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Keeladi Excavations
September 23 , 2019
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- The Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department (TNAD) has stated that the cultural deposits unearthed during excavations at Keeladi in Sivagangai district could be safely dated to a period between 6th century BCE and 1st century CE that is 2600 years ago.
- This is the first time the date has been officially announced by the TNAD.
- Moreover, this is the first time a book on Keeladi has been brought out after it began excavation on the site in 2017.
- The report titled, ‘Keeladi-An Urban Settlement of Sangam Age on the Banks of River Vaigai’, was published by the TNAD.
- The new findings in the report place Keeladi artefacts about 300 years earlier than previously believed — 3rd century BCE.
- The Sangam age is considered to be between 300BC and AD300.
- But a new report after determining the age through carbon dating of materials unearthed shows the Sangam period could be dated between 600BC and 100 AD.
- The results from the fourth excavations suggest that the “second urbanization [the first being Indus] of Vaigai plains happened in Tamil Nadu around 6th century BCE as it happened in Gangetic plains.”
- The new findings prove that an advanced urban habitation existed in Keeladi from 600 BC.
- The study also say that the Tamils of the Sangam period were literate, as early as 6th century BCE.
- Six carbon samples collected from the fourth season (2018) of excavations at Keeladi were sent to Beta Analytic Lab, Miami, Florida, U.S., for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating.
- One of the six samples collected at the depth of 353 cm and sent for carbon dating test in the U.S. “goes back to 580 BCE,”.
- Skeletal fragments were sent to Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute in Pune, and it identified them of species such as cow/ox, buffalo, sheep, goat, nilgai, blackbuck, wild boar and peacock.
- But there was no trace of big animals like elephant.
- This finding suggests that the society in Keeladi had used animals predominantly for agricultural purposes.
- Fifty-six Tamil-Brahmi inscribed potsherds were recovered from the site of excavation conducted by the TNAD alone.
- Pottery specimens from Keeladi sent to the Earth Science Department of Pisa University, Italy, through Vellore Institute of Technology for mineral analysis, confirmed that water containers and cooking vessels were shaped out of locally available raw materials.
- While three excavations were undertaken by the Archaeological Survey of India, the fourth excavation was undertaken by the TNAD.
- The fifth excavation by the latter is under way.
- The graffiti marks on the artefacts obtained from the excavation site point to a link between the scripts of the Indus Valley Civilization and Tamil-Brahmi.
- Fifth century BC is considered the date of Tamili (Tamil-Brahmi) based on radiometric dates recovered from archaeological sites like Kodumanal, Alagankulam and Porunthal.
- The recent dates obtained for Keeladi findings pushback the date to 6th century BC.
About
- Keeladi excavation site is a Sangam period settlement
- This excavation site is located 12 km southeast of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, near the town of Keeladi (also spelt as Keezhadi) in Sivagangai district.
- This is a large-scale excavation carried out in Tamil Nadu after the Adichanallur archaeological site.
- The settlement lies on the bank of the Vaigai River and it reflects the ancient culture of Tamils.
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