35231
Author
Agrawal, D.P.; Krishnamurthy, R.V.; Kusumgar, Sheela
Title Of Article Chaper
Fresh chemical data and the cultural affiliation of the Daimabad bronzes
Title Of Journal Book
Proceedings of the 18th international symposium on archaeometry and archaeological prospection, Bonn, 14-17 March 1978; Archaeo-Physika, Band 10, Rheinisches Landesmuseum Bonn
Pages
44421
Collation
4 tables
Reference Bibliography
Includes 5 bibliog. refs.
Publisher
Rheinland-Verlag GmbH
Publisher City
Köln
Language Of Text
English
Literature Type
Monograph
Literature Level
Analytic
Meeting
International symposium on archaeometry and archaeological prospection. 18.
Meeting City
Bonn
Abstract
A hoard of copper images -- comprised of a chariot driver, a bull, a rhino, and an elephant -- was accidentally discovered at Daimabad, Maharashtra. Total weight of these four pieces put together exceeds 65 kilograms. There is a controversy about their affinity: whether they belong to the Indus Civilization (Harappan), Chalcolithic, or some other culture. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry was performed on several Harapan, Chalcolithic artifacts, and on these so-called Daimabad bronzes. A comparison of the metal composition shows that they do not belong to the proto-historic cultures at all. The complete absence of tin and negligible amounts of lead in the Daimabad bronzes and the general presence of these metals in the Harappan artifacts do not allow any affinity between the two. Daimabad (Ahmednagar district) in Maharashtra is a known Chalcolithic site, datable to the middle of the second millennium B.C. It was excavated by Deshpande and Sali. From the excavations they sent us a few copper artifacts which were analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry to determine the percentages of bismuth, iron, nichel, lead, antimony, and tin. Arsenic measurements are omitted here as if it was not possible to use a N<sub>2</sub>O flame for this purpose.
Keywords
Daimabad, Maharashtra;Harappa;Chalcolithic;Atomic absorption spectrophotometry;Metal bronze analysis;Element tin;Element lead AATA -- AATA
pub_id
35231
Meeting Date
19780314-19780317