The Archaeometallurgy of Vasantgarh, Sirohi, Rajasthan

Many disciplines within archaeometallurgy examine the production, usage, and consumption of metals from about 8000 BCE until the present. However, the scope of this research is limited to mining and metallurgy in the medieval industrial society of Vasantgarh. Many of the main themes of this literature do relate to current debates in anthropology, even though they were not written with an anthropological audience in mind. Besides working on the social construction of technology in capitalist economies at Vasantgarh, ancient archaeometallurgists were also involved in the social construction of technology in the kingdom. The slags and ores collected during the exploration of the Vasangarh fort site at Sirohi in Rajasthan were studied to understand the available minerals and their characterisation. In this research, Chemical characterization of the slags and ores was conducted using Gravimetric analysis by vacuum fusion and X-ray spectroscopy; X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry analysis to build a complete chemical element level test, which was conducted on a metal sculpture of Pindwara Jain temple, a part of 240 bronze hoard retrieved from the excavation from Vasantgarh. In this study, the presence of Zinc in the statue is reported, which is unique in understanding that sculpture hoards are not bronze but are brass that glitters like gold.