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Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Iron Age habitational site of Adichanallur

Adichanallur is an archeological site near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, India. The town is known locally as Adityanallur, and has been the site of a number of very important archeological digs.
ADICHANALLUR has a history of excavation. The urn-burial site was brought to light when a German, Dr. Jagor, conducted a haphazard excavation at the place in 1876. An Englishman called Alexander Rea, who was the Superintending Archaeologist, excavated the urn-burial site between 1889 and 1905. A Frenchman called Louis Lapique had also conducted an excavation in 1904.

In his article entitled "Prehistoric antiquities in Tinnevelly", which appeared in the Archaeological Survey of India's annual report in 1902-03, Rea called the Adichanallur site "the most extensive prehistoric site as yet discovered in southern if not in the whole of India... . The site was first brought to notice in 1876 when it was visited by Dr. Jagor of Berlin, accompanied by the Collector of Tinnevelly and the District Engineer."

Excavations by Dr. Jagor had yielded "upwards of 50 kinds of baked earthenware utensils of all sizes and shapes, a considerable number of iron weapons and implements, chiefly knives or short sword blades and hatchets, and a great quantity of bones and skulls". Rea says "these articles were taken away by Dr. Jagor for the Berlin Museum".

In his first excavations, Rea discovered about 1,872 objects, and about 4,000 more later. He said: "The objects yielded by these burial sites are finely made pottery of various kinds in great number; many iron implements and weapons; vessels and personal ornaments in bronze; a few gold ornaments; a few stone beads; bones; and some household stone implements used for grinding curry or sandalwood." Traces of cloth, urns with mica pieces, and husks of rice and millet were found in pots inside the urns. Lamp stands, hanging lamps, bell-mouthed jars, `chatties', necklaces, wire bangles, swords, spears and arrows were found.

Importantly, several gold diadems with a hole on each end for tying them around the forehead were found. Rea also discovered a number of bronze figurines of the buffalo, the goat or the sheep, the cock, the tiger, the antelope and the elephant.

He had this to say about how the dead were interred in the urns at Adichanallur: "In those urns which contained complete skeletons, and which were thus preserved by the lid remaining intact, the position of the bones made it obvious that the body had been set inside in a squatting or sitting position. On its decay, the leg and arm bones fell over and rested against one side of the urn, while the skull, ribs, and vertebrae dropped down to the bottom. This was the position in which every complete skeleton, without exception, was found; and the urns in which they were placed were all devoid of earth."

G. Thirumoorthy, Assistant Archaeologist with the ASI, who led the first phase of the excavation in 2004, said of Rea's excavation: "Above all, his excavation was important for the bronze objects discovered because they are quite unique in the proto-history of South India. Besides, he discovered a figurine of a Mother-Goddess. All this showed that the Tamil culture was rich then."

Rea's discovery of gold diadems is intriguing, for gold does not occur at Adichanallur or any nearby place. The gold could have been brought from outside because of trade contacts, Thirumoorthy said.

Also intriguing is the fact that, although Rea found a number of bronze objects and several gold diadems, no bronze or gold objects have so far been found in excavations conducted by the ASI from 2004. Besides, the trenches dug by Rea have not been located so far, although they are said to be in the centre of the mound.

Rea systematically documented all the objects that he discovered and handed them over to the Government Museum in Chennai, where they are on display.



The centrepiece of the discoveries is this potsherd with the motifs of a woman, a stalk of paddy, a crane, a deer and a crocodile.

THE Iron-Age urn-burial site at Adichanallur, about 24 km from Tirunelveli town in southern Tamil Nadu, has attracted nationwide attention for three important findings: an inscription in a rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi script on the inside of an urn containing a full human skeleton; a potsherd (fragment of broken earthenware) with stunningly beautiful motifs; and the remains of living quarters (rampart wall, potters' kilns, a smith's shop and so on) close to the site.




T. Satyamurthy, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, Chennai Circle, with G. Thirumoorthy (centre), Assistant Archaeologist, and P. Aravazhi, a member of the team of archaeologists, at the site.


