Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c38.s6.1

v2.c38.s6.1

There is thus reasonable correlation between the Sarasvati Valley archaeological data, that we have gathered in India after Independence, and the information in the *Rgveda*. The Pre-Harappan Sothi culture that had evolved in the Sarasvati Valley was influenced by the later day Harappan, and yet the original Harappan civilization. The clay stele *Śivaliṅgas*, the fire-worship, the animal sacrifice as religious ritual, and the segregation of population (along caste lines?) at Kālībaṅgan clearly show the *Rgvedic* culture. Mother Goddess and ram figurines at Banawālī and Bhagwānpurā indicate the Sarasvatī cult. The paṇis or the merchants at Banawālī became parts of the Ṛgvedic culture representing islands of affluence in an ocean of agro-rural setting. Gamesman type of ivory or bone cubes remind one of the Ṛgvedic poetry related to a dice player (10.34.1-14). The merchants used to bring lapis lazuli from Afghanistan or Persia, etched carnelian beads from Gujarat and Copper celts from Gaṇeśwar-Jodhpura in Rajasthan.