Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c17.s2.t2: Rings
Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c17.s2.t2
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Rings
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These do not occur at the Indus Valley sites. Smith refers to ‘Irish gold ring-money and silver ring-money’, but it is doubtful if the Gangetic specimens of copper have any connection with them. (Lal, 1951: 35)
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The problem of identity of these copper hoard makers is yet to be solved. This problem is extremely vexed since so far no skeletal remains have been found associated with the authors of this hoard. Subhra Bose considered the theory that they were either the aboriginals of Ganga basin belonging to the Proto-Australoid group of people, or the ancestors of the modern Munda and Santal tribes inhabiting the hilly tracts of Bihar and Bengal.
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She further opined that this Copper Hoard Culture must have originated in a particular region and then expanded to other regions, gradually gaining maturity in technique and variety in typology. In Bengal we find the Copper Hoard Culture in its original and more simpler form. More complicated, refined and better finished implements like antennae-hilted swords, hooked spear-heads, harpoons, anthropomorphic from etc. of the Gaṅgā-Yamunā Doab are yet to be discovered in West Bengal, whereas Bengal Copper Hoard tools types have been discovered from Doab region and in certain parts of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. This indicates earlier origin of the Bengal Hoards and subsequent migration of the culture to the Gangetic Doab and other regions. (Bose, 1987: 42)
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Apart from these copper implements no other material evidence has been found which may indicate their way of life. The theory of B.B. Lal that the authors of copper hoard culture are the same group who used ochre coloured pottery (OCP) (yet to be confirmed with further discoveries) may be applicable to the Doab sites but not to the easterly sites of Bihar and Bengal. OCP has not been found with any of the copper hoards discovered in West Bengal. So the scanty idea that we form about their socio-economic life is on the basis of these copper implements alone. Shoulder celts were used as hoes for digging and ploughing, double-edged axes were used for felling trees and cutting wood, bar-celts for deep digging, leverage, breaking of stones etc. and circular discs for hunting. The pattern of their economic life was therefore very simple, based on rudimentary agriculture, jungle clearance and of course hunting. (Bose, 1987: 42-43)
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Yet, certain evidences certify a degree of sophistication reached by the authors of the chalcolithic culture people in Bengal. They probably knew the technique of strengthening copper with arsenic and silver. (Dutta, 1982) Some copper slags collected from Parihati (Lat. 22º 31' N long 86º 51' E), Dist. Midnapore in West Bengal and scraps from one of the ‘Parihati Hoard’ have been analysed. The analysis shows the presence of boron added as borax or Na₂B₄O₇, 10H₂O in the slag; evidently this served as flux for the extraction of copper. (Bose, 1987: 43)
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Chemical analysis showed that a sample of slag contained 65.1 per cent SiO₂, 10.3 per cent Al₂O₃, 9.2 per cent Fe₂O₃, 0.4 per cent TiO₂, 2.5 per cent MgO, 9.5 per cent CaO and 0.07 per cent MnO. Spectrographic determination by oxide arc technique revealed presence of Na, B and Cu in the range of 0.01-0.1 per cent and V in the range of 0.005 to 0.01 per cent. (Dutta, 1982) “The addition of borax in the process of extraction is indeed a superior form of technology. It may also be pointed out that at least in the Indian context no such report has been made, and naturally it may be said that the extraction technology in case of copper is quite superior in this region, compared to other regions of copper culture”. (Bose, 1987: 43) The analyses of slag showing presence of Mg, Ti, V etc. indicate that the typical ores in the Bengal-Bihar-Orissa border were used in smelting copper.