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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11: 3. The Story of Material Splendour in Mohenjo-Daro

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11

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English

Contents

3. The Story of Material Splendour in Mohenjo-Daro

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MOHENJO-DARO, the ‘Mound of the Dead’, stands on what is locally known as ‘The Island’ — a long, narrow strip of land between the main river (Indus) bed and the Western Nara loop, its precise position being 27°19' N by 68° 8' E, some 7 miles by road from Dokri on the north-western railway and 25 from Larkana town. The mounds which hide the remains of the ancient city or rather a series of cities, are conspicuous from a distance in the riverine flat — the highest of them near the north-west corner, rising to a height of some 70 feet, the others averaging from 20 to 30 feet above the plain. The actual area covered by the mounds is now more than about 240 acres, but there is little doubt that floods and erosion have greatly diminished their extent, and that the deep alluvium deposited by the river has covered all the lower and outlying parts of the city, (Marshall I, p. 1 hereafter written as simply MS-I, 1).

Topography of Mohenjo-Daro

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The site of Mohenjo-Daro had long been known to the district officials in Sind, but it was not until 1922, when R.D. Banerjee started to dig there, that the prehistoric character of its remains was revealed. (MS-I, 10) During the two following seasons, attention was concentrated on the opening of trial trenches across the main group of mounds to the east. In the first of these seasons (1923-24) M.S. Vats sank two lay trenches — one north to south and the other east to west — across the VS area. In the next season (1924-25) K.N. Dikshit was able to continue this trenching work on a bigger scale. The trenches which he dug were all in the DK area to the north-east of the VS area. In the following season, these operations were extended by John Marshall (1925-26). Thus the excavation was started of the HR area under the supervision of K.N. Dikshit and on the northern half of the strip of land under M.S. Vats. In 1926-27 the season of H.L. H. H. Hargreaves was arranged for him to work under the H. Hargreaves, he devoted himself mainly to the HR and VS area and the area in the south, and during the next two seasons (1927-1931) he continued to work in the 50 acres of Mohenjo-Daro under the supervision of Mackay.

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was started of HR area under Hargreaves, VS area under Vats, DK area under Dikshit and on the northern half of the stūpa mound (SD area) under Marshall himself. (MS-I, 12, 13). In the winter season of 1926-27 E.J.H. Mackay arrived and it was arranged for him to work under Daya Ram Sahni. Sahni devoted himself mainly to the HR and VS area, and Mackay to the L area in the stūpa mound. During the next four seasons (1927-31) excavations were made in the DK and SD area of Mohenjo-Daro under the supervision of Mackay.

Summary Statements on Metals/Minerals

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In courc of the excavations, it was amply evident that the Indus people were familiar with gold, silver, copper, tin and lead. The metals may have been mined within the confines of India itself where all of them including even tin are obtainable, or they may have been imported from the neighbouring countries to the north and west viz. Persia, Afghanistan, Arabia or from western Tibet. (MS-I, 29)

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According to Edwin Pascoe, gold is likely to have come from south of India rather than from other quarters, since from early historic times it has always been the south of the Peninsula (Hyderabad, Mysore and the Madras Presidency) that has supplied the bulk of India’s gold and in some of the mines the workings of ancient date are still to be seen. Much of the gold from Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa is alloyed with a substantial percentage of silver, and this alloy (electrum, as it is commonly known) is found in the Kolar gold fields of Mysore and at Anantapur in Madras. Gold was used for the manufacture of personal ornaments of all kinds and for the high finish given to the surface of the metal, though finer examples of gold work inlaid with faience have been found at Harappa. (MS-I, 30)

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Silver, like gold, was fashioned into articles of jewellery, but unlike gold it was made into relatively large and heavy vessels and it is evident from this that in Sind, it must have been much less precious than the other metal.

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Lead, which may have come from Ajmer or from silver mines of Afghanistan or Persia, does not seem to have been widely used. A lamp of it, which may have served as net-sinker, was found in L area and a small lead ornament with a disc of faience was found in VS area, but these are the only pieces recovered. (MS-I, 30)

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Copper which was imported in large quantities was obtainable either from Rājputana or Baluchistan or further afield from Kashmir, Afganistan, Persia or Madras. The presence of an appreciable amount of lead in the copper artefacts indicates that the metal came either from Rajputana or Baluchistan or Persia—

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in all these areas lead is generally found in association with the copper ore. Copper had already to a large extent taken the place of stone for the manufacture of weapons, implements and domestic utensils, such as lance-heads, daggers, knives, axes, chisels and vessels, and was employed also for the cheaper kinds of ornaments like bangles, ear-rings, finger-rings and girdles as well as for figurines, wire, etc.

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Tin, which occurs in the form of cassiterite in the Western Presidency as well as in Bihar and Orissa, has not been found as a separate metal at Mohenjo-Daro, but only as an alloy with copper, the two together forming bronze, in which the percentage of tin averages from 6 to 13 per cent. (MS-I, 30)

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Bronze was used in preference to copper for the manufacture of weapons and implements requiring an extra sharp cutting edge, and for ornaments, figurines and other such articles in which a specially fine finish was desired. It was used for making virtually all the same objects as of copper, including vases, and would probably have superseded the pure metal for the scarcity of tin. It was certainly not due to any lack of skill in the working of this metal that bronze objects are rarer than copper ones at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa.

