Furnace
find near stupa site
SEBANTI
SARKAR
|
Crucibles,
copper ingot and iron slag found at the site. Picture by
Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya
|
Calcutta,
March 18: Excavations at Tilpi in South 24-Parganas have unearthed
a wealth of proof that it was once thickly populated by industrious
and self-sufficient people.
Tilpi
is the twin site of Dhosa in Joynagar, around 50 km from Calcutta.
Artefacts and structural evidences found during excavations at
Dhosa suggest that a stupa existed there in the 2nd and 1st century
BC.
Goutam
Sengupta, Bengal’s director of archaeology and museums, said
eight hearths for smelting metals have been found in Tilpi.
Speaking
from the site, state archaeology department supervisor Amal Roy
added that the four hearths discovered on March 18 were at a slightly
lower level than the four found on the surface level. The trenches
have now reached a depth of almost 2 metres. The hearths measure
between 50 cm and 80 cm and are around 30 cm high.
These
hearths “are typical of the early historic era, roughly 2nd
century BC, and strewn around them are crucibles, charcoal fragments,
copper ingots and punchmarked and cast-copper coins. The small
crucibles, measuring 2.5 cm, may have been used to melt metals
like silver and copper while the larger ones (8 cm) for iron.”
A
large clay jar fixed to the ground near a hearth was probably
used to store water used by the smiths, said Roy.
Archaeo-metallurgist
Pranab K. Chattopadhyay of the Centre for Archaeological Studies
and Training, eastern India, confirmed the importance of the Tilpi
find as the single instance in the region where all evidences
of the indigenous smelting and casting processes are seen together.
The
coins are being tested for bronze, which would prove that the
residents of Tilpi knew how to combine metals in various proportions.
“High-tin-bronze or kansha was in use between the 2nd century
BC and 2nd century AD as evident from Chandraketugarh,” said
Chattopadhyay.
The
source of raw material can be found only after further analysis
but scholars feel the metals were brought from areas like Midnapore
or Jharkhand.
