THOOTHUKUDI: Research scholars have discovered imprints implying prehistoric human settlements, ruins of iron smelters, megaliths, cairns among other artefacts on and around a hill abutting Uzhakudi, located 38 kilometres from Thoothukudi town. Scholars have appealed the State to conduct a detailed survey to uncover evidence of the early Tamil civilisation along Thamirabarani Valley.
Situated on the eastern bank of Thamirabarani river in Kaliyavoor panchayat, Uzhakudi comprises 200 families, many of whom are farmhands. Megalithic menhirs – dating back to period between 1000 BCE and 300 BCE — of different sizes, stone circles and earthenware were discovered from the area.
13-ft-tall menhir discovered
“Menhir is a stone erected for the burials of kings and chieftains,” said an assistant professor of the History Department at VOC College. “One of the menhirs is as tall as 13 feet,” said M Arumuga Masana Sudalai, a research scholar attached with the college. The artwork on the lateral side of the menhir provides evidence of a prehistoric human settlement in Uzhakudi around 1000 BCE, added Masanam, who is also a resident of the village.
Adjacent to the menhirs are cairns – a heap of stones over a graveyard – that are believed to hold several urns and stone chests underneath, said the professor. During the research, one urn was found opened, said Masanam. On the southwest, southeast and eastern slopes of the hill, a number of “Cupples” – parai kinnam or parai koppai – embedded on the rocks could be found. “They belong to the mid-palaeolithic age and are used for various purposes,” he said. A stream connecting Uzhakudi pond and Alangulam pond has a brick structure, implying an early human settlement. However, a part of it was damaged when a check was constructed, he claimed. Besides the iron smelter ruins, near urn burials, black and red earthenware, black potsherds with white dots, mud water filters among other antiquities were found near the foothills.
Dedicated survey sought
Geology research scholar R Abinaya, who had assisted the Uzhakudi research, said that geological processes, including weathering and erosion, could have led to the formation of the parai kinnam, which, research studies mention were used for birds to lay eggs.
Kamaraj College History Department Head Professor Dr A Devaraj said a dedicated archaeological survey at Uzhakudi could shed light on the Tamil culture and early Thamirabarani civilisation, and “unearth the lifestyle of our ancestors, cultural heritage and the superiority of Tamil civilisation.” Experts from Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology visited the site and marked the locations of the archaeological remains.
An archaeology expert, on a condition of anonymity, termed Uzhakudi a “potentially important archaeological site”, adding that it was up to the State and Central governments to order an excavation.