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In addition to bronze there is another alloy of copper at Mohenjo-Daro in which the tin is replaced by arsenic varying in content from 3-4.5 per cent. This alloy is about equal in hardness to a low-grade bronze. Whether the arsenic moiety came from the copper ore itself or resulted due to the use of another arsenic-containing mineral such as löllingite is debatable. Evidently, both the possibilities exist. (MS-I, 31)

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Stone of any kind was a rarity, for none occurs in the alluvium of the Indus plain, so whatever stone might have been required, was brought from more or less distant places. The three kinds of stones which were easily obtained were (1) a white or pale-coloured nummulitic limestone which occurs as an outcrop on the banks of the Indus at Sukkur and could be brought down stream by boat on raft, (2) gypsum (sulphate of lime) and (3) alabaster (a refined form of gypsum), which could be quarried a hundred miles or so away in the Kithar mountains or brought by boat, if that was more economical, from Kathiawar. Other stones in use both at Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa were: the fine-grained yellow Jaisalmer stone, steatite or soapstone and a dark grey slate, all three of which almost certainly coming from Rajputana; gneiss and basalt which are found commonly in many of the neighbouring regions; red, grey, and dark brown limestones, grey sandstone and chert, the provenance of which has yet to be established.

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Gypsum went mainly to the making of Plaster of Paris, which was freely used as a mortar. Sukkur limestone does not seem to have been introduced much before the late period, and was then employed principally in the form of rough hammer-dressed blocks as a covering for drains where the traffic was more than usually heavy, or where for other reasons, brick would not serve adequately. Alabaster which is a soft ornamental kind of stone was found effective for objects such as lattice screens, vessels and small statues. The green amazon stone almost certainly came from the Nilgiri hills.

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The harder stones, like gneiss and basalt and some varieties of limestone, were employed for saddle querns and mullers, door sockets, weights and sometimes also for dishes and other vessels, the manufacture of which was done perhaps mainly for the ritual purposes. From these hard stones were also made the figure of eight grinders with which the interiors of the stone dishes and saucers were hollowed out. Chert was chipped and ground into weights and polishers, or flaxed for use as knives, just as obsidian was flaked in the Western countries. Steatite was fashioned into statuettes and seals and finished off with a coating of hard white paste. The yellow Jaisalmer stone was evidently much prized and used, among other things for statues and cult objects such as lingas and yoni rings, though grey limestone was more commonly employed for the last mentioned. For the rest, sandstone, slate, and limestone were made into mace-heads and slate into vessels and barrel-shaped weights. (MS-I, 31)

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Semi-precious stones were used with fine colour effects for beads and other ornaments. Of these, the majority, including rock-crystal, haematite, agate, chalcedony, onyx, carnelian, jasper, riband jasper, bloodstone, plasma, tachylite and the exquisite azure-blue nepheline, sodalite, were obtained from Kishangarh, Rajputana, the Punjab, Kathiawar or Central India. Haematite which is found up the Persian gulf as well as in Rajputana, the Punjab, the Central Provinces and Bihar, and plasma, which is found in the beds of Krishna and Godavari might have come to Mohenjo-Daro from the nearer regions. On the other hand, the nearest spot from which the beautiful green amazon stone (a variety of microcline feldspar) could be obtained is Doddabetta in the Nilgiris, far away in southern India, and it is probable that amethyst was collected from the Deccan trap. Lapis lazuli, turquoise and jadeite ‘were not obtainable in India at all’. The first is believed to have come from Badakshan, a province of Northern Afghanistan; the second from the Persian Province of Khorasan — through it is found in the other parts of Persia also, as well as in Sistan — and jadeite, a hard form of jade, from either the Pamirs, Eastern Turkestan or Tibet.

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Other materials found at Mohenjo-Daro that deserve notice are bitumen used for water-proofing and other purposes which was probably brought from Isa Khel on the right bank of the Indus or from Mari hills or Sanni in Baluchistan, but might have also come by water from Hit on the Euphrates; red ochre, which is common in Cutch, Central India and Central Provinces, but is also shipped to India in large quantities from Hormuz and other islands on the Persian gulf which produce a specially brilliant variety; green earth (glauconite), which probably came from Baluchistan, though there are many other possible sources, and löllingite, an arsenic mineral which probably came from the Punjab, but is found also in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Persia and Asia Minor. (MS-I, 32)

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Besides these metals and minerals, several other materials (bone, ivory, shell faience and vitrified paste) were in use for ornamental purposes, as well as for making various small articles. Bone must have been easily obtainable in the locality, and ivory is a commodity of which there has always been an abundant supply in India. Shells of many kinds, and in large quantities, were brought from the coasts of India as well as from the Persian gulf and the Red Sea, and the shell industry played a hardly less important part in the Indus Valley than it did in Sumer, though shell-inlay work does not seem to have been elaborated to quite the same degree as in the latter country. Faience, which resembled the faience of Mesopotamia, Minoan Greece and Egypt, but has preserved its colourless brilliantly than in Egypt, was a soft and friable paste, sometimes made of powdered steatite, usally white in colour and coated with a blue, green or white vitreous glaze. The widespread manufacture of faience, which is not likely to have been invented independently in different countries is one of the many striking illustrations of the homogeneity of culture in the chalcolithic times.

