Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v1.c25.s4.6

v1.c25.s4.6

Rajpura-Dariba showed enormous quantities of 20-30 m high mine debris and two vast heaps of glassy slag with average depths of 4-5 m and covering areas 500 m x 200 m and 650 m x 350 m (the slag volume measures up to more than one million cubic metre!). A piece of lead metal recovered from the slag dump was analysed and found to contain 97.5 per cent lead and 150 ppm silver. The evidences show ‘the gregarious nature of working’ of the Lead-Silver ore in the area during the successive Pre-Maurya, Maurya, Śuṅga and Kuṣāṇa periods of the Indian history. Copper-zinc ore was also noted in Rajpura-Dariba, suggesting the possibility of local production of brass in this area. (Paliwal *et al.*)