Virudhunagar:A group of archaeologists stumbled upon stones dating back to New Stone Age in Tamil Nadu during the third phase of excavation, capping a rich haul of discovery. The find has created a buzz among the archaeology enthusiasts. It adds value to the rich history of ancient Tamil race.
The site
These 6000-year-old stones used for making jewellery and hunting tools were found in Vembakkottai village located on the northern bank of the Vaippar River in Vembakkottai Taluk of Virudhunager district. The site is situated on the Sivakasi–Kalugumalai road, about 15 km from Sivakasi and is 23 km south of Kalugumalai.
The excavations that began on June 18 and are still underway.
The jewellery tools
According to the state archaeology department excavation director Ponnusamy, over 2,800 artefacts, including gold and copper coins, broken terracotta figurines, chess pieces, glass beads and circular tokens, have been unearthed so far.
Recently, jasper and sard stones, typically used in making ancient jewellery were discovered from a newly excavated pit. These stones are estimated to be 6,000 years old, Ponnusamy said, adding that these stones were also used as raw materials for making hunting tools by people in the Neolithic period. He emphasised that the stones are no longer in use today.
Ancient designer jewellery
Announcing these discoveries on his social media handle, Tamil Nadu minister for finance and archaeology, Thangam Thennarasu, highlighted that jasper and sard stones that were used for making ornaments and hunting tools 6000 years ago were found from the excavation site.
He also quoted a line from the ancient Tamil poetic work 'Kalithokai', 'Sura eru ezhuthiya modhiram thottaal' (She touched the ring with the inscription of a shark), that illustrates the ancient Tamil people's tradition of designing and wearing jewellery. He concluded that these findings confirm the design skills of the ancient Tamil people.
'Excavations so far'
Earlier, two phases of excavation were conducted at Vijayakarisalkulam site(Vembakootai village) and the artefacts that were found have been displayed at an exhibition.
According to the state government's policy note, the excavation carried out in the mound locally called as 'Mettukadu or Uchimedu and it reveals continuous habitation deposit right from medieval times. "Two phases of excavation with 34 trenches have been laid and more than 7,800 antiquities were recovered from the site. Antiquities like semi-precious stone beads made of carnelian, agate, amethyst and crystal have been collected."
"More number of glass beads in various colours, shell bangles, glass bangles, terracotta beads, spindle whorls, terracotta, gamesmen, smoking pipes, terracotta pendants, toy objects, terracotta figurines, terracotta weighing units, terracotta balls, terracotta seals, terracotta hopscotches, terracotta earlobes, terracotta wheels, rubbing stones, iron objects and copper objects were unearthed."
Iron objects, copper objects and eight copper coins were collected from the trenches while decorated and plain shell bangles were collected in different trenches. Unfinished shell bangles and shell debitages were also gathered. The collection of large number of shell objects indicates that, this site might have survived with a shell industry, the policy note read.
(Note: This story was updated to add details from previous excavations as declared in the government's policy note.)
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