After 15 years, archeologists are digging again in Adichanallur in the Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu. But it has taken them 117 years to find gold again. They found a gold crown that is more than 3000 years old. What else lies buried in Adichanallur? What do these findings tell us?
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Adichanallur is a very important archeological site.
It is close to Korkai, an ancient Pandyan port city.
Port cities were the epicenter of a lot of trade and activities. Around any port city, there will be satellite villages feeding it.
Experts believe that Adichanallur could have been one. But to study this further they feel that the entire Thamirabarani river basin has to be surveyed.
Excavations over the years show us that it used to be an urn burial ground in the Iron Age.
In 2004-05, archeologists found urns filled with human remains, bronze and iron objects.
This cemetery is believed to be around 3000 years old.
Just as excavation was stopped in Keezhadi, near Madurai, Adichanallur was also abandoned.
Tamil people and politicians were not happy with this move.
To address this, in 2020 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that a budget has been allotted for large scale excavations at Adichanallur and 4 other sites.
Excavations began in October 2021 and have been very encouraging. The department has been using advanced technology and data from the Geological Survey of India to locate sites that will provide the best findings.
Apart from the gold diadem or crown, the ASI team also found bronze artefacts, headgear, spear, arrowheads, dog toy and paddy.
In another trench beside it at 30 cm depth, they also found a small gold ring which could have belonged to a child.
Officials say that it is one of the best sites excavated after a century.
In 1903-04, British archeologist Alexander Rea found 14 gold diadems. He unearthed more than 9,000 objects here.
These findings help in putting together a framework of how the civilisation functioned 3000 years ago.
Gold was traded as a commodity from 1,000 BCE onwards since the beginning of the megalithic or Iron Age in south India.
This could be one of the reasons for finding gold ornaments.
The granulite [charnockite] terrain in Tamil Nadu is also said to yield gold. But there is no information of when it was mined and used.
Through the years, Tamil cultural artefacts are unearthed in Vietnam, Cambodia and other South East and Far East Asian countries.
This shows that there was a lot of free trade happening between the Iron Age till early 17 th Century.
While these findings tell a lot about civilization, the bones and human remains give a lot of information about evolution.
Voiceover & Production: Ananyaa Desikan
Reporting: B. Aravind Kumar
Videos: A.Shaikmohideen
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