Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c14.s2.t2.2

v1.c14.s2.t2.2

Another important point which emerges from the analytical data is that although bronze, both low tin and high tin, was in use at Lothal, it is difficult to say whether the use of tin was intended to produce a metal harder than copper, which was to be used for the production of tools with keen cutting edges, or tin was used just to produce an alloy of a more pleasing colour and lustre. The examination of the two chisels show that whereas one contains a high proportion of tin viz. 9.62 per cent, the other is completely free from it. If the use of bronze for producing tools with a keen cutting edge was well understood, it is difficult to explain the presence of tin in one chisel and its total absence in the other. The same statement is true of the two bangles, one of which is made of copper and the other of tin (11.20 per cent) bronze. It seems that although the use of bronze was understood, it was not used in a systematic manner for the production of special types of artefacts requiring suitable hardness, durability and a sharp cutting edge; however, there is no doubt that both copper and bronze were in use. (Rao, 652)