Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c10.s3.t1.3

v1.c10.s3.t1.3

In the eastern Rajasthan, most of the sites are located on stony elevations where the raw material for microlithic tools were made out of chert, quartzite, quartz and chalcedony. Bagor, situated on the left bank of the Kothari river and 25 km west of the town of Bhilwara reveals an uninterrupted occupation of the site over a period of five millennia before Christ. During Phase I (5000-2800 BC), Bagor produced the most fabulous microlith industry in pre-historic India and several hundred thousand of worked pieces. There was mass production of micro-blades and their conversion into various microlithic forms mostly 15-20 mm and some 5-10 mm in size. These were very carefully fabricated and retouched. (Sankalia, 1974; 260-64) More than forty types could be distinguished: blades, trapezes, crescents, points etc. The superb microlithic industry was essentially geared to a hunting economy.