THOOTHUKUDI: A PhD scholar has found rare ancient black burial urns at a hill in Sirupadu village which comes under Kumaragiri village panchayat. The archaeological site cries for immediate attention as the artefacts, in spite of being unexposed, have been heavily damaged owing to activities of the sand mafia which had quarried the hills for "gravel sand" and stones.
The site is located behind the Venkalamani Ayyanar Temple on the southern banks of Uppar Odai, and farmers regularly take their cattle for grazing on the hills. According to the PhD scholar, M Arumuga Masanam Sudalai, the archaeological site has rare black burial urns, alongside some red burial urns, cupules and remains of iron smelting factories belonging to the megalithic age. The site is located 10 km from Thoothukudi collector's office, on the bank of Korampallam tank.
"I also observed the imprints of smelted iron flowing on rock surfaces," said Masanam, who earlier discovered the archaeologically-significant menhirs atop Uzhakudi hills during his research under the guidance of Dr K Sasikala, Department of History, VO Chidambaram College.
A visit to the site by TNIE revealed a number of potsherds of urns and pieces of funeral articles strewn around on the foothills. Pieces of iron ore were also found on the slopes. The prehistoric cupules can also be spotted at the top of the hills. However, the sand mafia has mined gravel rampantly in the region, and moreover, explosives were used in the hills for quarrying stones.
Masanam added that the black urn found on an elevated portion was intact when he first spotted it a few weeks ago, however, it was found damaged later. The district administration must take efforts to preserve the black urn and other urns immediately and conduct radiocarbon dating to find their period of origin, he appealed.
The locals said that the sand mafia quarries sand and stones during late night hours. The hills are a significant region as they once housed a cave of Poligar King Kattabomman, the PhD scholar said.
When findings of the site were taken to the notice of Thoothukudi collector Dr K Senthil Raj, he said the district administration will urge the state government to take up an archaeological survey at the site. Thoothukudi district archaeological officer Asaithambi said proper measures will be taken to document the site after checking if the site has been noted already.