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That spinning was common in the houses of Mohenjo-Daro is evident from the numerous spindle-whorls in the houses; that it was practised by the well-to-do and poor alike is indicated by the fact that the whorls are made of the more expensive faience as well as of the cheaper pottery and shell. (MS-I, 32)

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Ornaments were freely worn by all classes alike: necklaces, fillets, armlets, and finger rings by both men and women; girdles, ear-rings and anklets by women alone. These various ornaments comprised of girdles, necklaces, bracelets and bangles, fillets for hair, finger rings and perhaps nose rings, ear studs and ornamental pins and buttons. Those for the rich were of gold, silver, faience, ivory and the many semi-precious stones enumerated above; for the poor they were mainly of shell, bone, copper and terracotta. Even in the ornaments, the application of bead were also marked. Besides the long tubular beads, large number of small beads have been found. The beads are of great variety: barrel-shaped globular, segmented, cog wheel. Some are of metal; gold, silver, copper or bronze; others of faience, glazed steatite, shell, bone, paste etc. but the vast majority are of one or other of the brightly coloured stones menticned above. (MS-I, 34)

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Weapons of war or the chase comprised of axes, spears, daggers, bows and arrows, maces, slings and possibly, though not probably, catapults. These are weapons of offence only. Of shields, helmets, greaves or other defensive armour, there is no trace: nor has the sword, which was to become one of the characteristic weapons of the later copper age in the Jamuna-Ganges in the valley, yet made its appearance. The blade-axes or celts which were usually of copper, more rarely of bronze, were of two types: one lay and narrow and the other short and broad. The lay bar celts which are found in the Jamuna-Ganges Valley and the barbed harpoon heads and swords associated with them are entirely absent at Mohenjo-Daro. The spearheads in use among the Indus folk were, according to Mackay, spoils taken from some inferior jungle tribe not manufactured on the spot. (MS-I, 35)

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Vessels of copper and bronze were relatively rare, of silver still rarer, and faience was used only for small ornamental vases intended for cosmetics and the like. Of the ordinary domestic vessels, 99 per cent were earthenware. These exhibit a great variety of shapes. Among them are offering stands, beakers, bowls, goblets, with pointed bases, dishes, basins, pans, saucers, cups and ladles etc.

Tabulation: Different Metallic Objects

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Various metal objects have been unearthed in the course of excavation at Mohenjo-Daro. These metal objects were mainly made of copper and bronze. The objects which were made of copper are hook, axe, sword, knife, spearhead, pan, dish, chisel, vase, scale pan, bangle, canister, awl, saw, lance head, razor, cones, dagger, ring, spoon, reamer, kohl-stick, sickle, casting, broken ingot, scale beam, fish-hook, copper lump, needle. The bronze objects are spearhead, mirror, vase, axe, pan, saw, chisel, dagger, axe-adze, fish-hook, scale pans, ornament, spacer, hook, knife, kohl pot. (MCK, 441-94)

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Apart from the above-mentioned things, there were few other metal objects which Sir Marshall found in course of his excavation at Mohenjo-Daro. These are copper and bronze vessels including censur, fluting, piece of copper handle, dish and cover of cast bronze, small vessel of beaten copper, bronze bowl of the same type, bronze flask, jar cover beaten from very thin copper sheet, bronze cover, simple copper bowl with plain edge, copper pan, silver vase, copper blade axes, few bronze blade axes, long and narrow axes both of copper and bronze, short broad axes (copper and bronze), spear and lance heads, copper arrowheads, knives and daggers of both copper and bronze, copper leather cutter, bronze razor and saw, copper sickle shaped blade, bronze fish-hook, copper awls and reamers, copper needles, round copper rod, copper finger rings, bronze ear-rings, copper bracelets, copper jar handle, copper bull, copper bird, cast bronze heads, bronze spacer, copper tube, bronze necklace spacers, copper and bronze chain. (MS-II, 488-508)

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Gold and silver were evidently by no means rare metals at Mohenjo-Daro. We find pure gold as well as a kind of electrum which may be either natural or artificial. Bronze and copper were also used in the manufacture of spacers and terminals for strings of beads. But the favourite material for beads was chalcedony in all its forms, carnelian being specially common and artificially treated to enhance its colour. At Mohenjo-Daro, fillets were worn by both sexes around the head. It was a thin ribbon of either gold or silver, whose ends were tied at the back of the head by means of a thread. (MS-II, 504)

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The gold beads which were used by the inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro are minute and either globular or cylindrical in form. A necklace found from HR area comprises of flat gold beads, beads of onyx, green feldspar and turquoise matrix and small globular gold beads. Silver was used more freely than gold at Mohenjo-Daro. Pending further analysis of the silver objects made by the Indus people, we are uncertain as to from what sources the metal was obtained and what ores were used. Generally silver is commonly found in the form of sulphide or chloride mixed with other metals, e.g. lead, zinc or copper, but a certain amount of knowledge and skill is necessary to reduce it to its metallic state. Silver frequently occurs in small quantities in conjunction with lead as in argentiferous galena. Lead is by no means rare at Mohenjo-Daro, and it may be that silver was extracted from lead ore, for Hamid found a small trace of lead in a sample of silver submitted to him; the analysis is:

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| Silver p.c. | ........ 94.52 |
| Lead | ........ 0.42 |
| Copper | ........ 3.68 |
| Insolubles (silver chloride etc.) | ........ 0.85 |
| Total | ........ 99.47 |

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Hamid suggests that the ‘cupellation’ process may have been used for the extraction of silver from its ores, and that the presence of copper is due to adulteration. Sana Ullah however suggested that the parent ore was contaminated with copper. He referred to cerussite found in Baluchistan which is frequently associated with cuprite.

