Chief minister MK Stalin on Thursday announced that Tamil Nadu has received a nod from the Central Advisory Board for Archaeology (CABA) to conduct excavations in seven sites which includes three new sites and continuing phases at four old sites set to begin this year.

The state also proposed to undertake a reconnaissance survey in the sea off the coast of a Sangam age port, Korkai (in Thoothukudi district) in collaboration with the Indian Maritime University and the National Institute of Ocean Technology.

Korkai, is a major port from the celebrated Sangam era, located 8 km interior from the present seashore. The famous urn burial site Adichchanallur and Sivagalai lies 15 km and 20 km west of Korkai respectively on the bank of the same river. Besides the Sangam literature, Korkai also finds mention in the Periplus Erythrean Sea and the work of Green astronomer and geographer Claudius Ptolemy who refer to this port as ‘Colchis’ and ‘Kolkhoi’.

The excavation conducted by the state department of archaeology in 1968 unearthed a structure with nine courses of bricks in six rows at the depth of two-and-a-half feet from surface level and three large-sized rings were placed one over the other, below the brick course, said a statement shared by an official from the department. Charcoal samples collected from the site were dated to 785 BCE.

Korkai had a brisk maritime trade with the West particularly with the Roman Empire and Sri Lanka and also probably with southeast Asian countries, the statement read. “In a recent excavation at Korkai, the Northern Black Polished ware and black slipped ware of Gangetic valley datable prior to 5th century BCE are unearthed, which clearly suggests that Tamil Nadu was well connected with different parts of India through internal trade,” the statement added.

“Korkai might have served as one of the important ports even before the 8th century BCE as indicated by the Carbon-14 dates obtained in earlier excavations.” In continuation of these explorations and excavations, the department has proposed off-shore explorations.

Meanwhile, the announcement for excavation at the seven sites comprise Keeladi, Sivagalai, Gangaikondacholapuram, Mayiladumparai and it will be conducted for the first time in Vembakkottai, Thulukkarpatti and Perumbalai. These excavations are meant to give a picture of the lives of the people that transformed from Microlithic times to Neolithic to Iron Age and early historic periods covering a time span of around 30,000 years.

Carbon dating of artefacts unearthed from Keeladi and Sivagalai have found that they date back to 2,600 and 3,200 years old, pushing the Sangam Literature further behind a few centuries. In September last year, Stalin announced in the state assembly results from carbon samples from excavations in Sivakalai (in adjacent districts of present day Thoothukudi and Tirunelveli) sent for AMS Carbon Dating Test to the Beta Analytical Laboratory in Miami, US found that rice and husk found in an offering urn yielded the date of 1155 BCE which means the people of Sivakalai lived there before 3200 years.

The findings are the oldest time period established from excavations carried out so far in Tamil Nadu. The dates also form the fag end of the Indus Valley Civilisation.--which is the earliest known in the Indian subcontinent lasted from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE.

With these findings, the state made a link with the Indus Valley Civilisation and it was a revelation for Tamil Nadu’s archaeological community too.

“Since it has been established that the earliest date we have found in Tamil Nadu for the first time showed that Tamil people had a relationship with the Indus Valley Civilisation, the state is now continuing in that order in the old sites to find more,” said S Rajavelu, archaeologist and adjunct faculty, Alagappa University. “The three new sites have also been picked only after substantial evidences and artefacts were found.”

“The digging will begin in seven sites in 2022 in a bid to dig into the past of the ancient Tamils and add to their glory and rich past,” Stalin said in a statement on Thursday. “These excavations will help us scientifically prove that the history of the Indian subcontinent is written from the Tamil landscape.”

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