An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c44.479

v2.c44.479

Copper was the chief metal in use, but iron was also known. Lumps of iron slag [16.9.4], broken pieces of indeterminate objects and a fragmentary arrowhead provide the evidence of the beginnings of ironsmithy. Bangles of baked clay and glass and beads of baked clay, glass bone and semiprecious stones were used as ornaments. The characteristic terracotta beads are pear- or vase-shaped. In bone the gadrooned bead is peculiar to the PGW levels, while the glass bead is generally spheroid. Some of the bone points may have served as styli [20.5]. Terracotta discs [6.7.3] ornamented on the circumference and used perhaps as gaming counters are another distinctive manufacture of the Pd. While glass may have come into use in late Harappa times, the earliest firm evidence of its use comes from the PGW levels.