Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c14.s9: Shell Objects
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c14.s9
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Shell Objects
v1.c14.s9.1
Though shell is not considered to be a mineral, we would discuss the use of shell objects at Lothal. Shell materials were found in many Harappan sites, and like steatite beads and seals, these objects also typified ancient India. In view of its coastal position, Lothal naturally played the premier role in shell fabrication technology.
v1.c14.s9.2
Various types of marine, estuarine and fresh water shells were used at Lothal in the manufacture of precision instruments, ladles, engravers, knives, inlay pieces, gamesmen, personal ornaments such as beads, bangles and pendants, and occasionally for seals.
v1.c14.s9.3
The fresh water shells and marine varieties from Lothal fall into three well-defined classes of Molusca, namely, the Gastropoda, the Lamelli-branchia (Pelecypoda), and the Scaphopoda, all of which were worked by the Lothal craftsman. All these varieties except chank are common in the Arabian sea. The chank Xancus (Turbinella; pyrum linn.) species is strictly confined to the Indian waters — Gulf of Mannar and Kathiawar coast from Dwaraka to Beyt — occurring nowhere else in Asia. Chank industry flourished in Lothal, Late- Harappan sites of Amra and Lakhabawal near Jamnagar and also in the pilgrimage sites of Beyt and Dwaraka.
v1.c14.s9.4
While the dock collections at Lothal included both marine and fresh water species of shells, the township collections specifically abounded in chank amongst other things. Hundreds of columella of chank-shell, rejected flakes, unfinished bangles and other finished objects of shell found in the workshops of Lothal confirm that shell-working was a flourishing local industry. One of the workshops encountered in street 1 was devoted to shell-bead industry.
v1.c14.s9.5
The process of sawing, engraving and giving final shape to the shell objects was almost identical in Kathiawar and the Indus Valley. The saw marks on the columella and the valva clearly show that the shell was turned slowly while sawing with a bronze wire. The thick rings produced from the septum were sawn into thinner pieces for making bangles. The walls of the chank-shell were made use of in preparing bowls and ladles (1.4 to 4.6 in diameter).
v1.c14.s9.6
A very interesting instrument made of shell is a hollow cylindrical objects with symmetrical loop-like curves, produced at regular intervals by partially sawing across the opposite margins. Four grooves on the upper margins of the cylinder and four on the lower when joined, give interesting lines producing exactly 45 degrees. The instrument must have served the same purpose as a modern compass and helped in marine and land survey, alignment of road etc. Another leaf-shaped object with a semi-circular end might have been used as a plectrum for playing on a stringed instrument.
v1.c14.s9.7
Mention may also be made of the use of bones and ivory at Lothal. There was trade of ivory between India and Sumer. Ivory was used for making Kohl rods, gamesmen, jar-stoppers, ceremonial knives, and most interestingly, scales up to 46 mm distance with the smallest division being 1.7 mm.