Etched carnelian beads and Ernestite drill
Cuentas de cornalina grabadas y taladro de ernestita
- Date
- c. 2600 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Chanhu-daro, Sindh, Pakistan
- Credited to
- Craftsmen of the Indus Civilisation
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Technique for decorating carnelian with permanent white patterns by applying an alkaline paste fixed by heat, and drilling beads up to 13 cm long with drills made of a very hard metamorphic rock. These beads were exported to Mesopotamia and appear in the royal tombs of Ur.
'Ernestite' is a working name coined by Kenoyer for the drill stone; its exact geological origin remains under study.
What it led to
- luxury trade between the Indus, the Gulf and Mesopotamia
- specialised bead workshops at Lothal and Chanhu-daro
- persistence of the technique in Cambay into modern times