Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c24.s2.4

v1.c24.s2.4

The *Periplus* mentions *oreichalcos* or brass as a commodity of trade. The Greek writers knew it as a copper alloy of variable composition. The early alloy was formed of copper and silver; later zinc was substituted for silver. (O. Davis, Oreikhalkos, *Man* XXIX (1929), 36-37 quoted by Huntingford) The Greek word meant ‘mountain copper’ which Pliny converted into *aurichalcum* or golden copper signifying that brass is yellow. Although the use of calamine, an impure oxide of zinc, in making brass was known, the Roman metallurgy did not distinguish zinc as a separate metal. (Pliny 34.2 and 37.44)