Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c14.s3.4

v1.c14.s3.4

Faience is a synthetic product, being calcined quartz formed by the amalgamation of lime with quartz at a very high temperature. The glaze frequently noticed on the surface of faience objects is due to silica, a natural mineral ingredient of quartz. Lothal has yielded some of the hardest faience beads including a few talco-faience ones with a light blue tint. Segmented beads strictly confined to faience are of particular interest as they provide collateral evidence for dating and cultural contact between Lothan and the Western Asiatic sites. The maximum number of segments on beads at Lothal is six. (Rao, 583-84)