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At Mohenjo-Daro, some of the gold is of a very light hue and it closely resembles electrum. This might of course be due to the admixture of some other metal with the gold to harden as well as to cheapen it. The above analysis shows a very high proportion of silver and no trace of gold: which again suggests that unlike the earliest Egyptian silver, that of Mohenjo-Daro was extracted from an ore. If this was so, the people of Mohenjo-Daro, with whom must be coupled those of Harappa, had evidently considerable knowledge of metallurgy.

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Edwin Pascoe suggests that in the ancient times, lead was extensively mined in various parts of India, chiefly on account of the silver associated with it. Taking into consideration therefore the presence of lead in the sample of silver analysed by Hamid, it seems more likely that it was from argentiferous galena that the silver found at Mohenjo-Daro was extracted. This process of extraction of silver from lead is fairly simple. But unless the galena is exceptionally rich in silver, large quantities would have to be treated to obtain sufficient quantity of the metal. (MS-II, 524)

Different Ornamental Beads

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As in most ancient countries, the women of the Indus Valley decked themselves out with jewellery and it is probable that men also did likewise. The commonest ornaments were long strings of beads some of considerable size.

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Stone beads of practically every shape and form were in use. Some are of large size and are even made of such comparatively soft stones as limestone and alabaster. The favourite material for beads was chalcedony in all its forms, carnelian being especially common and artificially treated to enhance its colour. Bronze and copper were also used in the manufacture of spacers and terminals for strings of beads. In this connection, we may record Marshall’s considered opinion that in India bead-making was one of the most ancient arts, since in most places the requisite materials were ready at hand. This was not the case in Mesopotamia where even the commonest stone was difficult to procure. (MS-II, 510)

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A remarkable point about the bead is the comparative scarcity of lapis lazuli; indeed this material was rarely used for beads or anything else at Mohenjo-Daro.

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On the other hand, Hargreaves found at Nal in Southern Baluchistan, several strings of beads composed entirely of lapis lazuli, both disc-shaped and cylindrical. It is possible that the lapis lazuli, found at Nal, came from Persia and that for some unknown reason, this source of supply was not readily available to the inhabitants of Mohenjo-Daro who received few samples, probably from Badakshan. Green feldspar (amazon stone) was on the other hand much favoured as a material for beads. The occurrence of beads made of green feldspar in many chalcolithic sites in the near and Middle East including India, is interesting, as few localities are known from which the stone could be procured. Possibly in ancient times a considerable trade was done in this semi-precious stone, which may have been valued for properties other than its beauty. Some considerable difficulty was always experienced in working feldspar into beads, for in whatever country they are found, they are always very irregular in shape.

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Turquoise and turquoise-matrix were also occasionally employed for beads at Mohenjo-Daro. The inhabitants also made extensive use of various varieties of agate such as carnelian, chalcedony, onyx, etc. for making beads. Some of these stones seem to have been tinted artificially-chiefly the beautiful red carnelian with designs upon it in white. The tinting of agate is still an industry in India. Amethyst has been found at Mohenjo-Daro, both in the form of beads and also in rough nodules. There was the very extensive use of steatite at Mohenjo-Daro both in bead-making and for other objects; it may be noted that steatite was often coated with blue glaze. The steatite beads were more common than those of any other material, and there is no doubt that the people of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa had access to plentiful supplies. Even stones with dull appearance such as limestone and alabaster were made into beads at Mohenjo-Daro. Doubtless, beads made of these materials were worn only by the poor. Several unfinished beads found at Mohenjo-Daro, all of agate, show that these were shaped and smoothed before being bored. (MS-II, 524,536)

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Agate is the most important variety of chalcedony. Bauer defines agate-jasper as stones which are intermediate in character between jasper and chalcedony, and which usually show opaque, dark-coloured portions intermixed in various ways with translucent lighter coloured portions. Moss-agates are characterized by the presence of green enclosures which usually take the form of long hairs and fibres much intertwined and have the general appearance of a piece of moss. The chalcedony bead is white or very pale shade of grey, yellow brown, blue or green and uniformly coloured. Heliotrope beads differ from plasma only in that its green colour is spotted, patched or streaked with a fine blood-red. Another type of bead named 'plasma' applied to green chalcedony, the colour of which ranges from dark leek-green, the commonest shade, through pale apple green, to almost white. By far, the greatest number of beads referred to are the impure variety of massive quartz known as jasper. This is distinguished from hornstone by its large, even conchoidal fracture, the dull lustre of its fractured surface and by its perfect opacity and deep colour. The following six types of jasper: common jasper, blue jasper, red jasper, green jasper, yellow jasper and riband jasper have been distinguished in the various items found at Mohenjo-Daro. Only one bead was identified as Amazon stone. The bead in question was microcline and light green in colour. (MS-I, 544-45) Only one bead has been determined as being tachylyte or a basaltic or ultra-basic glass. In the case of silver beads, most of the silver has been converted to silver chloride by weathering, and not only are the beads covered inside and out with a thick, pimply coating of this mineral, but the metallic portion itself is impregnated with chloride to such an extent that it has become very brittle. Two greyish beads have been identified as nepheline sodalite rock, probably obtained from Kishangarh, Rajasthan. (MS-II, 546-47)

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Not only Marshall, even Mackay also found a good number of finished and unfinished beads in the DK and HR areas in course of his excavation between 1927-31. Beads of the areas were similar with those found in the earlier sites. The material objects were same, such as steatite, faience, pottery, shell, agate, carnelian, jade, breccia, quartz, limestone, jasper, lapis lazuli, turquoise, green feldspar, haematite, onyx, hornblende, gold, silver and copper. Besides the above-mentioned beads, there were few composite beads, made of red carnelian and white or blue chalcedony or agate. (MCK, 503)

