Archaeometallurgical production remains in India: A review

The archaeometallurgical literature on India can be broadly separated into the study of the composition and manufacturing of metal artefacts, the geological provenancing of metal objects primarily using lead isotope abundance ratios, and the study of production technologies as represented by remains related to the smelting and alloying of the metals used; this review covers the latter. Beginning with the early evidence for metallurgical practices in the Indus Valley Civilisation it moves to copper smelting, first in the IVC and then across India. Subsequent sections cover the evidence for bronze working, before summarising the important work on medieval and later zinc and lead-silver production in Western India, and emerging crucible finds in recent excavations across India. The production of iron is ubiquitous, but surprisingly little-studied. Much emphasis is placed on crucible steel research, with northern Telangana a particular region of sustained and fruitful research, and further evidence spread across southern India. Finally, we highlight specific technologies that are particularly understudied, such as gold and silver production and refining, brass making, tin smelting, and the diversity in bloomery iron smelting practices. The importance of long-term, collaborative and in-country based research in order to achieve archaeologically meaningful results is stressed, incorporating theoretical models of data interpretation and social anthropology into the research, highlighting the importance of studies in reverse engineering and chaîne opératoire.