Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11.s3.4

v1.c11.s3.4

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: