TIRUCHY: More than 500 megalithic monuments of Iron Age dating back to 500-300 BC had been excavated from Sengalur and surrounding areas in Pudukkottai district, said Dr T Dayalan, Superintending archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI-Temple inspection scheme).
Dayalan was addressing a press meet on Wednesday on the archaeological research undertaken in Sengalur village, Kulathur taluk in Pudukkottai district.
He pointed out that more than 500 archaeological remains were found at Sengalur and surrounding areas. The archaeological edifices found in Sengalur are of different varieties such as stone circles by using laterite boulders or granite boulders, stone circles with cairn packing, cist burial of different types within stone circles, pit burial within stone circles and urn burial with or without capstones.
The rectangular structure found here amidst megalithic monuments is unique and not to be found anywhere in South India except a solitary example at Sithannavasal.
The site has also revealed habitational deposits contemporary to the megalithic documents. The construction of the stone circle by using laterite/granite boulders which are more than 4’x3’x1.5’ are examples of the technological advancements in quarrying the stone and transporting them to the work site and is indeed a marvel. The edifices of the cist burials had yielded large number of potteries of different shapes and sizes.
One gets a peep into the lifestyle of those days as one views the copper objects such as ring stand, bowls, lid and other decorative pieces that are found in plenty. Such copper objects in association with megalithic burial are to be found only in certain sites in the state.
The excavation has also provided an insight into many fine objects including many terracotta figurines, numerous glass beads, semi-precious and terracotta beads, fragmentary bangles, potsherds with graffiti marks and the like.