Editing Lothal (section)

===Metallurgy and jewellery===
[[File:Lothal seals.jpg|thumb|Lothal seals]]
Lothal copper is unusually pure, lacking the [[arsenic]] typically used by coppersmiths across the rest of the Indus valley. The city imported [[ingot]]s from probable sources in the Arabian peninsula. Workers mixed tin with copper for the manufacture of [[celt (tool)|celts]], arrowheads, fishhooks, chisels, bangles, rings, drills, and spearheads, although weapon manufacturing was minor. They also employed advanced metallurgy in following the ''cire perdue'' technique of casting, and used more than one-piece moulds for casting birds and animals.<ref name="Rao43VA">{{cite book
| title = Lothal
| publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| author = S. R. Rao
| author-link = S. R. Rao
| page = 42
| year = 1985
}}</ref> They also invented new tools such as curved saws and twisted drills unknown to other civilisations at the time.<ref name="Rao412">{{cite book
| title = Lothal
| publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| author = S. R. Rao
| author-link = S. R. Rao
| pages = 41–42
| year = 1985}}</ref>

Lothal was one of the most important centres of production for shell-working, owing to the abundance of chank shell of high quality found in the [[Gulf of Kutch]] and near the [[Kathiawar]] coast.<ref name="Rao43VA"/> Gamesmen, beads, [[unguent]] vessels, [[chank]] shells, ladles and inlays were made for export and local consumption. Components of stringed musical instruments like the [[plectrum]] and the [[bridge (instrument)|bridge]] were made of shell.<ref name = "Rao43"/> An ivory workshop was operated under strict official supervision, and the domestication of elephants has been suggested. An ivory seal, and sawn pieces for boxes, combs, rods, inlays and ear-studs were found during excavations.<ref name="Rao43">{{cite book
| title = Lothal
| publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| author = S. R. Rao
| author-link = S. R. Rao
| page = 43
| year = 1985
}}</ref> Lothal produced a large quantity of gold ornaments—the most attractive item being microbeads of gold in five strands in necklaces, unique for being less than 0.25&nbsp;millimetres (0.010&nbsp;inches) in diameter. Cylindrical, globular and jasper beads of gold with edges at right angles resemble modern pendants used by women in [[Gujarat]] in plaits of hair. A large disc with holes recovered from a sacrificial altar is compared to the ''rukma'' worn by Vedic priests. Studs, cogwheel and heart-shaped ornaments of [[faience]] and [[steatite]] were popular in Lothal. A ring of thin copper wire turned into double spirals resembles the gold-wire rings used by modern Hindus for weddings.<ref name="RaoVI">{{cite book
| title = Lothal
| publisher = [[Archaeological Survey of India]]
| author = S. R. Rao
| author-link = S. R. Rao
| pages = 33–34
| year = 1985
}}</ref>