History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c17.s3.t4.5

v1.c17.s3.t4.5

No C-14 dating of ancient diamond mine in India is available. Reviewing the position, Bauer (1968: 141) commented that the working of the most important diamond deposits known at present ‘do not date back to very remote periods, probably in all cases subsequent to the year 1000 A.D. and sometimes much later’. We disagree on the basis of literary records, but do not have specific C-14 dates or archaeological evidences to counter Bauer’s statement. Fig. 1 shows the diamond fields in India as drawn in 1896 (Bauer: 1968,144). Possibly several of these sites were known in the ancient period.