CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Monday told the Tamil Nadu Assembly that carbon dating of materials excavated at Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district has revealed that Tamils used iron ore about 4,200 years ago.
The Chief Minister said that of the 28 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry-based (AMS) dating of sites in India, this is the earliest. The 28 sites include Mayiladumparai in Tamil Nadu, and other excavation sites in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Making a suo motu statement under Rule 110, the Chief Minister said after excavations by the State Archeological Department of a habitation site located at Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district, two charcoal samples were sent to Beta Analytic Inc in Florida in the US for radiocarbon dating.
The Chief Minister said it has also been ascertained that black-red pottery was introduced even before 4,200 years, during the later stages of the New Stone Age. The CM said that to prove the existence of ancient Tamil business ventures in various States, the State Department of Archeology will take up excavations at Pattanam in Kerala, Talakadu in Karnataka, Venki in Andhra Pradesh and Pallur in Odisha.
The CM said that a deep-sea study at Korkai, an ancient harbour belonging to the Sangam era, will also begin this month. The history of India should commence from the Tamil landscape and the State government is working towards scientifically establishing it through evidences, Stalin said.