TIRUPPUR: A burial urn (Mudhumakkal Thazhi) containing skeletal remains was unearthed by workers who were digging a road for pipeline laying work in Tiruppur city on Thursday.
Speaking to TNIE, former president of the government homoeopathic doctors association Dr K. King Narcissus, said, “I saw a group of workers, who were engaged in digging land for pipeline laying works near my house in Kuppusamypuram talking about a pot they had found. I examined the pot and suspected it could be an ancient burial urn. Following this, I told them to stop work and informed the media and councillors.”
Confirming the development, the Director of Virarajendran Archaeological and Historical Research Centre (VAHRC) S Ravikumar said, “Kuppusamy Puram, Kottai Mariamman Temple and KSC school grounds were important places in ancient times. In 2014, six burial urns were found in the playground of KSC Government School. This new discovery is just 300 m from the old site. I believe more urns will be discovered here.” Tiruppur City Commissioner Pavankumar Giriyappanar, who inspected the site, said the urns would be taken to the treasury office.
Meanwhile, a team of Archaeologists from Coimbatore inspected the urn. Speaking to TNIE, Archaeological Officer (Coimbatore zone) R Jeyapriya said, “The size of the urn is very large and it contained skull and bones. Also, we found small pieces of broken pottery around the urn. We believe the urn is more than 2,000 years old.”
According to sources, the urns unearthed at KSC Government School in 2014 contained grains, rice bran, bones and skulls. But they were not sent for scientific analysis. The urns are preserved in the Karur government museum. Sources added that similar materials from burial urns that were sent for carbon dating deduced they could be more than 2,000 years old. Such urns are curated and preserved in Madurai Kamaraj University. According to subject experts, urn burials were practised before the 3rd century AD by ancient Tamils. After the 3rd century AD, Tamils started to cremate the dead.