Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c13.s3.1

v1.c13.s3.1

From the north-western side of room 215 a series of well-built flues, averaging 5-1/2 inches wide by 8 inch high, ran to the other end of the building. Five of these flues have survived and there may have been two or three more. That three other flues at right angles communicated with them had been revealed by the removal of bricks from here in ancient times. The flues were covered by a single course of bricks, and on this pavement there were three compartments of varying size with walls only half a brick thick and standing some 18 inches high. The thinness of the walls of the compartments above the flues together with their small size precludes the possibility of this building having been a hammam or sweat-house. Moreover, the absence of any sign of some great temperature in the flues is a strong evidence that the heat used was very moderate. There was no ash anywhere in the flues and the heat can hardly have come from room 215, where there was no trace of a furnace. The purpose of this building is an interesting problem.