Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c18.s2.7

v1.c18.s2.7

The examination of the unbroken upper part of the furnace showed that this was assembled by putting three curved segments (made of clay) together, one of them containing the luted tuyere, another with the slag tapping hole, and a plain third one. The bottom part of the furnace was not found, and this was conceptualized using the size and shape of the copper ingots or buns recovered in the excavations of the Chalcolithic sites of Lothal, Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro. The Lothal bun is smoothly curved at the bottom (corresponding to the bottom part of the furnace), 10 cm in diameter, 4 cm in height and weights 1.438 kg. (Rao 1979 and 1985) On the basis of the above data, Hegde et al. (1985) visualised the approximate dimensions of the ancient furnace : 35 cm in height, and diameter 18 cm at the rim, 14 cm at a mid-level and 10 cm near the base. (fig. 10.1)