An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c24.s3.10

v1.c24.s3.10

The practice of the use of bone arrowheads in the Harappa and Chalcolithic cultures, as found at Mohenjo-daro, Chanhu-daro, LOTHAL and NAVDATOLI, was strengthened in the historical period. The variety in shape, the largeness in production and the vastness of the area of distribution—all combined to make this native practice the most important and popular one. The raw material, bone, in an almost finished form, was easily accessible to the craftsmen at all places, possibly free of cost. Again, it is easy to cut and polish bones and produce sharp points (Gupta, 1961, p. 135). Bone arrowheads have been found at: UJJAIN in periods ranging from 750 B.C. to 250 B.C.; PRABHAS PATAN, MAHESHWAR, ERAN, TER, NASIK, ROPAR (where it is called 'stylus') [20.5], etc., from the NBPW [11.16] levels; SONPUR in levels III to V; PĀṬALIPUTRA from Pd II; KARAD, TRIPURĪ and KOLHAPUR, from the Sātavāhana levels; KAUŚĀMBĪ, BANGARH, BESNAGAR, HASTINĀPURA, etc., from different levels; and ROPAR from Pd V. At UJJAIN and NASIK two large hoards of several thousand pieces each, belonging to the 3rd-2nd centuries B.C., have been found.