in the early historical levels (6th century B.C. to 1st century A.D.) and proliferate later on. In the Megalithic [4.17] levels are found multichannel-lipped lamps and saucer-shaped iron ones with a pinched lip and vertical handle.
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For sites see respective entries in vol. II.—K.S. RAMACHANDRAN