THOOTHUKUDI: The Adichanallur archeological site, a 3,000-year-old Iron Age site spread over 125 acres where hundreds of artefacts are kept in an on-site museum, has just one staff to take care of the expansive landscape. The site lies abandoned without maintenance after the unprecedented floods last December, sources said. While archaeologists working at the site have been redeployed to other locations, the excavations kept at the shelters lie covered in sand and dust without even a security guard to protect the place, locals said.
The Adichanallur site, which is under the control of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), encompasses three locations marked A, B, C on hillocks abutting the river Thamirabarani. The recovery of a golden diadem was a milestone in archeological excavation and the carbon dating of the artefacts found at the site revealed that they belong to 905 BCE.
‘Site in poor shape, no one to explain its significance’
The on-site museum developed at site B, which was opened by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman on August 5, 2023, has been a centre of attraction for visitors from across the globe but the place is bereft of staff who could explain the significance of the site to the visitors.
The site museum consists of urn burials, skeletons, skulls, potteries, metal objects and other artefacts in in-situ position with glass cover atop so that the visitors can see the remnants of a long-lost civilisation embedded underneath without physically disturbing it.
Sources said the site also has a thatched roof shelter to store potsherds. The site C too has a temporary shelter with thatched roof where over 300 plus burial urns, mud pots of various sizes, offering pots, lids, ring-stand of various types, jars of different shapes, potsherds, iron objects, bronze objects, and other excavations have been kept on shelves.
Sample pots containing millets and rice husk excavated from the site are also safeguarded here. The artefacts stored in site C would be displayed when the museum is constructed, said sources.
Ramesh Rathnakumar, who had settled in the US and had paid a visit to the site along with his family, told TNIE that the facility is in poor shape without maintenance, and there is no one to explain its historical significance.
Another visitor said the locality C, which has no proper lightings, can turn into a veritable haven for reptiles and venomous creatures.
“The on-site museum and the shelters in locality C need proper maintenance staff to safeguard the artefacts,” visitors said. The site needs a complete makeover before the onset of northeast monsoon, said Pandi, a local villager.
It is pertinent to note that some visitors from schools and colleges have to rely on local writer Muthalankurichi Kamarasu, a litigant in a case connected to Adichanallur, for explaining the place’s history.
Earlier, two multi-tasking staff of the ASI, Maria Antony and Venkadesh, were deployed as site supervisors for B and C. The ASI also had five men including two guards to maintain the large premises. But some staffers were moved to Tiruchy ASI circle office for documentation work, a source said. About 300-350 people visit the site every week.
“Recently, there was a fire accident near the shelter at site C. The timely action of Srivaikuntam fire and service personnel saved all the artefacts protected at locality C,” a local villager said.