Glass Beads in Ancient India

Description

The four main problems in the study of ancient Indian glass beads relate to context, chronology, inadequate emphasis on manufacturing methods and symbolic value. For the first two there is no alternative but to rely on the reported material, but for the last two, ethnographic evidence in India offers a solution. Glass beads continue to be widely used by many communities, and they are produced on a large scale, mainly at Papanaidupet, Varanasi and Purdalpur. There have been a few studies on trade and a few on scientific analysis of ancient Indian glass beads but nothing noteworthy on ethnoarchaeology until now, though India is perhaps the only country where both traditional producers and users of glass beads have retained their traditional skills and practice through time. This work aims at reconstructing the ancient Indian technology involved in the production of glass beads through ethnographic investigations and the archaeological record.