THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Dr P Rajendran, UGC research scientist and archaeologist at the Department of History of Kerala University, said here on Friday that it is for the first time that Chinese coins, potteries and Lower Palaeolithic tools were discovered from below the seabed in India. Prehistoric cupules also have been discovered, for the first time.
Delivering a lecture here at the Samskrithi Bhavan organised under the aegis of the Bharateeya Vichara Kendram, he said archaeological discoveries in recent months include Chinese coins, celadon wares of the Chinese, Roman pottery, Arab coins and Lower Palaeolithic tools from below the seabed at Thangassery in Kollam district; Stone Age Petroglyphs in the form of cupules at Mattidampara in Kadakkal rock-shelter of Kollam district and the same type of cupules at Piralimattam caves in Ernakulam district; Chinese coins from Sasthamcottah lake in the Kallada river basin, and the latest is the Neolithic stone axe having Brahmi scripts from Kalady in Ernakulam district.
He said the identification of Brahmi scripts on Neolithic axes is also a path-breaking find.
“Of course, Brahmi scripts on the Megalithic pottery were earlier reported from Tamil Nadu. The discovery of the Stone Age cupules on the vertical walls of the rock-shelter and caves respectively from the districts of Kollam and Ernakulam has enriched the evidences of prehistoric art in Kerala,” he said.
The Lower Palaeolithic tools from below the seabed at Thangassery very well prove the fact that the Stone Age people had moved to the coast during the glacial period in the Pleistocene, when the sea-level was almost 300 feet below the present sea-level. The tools are made of chert and quartzite rocks.
Rajendran said Chinese coins from Kollam date between 10th and 16th centuries AD and they are made of copper and bronze. The coins have Chinese scripts on one side, having a blank surface on the opposite. All the coins have a square hole at the centre and are round in shape.
Bharateeya Vichara Kendram unit president Dr P G Vinod presided over. Subash welcomed the gathering and Prasannan proposed the vote of thanks.