Archaeologists have discovered a potsherd with the Tamil letter ‘Tha’ inscribed on it at Keeladi, an urban settlement dating to the Sangam era situated along the banks of the River Vaigai in Madurai. This marks the first finding of a Tamili (Tamil-Brahmi) inscribed potsherd during the 10th season of excavation, which commenced on June 18.
During the initial week of excavation at Keeladi, archaeologists unearthed more than 50 antiquities, beads, spindle whorls, and hopscotch, besides heaps of potsherds.
Located 12 km South East of Madurai, Keeladi initiated excavations in 2014, revealing substantial evidence of an urban industrialised settlement. Carbon-dating of artefacts from the site established its age to be 2,600 years old.
Following the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) withdrawal from the excavation under controversial circumstances in 2017, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) to assume control of the site from 2018 onwards. Over the past decade, more than 20,000 artefacts have been discovered at Keeladi, and the ongoing season is anticipated to unveil further surprises.
With the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) pulling out of the digging under controversial circumstances in 2017, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court asked the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) to take over the excavation from 2018. Over 20,000 artefacts have been unearthed from Keeladi in the past 10 years, and the current season is also expected to throw surprises.
A senior Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology official said, “The Tamili-inscribed potsherd with the word ‘Tha’ was unearthed from one of the trenches. It was found at a depth of 52 cm. This is the first Tamili-inscribed potsherd this season and we hope to stumble upon more such inscribed potsherds.”
In the previous year, archaeologists discovered four potsherds inscribed with Tamil letters, notably including one with the word “Puli” (Tiger), at Thulukarpatti in Tirunelveli district. These findings of Tamili-inscribed potsherds indicate that the inhabitants of these sites were literate and proficient in a spoken language.
This week also saw the discovery of a broken Neolithic hand axe from Chennanur in Krishnagiri district and a terracotta female figurine from Vembakkottai in Virudhunagar district. The axe, which is 6 cm long and 4 cm wide, was found at a depth of 53 cm, while the dimension of the female figurine is 30.7 mm in height and 25.6 mm in width.
The discovery of a Tamili-inscribed potsherd gains importance following the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology’s announcement. They revealed that new scientific dates obtained through Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating of samples from archaeological sites have shifted the origin of the Tamili (Tamil-Brahmi) script back by a hundred years to the 7th century BCE.
According to sources from the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA), out of the 73 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dates obtained from Beta Analytic Laboratory in Florida, USA, the earliest date recorded is 685 BCE. These dates were derived from samples collected from excavation sites including Kodumanal, Keeladi, Korkai, Alagankulam, Porunthal, and Sivagalai, located in various regions like Thoothukudi district. “The calibrated date at Keeladi, an urban industrialised settlement found on the banks of River Vaigai near the ancient city of Madurai, is 679 BCE,” sources said.
The commencement of excavations coincides with renewed interest generated by recent surprising discoveries. Artefacts unearthed in Keeladi have pushed the Sangam Era back to 600 BCE from 300 BCE, while rice husks found in a burial urn in Sivakalai were determined to be 3,200 years old, revealing that Tamils had knowledge of iron technology as early as 2172 BCE, over 4,200 years ago.
Carbon dating has revised the Sangam Era by adding three hundred years to its previously assumed timeline. The Archaeological Survey of India, responsible for the initial two phases of excavation, determined that the Sangam-era archaeological site dates back to between the 8th century BCE and the 3rd century CE.