The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) started digging the site in February 2004, about 100 years after the last excavation activity there. It is an extraordinarily large urn-burial site spread over 114 acres (45.6 hectares) on a low, rocky hillock on the right bank of the Tamiraparani river, close to a lake and surrounded by paddy fields and banana plantations. The first phase of excavation in 2004, stretched between February 4 and July 5. In the six trenches that were dug then, the ASI ran into a range of spectacular finds. Each trench was a square, 10 metres by 10 metres. T. Satyamurthy, Superintending Archaeologist of the ASI, Chennai Circle, is the overrall director of the excavation.





The urn in the foreground, found at Adichanallur, resembles burial urns found at Malwa in Madhya Pradesh, suggesting trade contacts between the two regions.



A total of 157 burial urns were found, 57 of them intact and 15 with complete human skeletons inside. Many of the urns, especially those that contained human skeletons, were covered with another urn, in what is called a "twin-pot" system. They had been buried after cutting the rock in circular pits, into which the urns were lowered in a three-tier formation. The earliest burials formed the lowermost tier, which left enough space above to accommodate future burials.




Iron knives were among the artefacts unearthed.



Among the artefacts discovered at the burial site were a profusion of red ware, black ware, black-and-red ware, copper bangles, copper ear-rings, iron spear-heads, terracotta lids with tiered knobs, terracotta vessels that could be used both as lids and as bowls, globular vessels and long-necked utensils. There were vases, pots with exquisite decorations, broken daggers and swords made of iron. There were also Neolithic celts, iron implements, urns with clan marks and urns with hooks inside




A range of red ware, black ware, and black-and-red ware excavated and now on display at the ASI office in Chennai.


The urns with skeletons had inside them empty miniature vessels, rice, paddy and husk. The miniature vessels were of three types: bowls, small vases and pots. Made of polished blackware, they are thought to have had religious significance. These small vessels invariably had their lids on. The lids were decorated with dotted, floral or geometrical designs and were painted. Some lids had tiered knobs that looked like chess pieces.





An urn containing skeletons, covered with another urn in what is called a twin-pot system. Archaeologists point to the care with which the dead were buried.



One urn had the skeletons of a mother and a child. Some skulls had disintegrated, the bones had become fragile. Some urns were broken, and were filled with earth, obviously the handiwork of treasure-hunters. Three copper bangles and some copper chisels were also found at the site.




Vessels and pots found at the site.



Outside, around the urns, were bigger pots, which were red ware. Iron implements, knives, daggers, spearheads and Neolithic celts used in farming were found around the urns. Some pots rested on ring stands of different shapes. The lids came in different shapes - conical, globular, and so on. More than a thousand pot-vessels were unearthed intact. Lots of terracotta beads in conical shape and hop-scotches were found.





An earthen pot and its lid.



What is fascinating is the discovery of urns with clan/tribe marks. Some urns had ornamentation such as thumb-nail impressions running all round the neck. The clan marks included three lines separating out from the top, with knobs, and garland-like designs.


Satyamurthy called the Adichanallur burial site "the earliest site in Tamil Nadu" and was sure that its history would go back to 1,000 B.C. "In our excavation, we have come across a culture earlier to the megalithic period. It is a well-stratified culture. The pottery is typologically different from that of megalithic pottery," he said. (According to archaeologists, the Iron Age in South India stretched between 1,000 B.C. and 300 B.C. The Iron Age and the megalithic age were contemporaneous in South India. The Iron Age signifies the beginning of civilisation).


The centrepiece of these discoveries is the potsherd with motifs in appliqué designs. It was found inside an urn which had a human skeleton. At the centre of the motifs is a tall, slender woman with prominent breasts and wearing a knee-length dress. Her hands are clinging to her sides and the palms seem to be spread out. Next to her is a sheaf of standing paddy and a crane is seated on the paddy stalk. There is a beautiful, young deer with straight horns and upturned tail. There is also a crocodile, and a knob mark. The appliqué designs were made using clay. A small thin rope was used to bring about the serrated effect in each motif.





Archaeologists say marks such as these found on pots dug up at the site are clan marks.



Satyamurthy called the potsherd "a unique find because no such motifs have been found so far in burial sites in Tamil Nadu. These motifs resemble pre-historic cave paintings found in central Tamil Nadu, including Erode and Dharmapuri districts." Archaeologists are agreed that the depiction of the woman signifies the mother-goddess/fertility cult.


