SIVAGANGA: The State Archaeology Department is planning to carry out excavations in three villages near Keezhadi during phase VI excavations planned for January 2020, highly placed officials from the department said here on Thursday. Archaeologists believe that these villages could be a part of a Keezhadi cluster. “The department will carry out simultaneous excavations in four villages — Keezhadi, Konthagai, Manalur, and Agaram,” officials said.
Sources told TNIE that the department, which will wrap up phase V excavations by September last week, has yet to apply for permission to carry out phase VI excavations from the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA). However, officials are optimistic about getting the permission and hopeful that it will not be delayed as in the case of phase V, which could only be started in June 2019 owing to the general elections.
Archaeologists from the department and experts in the field believe Keezhadi was an industrialised settlement. As such, remains of activities of the populace who inhabited the locality could be found in villages like Manalur, Konthagai, and Agaram. Sources said that traces of ancient human settlement could be found in Manalur and Agaram villages, whereas a burial site might once have existed in Konthagai.
IIG visit for second time
Officials from the Mumbai-based Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) are conducting a survey in Keezhadi for the second time during the ongoing excavation. The five-day survey will last till the end of this week. The IIG carried out its first survey in June and submitted a report to State archaeology department.
However, recommendations in the first survey report created some difficulties for the archaeologists. “For example, one recommendation stated that artefacts could be found 48 degrees north of the spot; that is a 10 by 15 metre parcel of land to excavate. As such, the department asked the IIG to carry out a second survey to fine tune potential sites found during the first survey. This will help the department to carry out a more effective excavation,”said sources. Officials, however, admitted that they would not be receiving report of the second survey before the completion of phase V. Nonetheless, recommendations would be considered during phase VI excavations.
Phase V
In the ongoing excavation, the state archaeology department found a channel-like structure. However, the utility of the structure could only be established after a detailed study. Samples from the structure would be sent for test, source said. Deputy Director of State Archeology Department R Sivanandan is camping near site.