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The etched carnelian beads are rare at Mohenjo-Daro, and Mackay found only four of it. The rareness of this bead naturally led to the manufacture of imitations, and often a bead made of steatite or of steatite paste was coated with a thick red slip, leaving white lines to represent the white designs on the genuine etched beads. These imitation beads probably deceived no one though there was often a cleverly made high polish giving almost a translucent appearance to the red slip. (MCK, 507)

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The great majority of carved beads were made of steatite and the trefoil design was the most favoured. Quite a number of tabular denticulate beads with toothed ends have been unearthed at Mohenjo-Daro. Few sickle blade beads have also been found in the upper levels of Mohenjo-Daro. The other varieties are coiled wire beads and imitation, segmented beads, cog wheel beads, long barrel cylinder beads, long barrel beads, disc beads, long taped beads, round in section, faceted beads, cylindrical beads, few unclassified beads and lastly, few unfinished beads. (MCK, 508-16)

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According to Mackay, these unfinished beads made of hard stones were actually manufactured at Mohenjo-Daro; the evidence is afforded by the unfinished specimens that we have found, though no actual bead factory has yet come to light. Among the ten unfinished beads, three were found in the lower levels, and one from as low as 18.2 ft below datum. This proves that beads were manufactured from the intermediate II Phase onwards and probably before that. (MCK 502)

Furnaces and Crucibles

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Any discussion about the minerals and metals may not be complete without the mention of kilns, furnaces and crucibles which were found at Mohenjo-Daro. Actually both the excavators viz., Marshall and Mackay found a good number of kilns in their respective areas; but, both of them have expressed their doubt regarding their proper functions. These might have been used for the baking of potteries and sometimes may be for metallurgical works. Let us discuss about those kilns which were unearthed by excavation.

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While digging in the HR areas of Mohenjo-Daro, Marshall found few houses. In the House VII of this area a pottery kiln came to light. It has an oval plan and is surrounded by a thin wall of a single course of burnt bricks. The kiln is 7 ft long and has a narrow mouth. At the further end is a little wall curved at the top, the exact purpose of which is not clear. The inner surface of the structure was badly burnt and cracked owing to firing and its bottom was covered with a layer of cinders or slag. For the rest the structure was filled with brickbats, potsherds etc. Marshall found near the mouth of the furnace two or three half baked betel-leaf-shaped clay plaques, and so he thought that it is not impossible that the kiln was used for baking objects of this kind. Another kiln of about the same size but circular in shape was recognised by Marshall among the building exposed by Vats in the VS areas, but its function was not clear to the excavator.

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Another kiln in VS area was exposed by the same excavator in House VII area. It is circular in shape with a diameter of 6 ft. The surrounding wall consists of a single course of bricks and the function of it, according to Marshall, may be that of a pottery kiln. (MS II 226)

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We have mentioned earlier, that not only Marshall but Mackay also found a good number of kilns when he further excavated Mohenjo-Daro. Some of them have got great importance.

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In the G section of the DK mound, no less than six kilns, including one in the middle of the central street, were found and other have probably been destroyed by inundation. Mackay thinks that this portion of the mound was the artisans’ quarter, many of whose inhabitants were potters. The city authorities allowed these potters to practise their craft in the suburban area so that the smoke of their kilns did not come towards the city proper.

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∗ MS I, pp. 192, 226 and MCK, pp. 6, 41, 49, 62, 102-03, 172-79, 202.

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In this connection mention may be made about the G section of DK area, where excavation has revealed few houses which according to the excavator are interesting. The partially preserved block IA with its two very fine stairways and the small amount of copper and bronze unearthed in this block, lay well to the west of the main building. This provides no indication as to the use of what must have been an almost palatial structure. Mackay is of the opinion that the number of copper melts in House VI of Block 2 perhaps indicates that at least a part of this building was devoted to metallurgical work. That metal was sometimes smelted at Mohenjo-Daro seems however proved by the find of copper ore together with a small piece of lead in a brick-lined pit in the middle of room 51 of House VI, adjacent to the palace. The presence of the piece of lead is particularly interesting as it may have been used to assist in smelting the copper ore. (MCK, 41)

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Again, in the eastern side of the room 33 of S.W. wing, two curious kilns were found. Both were 4 ft 3 inch deep and paved with brick, round the inside of each was a 4 inch ledge, but not at the same height. The bricks used in their construction were wedge-shaped and laid with mud mortar, and their walls had been carefully plastered with mud. According to the excavator, it is evident from the vitrification of the mud-lined walls of these pits, that they were used to fire objects at a high temperature, the fuel used being either wood or charcoal, of which the white ashes still remained. The ledges mentioned were probably intended for the support of a crucible, or if we assume that the kilns were used for glazing, a grating may have rested on the circular ledge in each. Mackay was inclined to think that these kilns were used for smelting something more fusible than copper, since there was no draught or vent in their lower portions; most unfortunately no objects were found in their vicinity to aid us in determining their use with certainty. (MCK, 49-50)

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Again in Block 2 House III, two pottery kilns, very roughly built, were marked by their presence. For one, the floor had entirely disappeared, but there were indications that it lay 1 ft 7 inch below the top of the kiln. The second kiln was also elliptical and in much better condition. Around the edge of its floor at the level of 5.7 ft there were a number of flue holes with an average diameter of 3.75 inch. (MCK, 62)

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Two other kilns were found in the court 21, 26 which belonged to House II.

