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Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c38.s1: Transition from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic Age

Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c38.s1

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Transition from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic Age

v2.c38.s1.1

Ṛgveda is not a manual on metallurgy, and hence we cannot expect too many details on minerals and metals in this earliest literature of mankind. Yet we do obtain here a glimpse into the transition from the neolithic to the chalcolithic age in India.

v2.c38.s1.2

Ṛgveda (RV) contains several words for the stone: aśman, adri, pāṣya, etc., of which the first, i.e., aśman is the most significant one. Mehta and Kantawala (1987) have discussed the varieties of stone-tools in the Ṛgveda. In RV, 1.191.15 the text bhinadmy aśmanā indicated a cutting stone-tool which could be a blade, celt or cleaver. The aśmānam vajram (RV, 4.22.1) is evidently a vajra or weapon made of stone. Later a similar weapon was made of ayasa or metal. The simultaneous appearance of the words kārmāra and aśman in 9.112.2 led Mehta et al. (1987) to propose that kārmāra was a stone-worker rather than a blacksmith. It may be recorded here that in the Pre-Harappan stratum of Kālibaṅgan, chalcedony and agate blades have been found. These were serrated, mounted on wooden handle and probably used for cutting and sowing. At a later stage, chert blades were introduced. Side by side copper-made axe and paraśu were found, the latter probably used for cutting scrubby bushes. (Lal, 1979:70) Chert and chalcedony blades have been found at Banawālī also. (Bisht, 1982)

v2.c38.s1.3

The vāsī in the Rgveda is probably an adze with a flat surface and a sloping edge for cutting or rough shaping of wooden materials. Its modern equivalent could be the carpenter's basulā (Hindi). Mehta et al. (1987) have pointed out that whereas RV, 10.101.10 refers to aśmanmayī vāsī or stone-made implement, RV, 8.29.3 mentions vāsīm ayasīm or a metallic axe. Sāyaṇa explains that this could be a stone adze with a metallic edge.

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