History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c17.s2.3

v1.c17.s2.3

Alabaster or gypsum bowls used to be made using tabular drill at Damb Sadaat and Mundigak. Around 5000 B.C. there was a workshop for soapstone beads at Mehargarh. Shell bangles, rings, beads and pendants used to be made in the pre-Harappan sites from the Indian variety of Śaṅkha (Turbinella pyrum Linn). Hornell (1918) and Mackay (in Marshall, 1931, II: 564-66) have described how the walls or the hollow tubular piece could be sawed for producing bangles and the inner columella for making beads and inlays. Chisel or burin, saw and drill were used to produce diverse objects. The remarkable work of Dales (1977 & 1979) has shown shell beads in Balakot (located near the sea-coast), Period I and working floors in Period II covered with large quantities of shell bangles in all stages of manufacture. The appearance of faience suggests the early use of sājji māṭṭi -like effervescence deposits of the soil containing sodium salts.