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The larger of the two kilns stands against the outer wall of House VII and is practically circular in shape with an inside diameter of 7 ft 1 inch. Its wall which is 1 ft 4 inch high in place was roughly built of old pieces of brick laid in mud mortar and plastered on the inside only. The floor of this kiln is at a level of 3.5 ft and it is perforated with a number of holes which allowed the heat of the fire below to penetrate to the pottery. These holes were arranged in a ring round the edge of the floor with one hole in the centre. The excavators did not find the hole beneath the pavement, through which the fuel was put in, nor any flues: but this is not surprising for, save for the column that supported the floor, no foundation was found. The fuel was evidently placed in a rough hole in the ground: and it is clearly wood, for ashes in plenty lay around the column supporting the floor. Although no direct evidence was found that this kiln was used for pottery, there were at a little distance dumps of broken pots. (MCK, 102)

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Another much smaller kiln was unearthed immediately to the west of it. It stood at a considerably higher level. The walls are heavily plastered on the inside with mud which clearly shows signs of burning. Mackay is of the opinion that this is really the lower part of a smaller kiln used perhaps for baking vessels of small size. (MCK, 103)

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Thus Mackay concludes that several kilns unearthed in the G section of DK mound were undoubtedly used for baking pottery, and those in the palace (of Intermediate II date) may have been used by an armourer in the making and repair of weapons and tools, which recall the armourer's shop in the palace at Kish. All other kilns which should probably be assigned to the late I Phase, probably served for baking pottery and that is why these were placed in the outskirts of the town. (MCK, 172)

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This hypothesis of Mackay was confirmed when he got a number of kilns, and judging from the masses of potsherds around them it may be said definitely that these were exclusively used for the baking of pottery. These were open furnaces of the type still being used by the Sindhi potters. The advantages of these ovens, originally derived from "the practice of enclosing a fire with clay to concentrate the heat and subsequently raising the surrounding wall to a dome" are that the heat can be graduated by flues according to requirements, with a corresponding saving in fuel and the avoidance of smoke strains. (MCK, 177)

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In course of excavation, several pieces of pottery were found which appear to have been used either in connection with a kiln or in one case, as a crucible. One such specimen was found, which is thickly coated with a mixture of sand and clay, and there can be no doubt that it was expressly constructed to withstand heat. Mackay thinks that it served either as a crucible or more likely as a muffle for firing glaze. Another thin pottery plate, 4.17 inch in diameter and 0.2 in thick has a thick cement of mud and straw round the edge which shows signs of burning. The plate was evidently used to seal up the flue of a furnace; similar plates with a similar cement have been used for the same purpose in India till recently. Within one small open vessel, which was recovered with two others of the same shape and size, was found a grey paste, that was heavily fired apparently more than once. This vessel which has a fairly smooth interior may have been used as a kind of muffle.

Sources of Minerals at Mohenjo-Daro

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One of the burning questions faced by the excavator of Mohenjo-Daro was related to the sources of all minerals, found there. Edwin Pascoe, former director of the Geological Survey of India, tried to resolve the question.

Gold

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Apart from iron, the most widely distributed and most useful metal in India is gold. The sands of the majority of its rivers have yielded gold though usually in very small quantities when washed. In fact, gold washing has been practised in the past in every province of India. The stream of the Dharwar district of Bombay have for instance yielded gold, and traces of old workings are to be seen in the Sangli state and near Hosur. In Hyderabad (Deccan) ancient workings have been noticed at Hutti, Topuldodi and Wondalli. All these areas have since been mined on a large scale. In Madras, old workings have been found in Anantapur, Coimbatore, Hadabanatta, Kavudahalli, Wynaad and near Porsegaundanpalay. The old workings in S.E. Wynaad were made by a mining community known a Karumbars. Eastwick has endeavoured to show that the great sources of gold, reported to have been seized by the former invaders of India, came from the Wynaad mines. He in fact identifies India as the land of Ophir. In Mysore, old workings are widely distributed and gold has been found in every district except that of Bangalore, where Kolar provides now over 90 per cent of India's production.

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In Afghanistan, gold occurs 3 miles north of Kandahar. It is obtained in small quantities also from the north side of the Hindukush. Other reported sources are the streams during the Kuh-i-Baba, streams in Kohistan and above Laghman and Kunar. Apart from that there were other countries from where gold was obtained, i.e., Persia, Tibet, China, Arabia etc.

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∗ Views of Pascoe quoted by Marshall and MS-II, pp. 674-85.

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Now the point is that although there are many possible sources for the gold of Mohenjo-Daro, the chances seem more in favour of Southern India. The gold of India is said to have been worked upon for at least twenty-five centuries, although Afghanistan, Western Tibet and parts of Persia are nearer. So southern India would seem to have been the most accessible area. (MS-II, 674-75)

Silver

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In the Bhagalpur, Manbhum, Monghyr and Singhbhum districts of Bihar and Orissa, silver has been found associated with lead, but neither metal in considerable quantity. Similar occurrences have been met within the Central India, Drug, Hoshangabad and Jabalpur district. Silver associated with gold is produced in considerable quantity today in Kolar in Mysore, and to a much smaller extent at Anantapur in Madras. An ancient lead mine, the lead from which yields a small quantity of silver exists in Farinjal in the Ghorband Valley of Afghanistan. Silver may also have been derived from the many other lead localities of southern Afghanistan. In the same country, well-known silver mines existed near the head of the Panjshir valley in the Hindu Kush; silver deposits were also formerly worked upon near Heart. Persia is said to be very rich in silver-bearing lead ore. Thus it may be said that if the ancients knew how to separate silver from gold, it is possible that the Mohenjo-Daro supplies might have come with the gold from southern India. The art of separating silver from lead has been known for many generations, so that the Farinjal mine of Afghanistan, the Gumush Khanch mines of Armenia and the many lead mines of Persia might be looked upon as possible sources. (MS-II, 675)

