Dolmens, Relics and Stones — Understanding excavation activities with a focus on news in TamilNadu
On Nov 26, 2020 an article in Times of India newspaper reported that scientists have discovered the world’s first known use of nanostructures (over 2600 years ago) near the excavation site of Keeladi.
The pottery shards from table ware (black ware , sigillata ware etc ) found on the site had the black coating ( indicative of synthesized carbon nanotubes) on the inside. While this discovery opens up extraordinary possibilities for the Vaigai settlement, the Keeladi area located 12 kilometers east of Madurai is a continuous project for the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) since March 2015 (for about five years now).
While also mentioning Keeladi this article will bring you up to speed on some important objects associated with excavations in Tamil Nadu.
In the news:
Dolmens
Dolmens are a prehistoric structures built with large slabs of stone resembling a hut, i.e. it has a stone acting as “roof” and two stones supporting it, acting as “walls”.
The forests of Palani presented the expedition team with different kinds of dolmens based on several factors that distinguish one from the other. Quick tip- Archaeological expeditions are carried usually when people report substantial evidence of sighting of objects/architectural elements that were previously unidentified/unlabelled.
The expedition was the result of an elephant hunt in these hills in the year 1928. Mr. A. C. Cotton (see note *) came across what to him appeared to be “large and solid stone houses”. On approaching nearer he found that the houses were surrounded by massive walls of apparently dressed stone, a tall man’s height. “None of the stones” — to quote from a letter he sent me nine years later, “showed any tool marks but the fitting and assembly of them seemed to show that their builders were men of considerable skill
Stone Pillar with Brahmi script — Kinnimangalam
In Pallipadai mutt in Kinnimangalam village situated in Madurai, the state archaeology department of Tamil Nadu found stone pillars engraved with Brahmi script. A quick 101 — sources state that Brahmi script was used to write the various types of religious books, information about the rules and regulation during the rule of Ashoka of the Mauriyan dynasty ( 3rd century BCE ).
What is important about the discovery made in July 2020 is that the Ekanathan mutt in Kinnimangalam had stone pillars with Tamil Brahmi words including “Pallipadai” and “Samadhi” which are used to describe memorials of individuals or families. Archaeologists state that Tamil Brahmi inscriptions on these pillars pertain to messages between 1st and 2nd century BCE. Four words in the pillar had a unique characteristic of “pulli” on top. The discovery also presented the use of the word “Kottam” for the first time in the phrase “Ekan Athan Kottam” (Territory of Ekan Athan).
Excavations — A short conclusion to this post
The legacy in stone left by the megalithic people of India still remains, for the most part, unread. If legend tells us that the men of the Megaliths were “men of short stature” we know that they were men like unto ourselves. We feel there is something more in these “tables of stone” — the dolmens.
Excavations tell us stories, if not “something more” about the lives of people who lived before us.
— —
If you would like to support my content:
