Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11.s5.15

v1.c11.s5.15

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.