Copper

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The best known deposits of copper in India are those of Singhbhum in Bihar and Orissa. Remains of old excavations and mounds of copper slag from a worked out ore have been noted in Indore. Old copper workings are common in Madras, Coimbatore, Guntur and especially Nellore. Many places in the Punjab and Rajputana yield copper, the most important being Khetri and Singhana, both in the Jaipur area. In Afghanistan ancient copper workings have been found near the Safed-Kuh between Kabul and Kurram. Rich veins of copper ore are also said to exist in the Shah Maqsud and the Sirdars of Kandahar. Copper ore is abundant in Persia. Amongst all the above sources, the copper localities nearest to Mohenjo-Daro are: the Jaipur state of Rajputana, the Shah Maqsud and the other areas in Southern Afghanistan and Robat in the extreme west of Baluchistan. (MS-II, 676)

Lead

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Considerable quantities of lead ore were formerly extracted from mines near Ajmer in Rajputana. Lead is known to occur at several places in Bihar and Orissa, the central provinces and the Cuddapah and Kurnool district of Madras. With the exception of iron, there is perhaps no metal whose ores appear to have been worked to so large an extent in India as those of lead. An ancient lead mine with very extensive workings has already been referred to as occurring at Farinjal in the Ghorband valley of Afghanistan. Lead ore is common in many localities in southern Afghanistan. The Mohenjo-Daro lead may well have come from Ajmer. The old mines in this District were of great extent and (in 1830) had the appearance of having been worked for centuries. The metal may otherwise have come from the Farinjal mine in Afghanistan, or other mines in the south of that country or from Persia.

Lapis Lazuli

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The name is derived from the Persian word lajward meaning ‘blue colour’. It is recorded from the neighbouring countries of Tartary, Tibet and China but the best known and most important locality is the valley of the Kokcha, south of Firgamu in Badakshan, the most northernly province of Afghanistan. It is also reported to occur in China, Persia, Tibet and Bokhara. Pascoe concluded that most probably the lapis lazuli of Mohenjo-Daro came from the Badakshan Province of Afghanistan. (MS-II, 677)

Turquoise

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It derives its name from the country of Turkey. However the supply originated from Persia, and merely passed through Turkey towards Europe. Turquoise takes on a greenish tinge on exposure to sunlight and for this reason most ancient ornaments of this mineral are definitely greenish in tint. The finest turquoise is found in Persia, where the mines are known to have been worked for at least eight centuries. The principal locality is near Nishapur in the Khorasan provinces, other localities being near Kirman and Karik and near Mashiz. It is also said to occur in Turkestan. As there is no reference of its finding from India, so it is not plausible to accept that turquoise came from Ajmer hills of Rajputana. It seems most probably that the ultimate source of the Mohenjo-Daro turquoise was the Persian province of Khorasan. (MS-II, 678)

Amazon Stone

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Formerly Amazon stone or Amazonite, a green variety of microcline feldspar was obtained only from the Urals. But this microcline is common in India. This precious variety has so far been reported only from Dodabetta in the Nilgiri hills and possibly from the Padar district of Kashmir. The Mohenjo-Daro material may well have come either from these localities.

Rock Crystal

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Rock crystal is a very common form of semi-precious silica or quartz and is fairly widespread in its occurrence. It has been worked upon at many localities in India. The lapidaries of Cambay obtain their supplies from Tankara in the Kathiawar peninsula. Large prisms were formerly obtained in the bed of the Godavari near Rajahmundri and in the stream beds of Tanjore both in Madras. Delhi was formerly another source. Interesting little bi-pyramidal crystals have for a long time been obtained from the red marls of Mari in the Mianwali district of the Punjab; these are known as ‘Mari diamonds’. The Alps and India are supposed to have furnished the ancients with their supplies of rock crystal, and it is not unlikely that the Mohenjo-Daro inhabitants obtained theirs either from Mari, from the Kathiawar peninsula or from Vellum in the Tanjore district of Madras.

Steatite

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Steatite or soap-stone is a massive form of talc, a mineral which is said to have derived its name from the Arabic talq. The Egyptians used it usually coated with blue glaze. Its most conspicuous properties are resistance of heat and great softness. The mineral is widely distributed among the crystalline rocks of India. The nearest place of occurrence to Sind are Rajputana, Gisgarh, Morra, Mysore, Jabalpur, Bihar and Orissa. The present-day production comes mostly from Jabalpur and Salem. The most likely source of the Mohenjo-Daro material seems to be Rajputana. (MS-II, 678)

Alabaster

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True alabaster is a hydrated sulphate of lime but the name was applied in ancient times generally to the carbonate. True alabaster is sufficiently soft to take a scratch from the finger-nail and does not effervesce with hydrochloric acid. Oriental alabaster, the carbonate of lime was used in Ancient Egypt for canopic jars and other objects. Its name may have its origin in the alabastar-ointment vases or perfume bottles which are formerly made out of this stone. It is found as travertine deposited from calcareous springs or as a stalagmite on the floor and walls of limestone caverns. A very beautiful aragonite travertine occurs in considerable quantity 1-1/2 miles west of Topehi on the road to Bamian in Afghanistan. This alabaster is merely a refined and semi-transparent form of gypsum. It occurs largely in all the younger tertiary deposits of Afghanistan. The bed at Dasht-i-safed in Kamard is of the semi-translucent variety known as alabaster and would make a very handsome ornamental stone.

