History of Technology in India, Vol. I: From Antiquity to c. 1200 A.D. v1.c34.s1.23

v1.c34.s1.23

In South India, the jewellery of the Ikṣvāku period from Nagarjunakonda is somewhat plain and simple as compared to that of the Taxila region. A necklace and ear-rings made of gold, along with the Buddhist caskets, were recovered from the Nagarjunakonda excavations in the Krishna Valley. The technique employed to fashion the Nagarjunakonda jewellery, datable to 2nd century A.D., is confined to Filigree. The beaten gold wires are fastened together and soldered to produce ornaments. The notable discovery of goldsmith’s entire stock-in-trade, which included moulds of various designs and crucibles etc., from the Site 58 at Nagarjunakonda, is a positive evidence to show that the craft of jewellery had fully come into vogue in the Deccan of Ikṣvāku period (Sarkar & Misra 1972). Similarly, the gold necklace from the Stupa-site at Gummadidurru, with fifteen beads including spacers, would further strengthen the above statement (Sarkar & Misra 1972).