Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c11.s7.t4.3

v1.c11.s7.t4.3

Silver was used more extensively than gold at Mohenjo-Daro. It was not a rare metal as in ancient Egypt or Sumer. Pending further analysis of the silver objects made by the Indus Valley people, it is not possible to say anything about the sources of the metal and the ores which were used to make it. Lucas has pointed out that silver is found in nature in three conditions — metallic, non-metallic in ores and combined with gold. Metallic silver is not likely to have been the source of the silver used at Mohenjo-Daro because it is rare now and was still rarer in the ancient times. Silver is commonly found in the form of sulphide or chloride, mined with other metals, i.e., lead, zinc or copper, but a certain amount of knowledge is necessary to reduce it to its metallic state. Silver frequently occurs in small quantities in connection with lead as argentiferous galena. Lead was by no means rare at Mohenjo-Daro, and it may be that silver was extracted from the ore of lead.