COIMBATORE: Excavations carried out by the archaeologists of the Department of Maritime History and Marine Archaeology in Thanjavur found bones of wild animals such as nilgai, the largest antelope in Asia, black bucks, four-horned antelopes and gazelles, along with rhinoceros bones at Molapalayam.
Dr V Selvakumar, head of Department of Maritime History and Marine Archaeology, Tamil University, Thanjavur, said the noteworthy presence of rhinoceros remains is a taxon rarely reported from South Indian archaeological contexts and is an exceptional find.
Molapalayam neolithic site was identified in 2019 and excavated in 2021 and 2024. The digs provided clear-cut habitation evidence, unlike other places in the state. The site contains diverse material remains of human burials, ceramics, grinding stones, animal remains and botanical remains.
Radiocarbon dates indicate that the Molapalayam site is dated to 1600 to 1400 BCE, with a possible extension beyond this range. People of the time had cattle and sheep/goats and hunted wild animals. The neolithic people seem to have exploited the congenial environmental conditions of Siruvani River valley and the flanks of Western Ghats.
The findings were published in the paper 'Scientific Investigations at the Neolithic Site of Molapalayam, Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, India', authored by a team led by V Selvakumar.
A total of 47,212 fragments of bones collected from the site during two seasons of excavations in 2021 and 2024 were analysed at the zooarchaeology laboratory of Department of Archaeology, University of Kerala. Out of these, 17,397 were identified to various taxonomic positions. From these, 28 species of animals were identified, including domestic animals such as cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, pig and dog, wild animals such as rhinoceros, nilgai, blackbuck, four-horned antelope, gazelle, Indian muntjac, chital, sambar, leopard and wild cat.
"The study of animal bones, human remains, botanical remains, ceramics and antiquities from Molapalayam reveals that the people had semi-sedentary or more or less sedentary existence involving rain-fed agriculture of millets and pulses till the 20th century. People had settled due to the presence of water and vegetation for animals in the mountains, and suitability for rain-fed agriculture and the dry nature of the raised lands of Noyyal Valley, which is less prone to flooding," said Selvakumar
Dr GS Abhayan and M Ajit from Department of Archaeology, University of Kerala identified the animal bones at their archaeology lab. Former archaeozoology professor Pramod Joglekar from Deccan College also inspected and confirmed the findings.
The study suggests the presence of rhinoceros and Nilgai, among other animals, in the southern part of the country around 3,500 years ago. However these animals, like rhinoceros and nilgai, are not found now in Coimbatore.
Wildlife activist K Kalidass of Osai said, "Rhinoceros and four-horned antelope used to live in open grasslands. Due to the extensive destruction of the land and poaching by humans, these animals are not in Coimbatore now. While four-horned antelope are found only in Nilgiris and STR, nilgai are not found in Tamil Nadu and rhinoceros are found only in the North East. We must save the existing animals by preventing habitat loss and poaching.”