Metal Implements in Ancient India: From Earliest Times upto Circa 2nd Century B.C.

It is increasingly realised that more and more scientific methods should be applied in the interpretation of archaeo
logical data. Implements, used as they are for hunting, food gathering, agricultural production and manufacture of objects of arts and crafts, provide important index to the socio-economic condition of cultures, and hence their proper study assumes significance. Dr. Upadhyaya has rightly taken chrono-logical sequence and within its framework geographical regions as the basis for the scheme of the chapters of the work. He has critically discussed the relative superiorty of bronze over copper and of iron over these both and that the use of iron, a relatively more abundantly available and strong metal, has brought in a culture. The work is an important Contribution to the study of metal implements of ancient India.