An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c15.s1.9

v1.c15.s1.9

The data in support of the above observations come in different forms at different sites. For instance Chanhudaro representing Harappa culture has given evidence of chert drills about 2·5 to 3 cm in length capable of drilling carnelian and agate beads. Such long drills were used in perforating long cylinders of agate and carnelian which were a typical shape of the Indus bead industry. LOTHAL in Gujarat has brought to light a bead-maker's workshop with a circular furnace, possibly for converting agate into carnelian, and small tongs of copper used in the process of bead-making. Another noteworthy type associated with the Indus sites is that of etched beads of three categories: those having a white pattern on red background; those having black patterns on whitened surface; and those which have black pattern etched directly on the bead. The first could be achieved with the help of liquid of potash, white lead and the juice of a bush-plant called *kiral* (*Copparis aphylla*); the second was achieved by whitening the surface with alkali and drawing the required design from black prepared from metals like copper and manganese; while the third involved the drawing of the pattern in black etched directly on the original surface of the bead. Like etched beads, glazed beads of faïence and steatite also seem to have been the speciality of the Harappa culture. Though glazed faïence and steatite beads continued to be in vogue even in the post-Harappa cultures like the Malwa [4.14.5] as evidenced at NAVDATOLI, the glazed faïence beads of the Indus are characterized by a hard and granular body, silica forming as much as 90% of the material constituting the beads. How exactly the paste was made is difficult to say.