THANJAVUR: Amarnath Ramakrishna, who led the initial phases of excavation at Keezhadi, as superintending archeologist of ASI, on Wednesday asserted existence of river valley civilisation and that researchers from Department of Earth Sciences had proved Vaigai river flowed through the region. Speaking at a meeting on Keezhadi excavations, Ramakrishna said the aerial distance between Vaigai river and Keezhadi was around three-quarters of a kilometre and Keezhadi soil was enriched by sediments of Vaigai.
The archaeologist trashed doubts raised in some quarters as to why no human skeletons were found in Keezhadi, saying there would be no skeletons in a human settlement. He further pointed out that there was a site close by, Konthagai, where evidence of burials could be found. “If the place is excavated, there are chances we could discover burial urns”, he said.
Answering a question why no evidence of industrial activity was found in Keezhadi, he said, “Those who lived in Keezhadi seemed to be wealthy, sophisticated people with high purchasing power”, adding artefacts recovered were not from the region. Discovery of Tamil Brahmi inscriptions in a wide area could make one conclude that the populace were literate. Tamil Brahmi or Tamizhi were found in pot shreds were inscribed by ordinary people unlike the edicts of Ashoka era which were ordered by the emperor, he claimed.
The recent finds in Keezhadi have pushed history of Tamil people to 600 BC. “Only around 10 per cent of the 110-acre archaeological mound in Keezhadi has been explored so far by both ASI and State Archaeology department” he said adding only complete excavation would help reconstruct history of Tamils. Also, he welcomed the cluster approach proposed by the State archaeology department.