Metallurgy, Materials & Chemistry
Ernestite drills and 12-cm carnelian beads
c. 2600-1900 BCEIndus bead-makersChanhudaro, Dholavira, Harappa workshopsGujarat
2,600 BCE
Specialised drill bits of a titanium-oxide-rich stone ('ernestite') used to bore long carnelian beads up to about 12 cm.
- Dated
- 2,600–1,900 BCE
- As scholars put it
- c. 2600-1900 BCE
- Originator
- Indus bead-makers
- Source text
- Chanhudaro, Dholavira, Harappa workshops
- Region
- Gujarat
- Discipline
- Metallurgy, Materials & Chemistry
- Evidence
- Documented
- Confidence
- High
- Verification
- Verified-web
Meanwhile in the West
Unmatched elsewhere in the Bronze Age.
Fair to say
'Ernestite' is an archaeologists' working name, not a formal mineral species.
Path to modern innovation
A landmark in ancient hard-stone drilling.
Builds on
3,000 BCETransmission
Indus-drilled beads reached Mesopotamia and Oman.
References
- 1Kenoyer & Vidale (1992)
- 2Roux et al. (OpenEdition)
Further reading
Corrections and additional sources: edit IND-228 on GitHub.