This book provides a comprehensive research on Ancient Indian glass. The contributors include experienced archaeologists of South Asian glass and archaeological chemists with expertise in the chemical analysis of glass, besides, established ethnohistorians and ethnoarchaeologists. It is comprised of five sections, and each section discusses different aspects of glass study: the origin of glass and its evolution, its scientific study and its care, ancient glass in literature and glass ethnography, glass in South Asia and the diffusion of glass in different parts of the world. The topic covered by the different chapters ranges from the development of faience, to the techniques developed for the manufacture of glass beads, glass bangles or glass mirrors at different times in south Asia, a major glass producing region and the regional distribution of key artefacts both within India and outside the region, in Africa, Europe or Southeast Asia. Some chapters also include extended examples of the archaeometry of ancient glasses. It makes an important contribution to archaeological, anthropological and analytical aspects of glass in South Asia. As such, it represents an invaluable resource for students through academic and industry researchers working in archaeological sciences, ancient knowledge system, pyrotechnology, historical archaeology, social archaeology and student of anthropology and history with an interest in glass and the archaeology of South Asia.

This is a collection of papers in honour of Prof. V. N. Misra, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, and in celebration of a career in Indian archaeology spanning nearly half a century. All the papers included are based on the Ph.D. dissertations of the contributors, divided into two parts - part one covers the basics and theory of the thesis, while part two looks at changes and improvements that the author would have made if he had been carrying out the same research today. The 17 papers cover the period from the Palaeolithic to the early historic age in India, with one on the early historic period in Bangladesh (Rahman). They cover a range of regions, cultural periods and disciplines; including prehistory, protohistory, and early historic, with one paper on archaeozoology and one on ethnoarchaeology (Thomas and Ansari).

Glass-making and the production of beads was a small-scale industry in India originating some time in the first millennium BC. Although evidence from 212 ancient sites, 36 of which are claimed to be manufacturing sites, provides some insight into the context and date of the industry, issues to do with manufacturing methods, function and symbolic value seem only to be accessible through ethnographic evidence. This study combines both archaeologucal and ethnographic data, as well as literary evidence, to create a history of the glass bead industry in India. The author looks in detail at reports and records created by the British government in the late 19th century relating to the glass industry.

This book provides a comprehensive research on Ancient Indian glass. The contributors include experienced archaeologists of South Asian glass and archaeological chemists with expertise in the chemical analysis of glass, besides, established ethnohistorians and ethnoarchaeologists. It is comprised of five sections, and each section discusses different aspects of glass study: the origin of glass and its evolution, its scientific study and its care, ancient glass in literature and glass ethnography, glass in South Asia and the diffusion of glass in different parts of the world. The topic covered by the different chapters ranges from the development of faience, to the techniques developed for the manufacture of glass beads, glass bangles or glass mirrors at different times in south Asia, a major glass producing region and the regional distribution of key artefacts both within India and outside the region, in Africa, Europe or Southeast Asia. Some chapters also include extended examples of the archaeometry of ancient glasses. It makes an important contribution to archaeological, anthropological and analytical aspects of glass in South Asia. As such, it represents an invaluable resource for students through academic and industry researchers working in archaeological sciences, ancient knowledge system, pyrotechnology, historical archaeology, social archaeology and student of anthropology and history with an interest in glass and the archaeology of South Asia.