Minerals and Metals in Ancient India v2.c39.s7.1

v2.c39.s7.1

The Vedic literatures were not primarily concerned with either metallurgy or ceramics. Thus we do not find in them the details about two outstanding innovations of that age: iron metallurgy and pottery technology. We hardly get any information about the PGW (Painted Grey Ware) in the Vedic literatures. The Atharva Veda (AV, 4.17.4) refers to the āma (unbaked) and nīla lohita ware which is believed to correspond to the earlier black-and-red ware. (Joshi, 1987 : 24-25) Sāyaṇa had explained nīla-lohita as: that (pottery) which was made in a fire-kiln where the fire was nīla on account of the emission of smoke and lohita on account of burning (the combined process of carbonization and oxidization). Hegde pointed out that ayorasa or iron rust was used in making the ritual potteries (S. Bra., 6.5.1.6), and whereas hematite is red, in a reducing furnace it was converted to blue or rather black magnetite. (Thapar, 1987:415) The reducing atmosphere was provided in an inverted technique of firing in agnicayana fire-altar or by some other mechanism.