Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c20.s3.t7.9

v1.c20.s3.t7.9

Prakash Period II (600-100 BC) artefacts mentioned in chapter 8 included iron implements. The settlement started six hundred years after the expiry of the preceding chalcolithic culture in 1200 BC and iron appeared almost from the inception, i.e., 600 BC. Thus the iron-using tradition must have been brought from elsewhere — either the Naikund or the Ujjain nuclear zone. The earlier samples were found heavily corroded. Two shaft-hole axes of 100 BC level were metallographically analysed and revealed equiaxed ferrite with a small amount of pearlite structure implying carburization. (Athavale, 1964-65)