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Gypsum is plentiful in the neighbourhood of Mohenjo-Daro itself and some suitable fine grained bed as probably available at no great distance from the city. Thick beds of it of sufficient purity are found in the Kirthar range of Sind. Kutch contains large quantities of the mineral, and a certain amount is obtainable in Kathiawar and Rewa Kantha. Gypsum in enormous quantities including massive beds of considerable purity and variety of colour extend along the base of the salt range in the Punjab. The gypsum of Rajputana is mostly impure. All of these local sources may have supplied Mohenjo-Daro with true alabaster. (MS-II, 679)

Haematite

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Crystalline haematite which is used for ornamental purpose is extremly hard, fine grained compact material or large crystals. Enormous quantities of haematite occur in Bihar and Orissa etc. and much of this is hard, fine-grained compact ore with a good metallic lustre. Specimens may well have been picked up in the stream beds by the ancient people and used for ornamental purpose. The occurrence of haematite in the islands of the Persian gulf such as Hormuz and on the opposite coast of Persia is perhaps worth special mention in view of the fact that the mineral is usually conspicuous. The Mohenjo-Daro supplies may well have come from this source. (MS-II, 680)

Amethyst

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The term ‘Oriental Amethyst’ is sometimes applied to violet coloured corundum. True amethyst or violet coloured quartz is found in a very pure state in the gem gravels of Ceylon. This mineral has been found in the Santal Parganas of Bihar and Orissa and sometimes in the Deccan Trap. The occurrence of amethyst quartz in the vicinity of Hyderabad has been noticed. Amethyst is found at several localities in the Bashahr portion of the valley of the Sutlej. There seems little doubt that the Mohenjo-Daro material was derived from the Deccan trap. (MS-II, 680)

Slate

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Poor slate occurs in the Manbhum and Singhbhum Districts of Bihar and Orissa.

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Good quality is known to occur in Baroda, and there are quarries of this rock in Bijapur. Slate of fair quality occurs in Gwalior. The most likely source for slate nearest to Mohenjo-Daro, seems to be Rajasthan.

Agate, Carnelian, Onyx and Chalcedony

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Agate, carnelian and onyx are of common occurrence in the amygdaloidal flows of the Deccan and Rajmahal traps and the chief sources of supply are the rivers that drain the areas covered by these rocks. The beds of Krishna, Godavari and Bhima rivers have been specially noticed in this connection. The agate employed by the lapidaries of Jabalpur is largely derived from the Narmada Valley, especially from Bhera Ghat or the Marble rocks. Nodules of agate are found in plenty in the Rajmahal hills. The most valuable of the veined agate, worked into ornaments by the lapidaries of Cambay comes from Rampur in Ahmedabad. The Kaira district of Bombay has yielded a much prized variety of agate. The chief source from which the carnelian and agate workers of Cambay derive their material is in the Rajpipla state near the village of Ratanpur. All these places are close to Mohenjo-Daro and are to be considered as potential sources of agate, moss-agate and carnelian; the chances are more in favour of Kathiawar and Rajpipla. Two of the agate beads from Mohenjo-Daro (brown-white) resemble the ‘pagoda stones’ or agate from Burma. Onyx is widely distributed over parts of Nawanagar. (MS-II, 681)

Jasper-Agate, Jasper and Bloodstone

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The rivers draining the Dharwar and Bijawar formations contain pebbles of a great variety. Conglomerates of material abound in the older rocks of the Satpura range in the Central Provinces. The jasper of Mohenjo-Daro may well have come from Rajputana. Bloodstone, i.e., green jasper variegated with red, has been noted as occurring near Tankara in Kathiawar and in the bed of the Mota Mola river between Firozabad and Sindaghi in the District of Agra. It is also found in Rajputana. Agate-jasper is mentioned as occurring with common agate in the Rajpipla Hills, Broach, and the beds of the Krishna, Godavari and the Bhima rivers. The Mohenjo-Daro specimens may have come from Rajpipla or Rajputana. (MS-II, 682)

Plasma

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The bright green and more or less translucent variety of chalcedony, known as plasma, has been noticed in the beds of the Krishna, Godavari and Bhima rivers. It seems just as likely however to have been obtained from Rajputana.

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TIN The best known tin locality in Asia is the Malay peninsula, including the Tenasserim Division of Southern Burma. Here cassiterite occurs in considerable quantities. Cassiterite is also known to occur in the Palanpur state (Bombay presidency) and in Dharwar district (Bombay) and is reported to have been found in Rewa Kantha. In the Hazaribagh district of Bihar and Orissa, tin ore is found in more noticeable quantity. Tin is known to occur in the Kuh Banan and the Kara Dagh in Persia. So it would be difficult to surmise from which of these sources, if any, the tin found in Mohenjo-Daro was obtained. (MS-II, 682)

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BITUMEN It is found near Isa Khel on the right bank of the Indus in India. Although the quantity is small, but the deposit may have been a little greater in the older times. The nearest bitumen deposits to Mohenjo-Daro would be those of Baluchistan. At Khattan in the Marri hills N.E. of Sibi, there is a considerable deposit. Even a large deposit of bitumen occurs at Hit on the Euphrates and was known to the old Babylonians. So it is difficult to say which of these is more likely to have been the source for the Mohenjo-Daro specimens. (MS-II, 682)

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