Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11.s2.12

v1.c11.s2.12

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)