CHENNAI: After Keezhadi in Sivaganga district, Pattaraiperumbudur in neighbouring Tiruvallur district will be the next in line for excavation. The department is awaiting nod of the Central Advisory Board for Archaeology (CABA) to hit the ground at the site, located on the eastern banks of Kosasthalaiyar, where an excavation was done in 2016.
“We have already sent letters to the authorities concerned of the Archaeological Survey of India seeking permission to hold excavations at Pattaraiperumbudur. We hope the advisory board (CABA) will give its nod soon,” a top official of State Archaeology Department told Express.
He said the expedition held in 2016 had yielded several antiquities, including tools and wares bearing the nature of palaeolithic and Neolithic cultures.
As the State Department of Archaeology is well equipped with the required expertise, manpower and machinery, it can hold simultaneous expeditions both at Keezhadi and Pattaraiperumbudur, the official said.
Surrounded by pre-historic sites, including Gudiyam and Attirampakkam, Pattaraiperumbudur remains a promising site with a huge deposit of antiquities.
The authorities recalled how those engaged in excavation were stunned to find the remains of a ring well made of terracotta in the region. They could dig up to the 23rd ring during 2016 excavations, but could not proceed further as water gushed out taking them by surprise.
Among the astonishing collection of antiquities unearthed at the site, tools such as quartzite-made hand axe, microlithic borer, scrapper and neolithic celts in basalt and dolerite stones, graffiti potsherds, terracotta objects, bangle pieces, glass and shells, semi-precious stone beads and iron slag roofing tiles show the rich deposits at Pattaraiperumbudur, which had been a habitation from pre-historic period.
Mapping at Keezhadi
Two teams of archaeologists and geological experts visited Keezhadi on Saturday to carry out the mapping and resistivity survey before choosing the final spot for trenching. Deputy Superintending Archaeologist R Sivanantham and K Kumarasamy, Emeritus Professor at the Department of Geology in Bharathidasan University, led the teams.
“The mapping and documenting will be completed in two or three days. We will choose the exact site for excavation using ground penetrating radar system,” Kumarasamy told Express.
The geologists included experts from Bharathidasan University, Central University, Tiruvarur, and Periyar University.
Resume excavation: CPM
The Communist Party of India-Marxist on Sunday passed a resolution at its State conference in Thoothukudi demanding that excavations at Keezhadi be resumed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). It rued closure of operations by the central agency at the promising site, where evidence for proving the existence of ancient urban civilisation was found.
“The evidences were enough for redefining Indian history from the South,” the party said. The resolution also deplored the inordinate delay of over 12 years in compiling the report on the excavations held at Adichanallur in 2005. The evidence showed that the civilisation at Adichanallur matched the one in Harappa.
Fixing exact site for digging
After the mapping and documenting are completed, the exact site for excavation will be determined using ground penetrating radar system