G. Thirumoorthy, Assistant Archaeologist, ASI, Chennai Circle, who led a young team during the first phase of the excavation (other members were M. Nambirajan and P. Aravazhi), also said that the potsherd was "a unique find in the excavation of the Iron Age period, especially in South India." In other urn-burial sites in India, potsherds with such appliqué motifs have not been found so far. One expert, who found them "amazing" and "fantastic", said these motifs could be as old as 700 B.C. Arun Malik, Assistant Archaeologist with ASI, said: "Normally, such motifs are not found on pottery as they are generally seen only in pre-historic cave paintings."


Thirumoorthy said: "Adichanallur shows the importance given to the dead in Tamil society. The excavation reveals the mode of burial practice, the disposal of the dead, the religious beliefs prevalent then, and the socio-economic conditions of the people who lived here at that time."

The inhabitants of Adichanallur used an ingenious method to bury their dead. Thirumoorthy pointed out that these megalithic people were intelligent and had foresight because they used barren and not agricultural land to bury their dead. Besides, the urns were buried on a hillock, where they could not be flooded by the nearby river or the lake. "This is actually, a rocky hilly area. The urns were inserted after cutting the rocks in pit forms. It is not like digging the earth or sand. This is laborious work. Their intention was to accommodate the burials that would come later. That is why they went as deep as possible," he said. They obviously used iron crowbars to cut the rocks. The crowmarks on the sides of the pits could still be seen.


When the ASI started its digging at Adichanallur, it had two aims. First, to establish the date of the site and second, to locate the place where the people who used the burial site lived. Satyamurthy said: "Our main aim is to study the site, excavate it thoroughly and give a scientific date to it, using the carbon-14 dating method. We want to know the chronology or the sequence of the site and find out the nature of the culture that existed then. Another aim is to find out whether there was a habitational site nearby."




The remains of living quarters found close to the burial site in the second phase of the excavation include the ruins of a rampart.


The question that haunts the archaeologists who have excavated the cairn (stone)-burial sites or urn-burial sites of the megalithic period in the South is: Where were the living quarters of the people who were buried at Amirthamangalam near Ponneri, or Perumbair near Chengalpattu?


The second phase of excavation, which began in February 2005, is currently under way on the north and northwestern slopes of the urn-burial site. If the aim of this excavation was to locate the habitational site of the people whose bodies were buried a few hundred metres away, it has succeeded in that objective








Potsherds found in the ruins of the habitation.


The excavation has brought to light the town's fortification/rampart wall, which was made of mud with stone veneering in parts. Three potters' kilns with ash, charcoal and broken pots were found, confirming, according to Satyamurthy, that this was a habitational site. "It looks like a crowded town which was busy. On the one side is the burial site. Within 500 metres you have the kilns, which means life was active. It may have been an urban centre," he said.


Nambi Rajan said the trenches revealed a man-made floor paved with lime plaster. There were holes on the floor to hold posts. . A few individual letters in Tamil-Brahmi script have been found on potsherds. Plenty of potsherds with graffiti, especially the ladder symbol, have been unearthed. Artefacts unearthed include carnelian beads, terracotta beads and so on.


Some specialists are of the opinion that Adichanallur must have been a busy mining and industrial centre. The making of bronze figurines, iron implements such as swords, daggers and arrow-heads and big urns showed that it was a busy industrial township, they say.


M.D. Sampath, retired Director, Epigraphy, ASI, Mysore, said: " The excavated objects at Adichanallur are valuable in the sense that a study of the finds will reveal a new vista to know the growth and culture of Tamil society, and how this society achieved literacy."




A burial urn, its contents and (inset) inside it an inscription in rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi script.
The chance finding of an rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi script. It was written on the inside of an urn that held a human skeleton has the potential to upset theories about the date of origin of the Tamil-Brahmi script. Satyamurthy found the script under chance circumstances. After visiting the Adichanallur, he was returning to Chennai on a train. He was examining photographs of the urns with skeletons to see whether the skeletons had a primary or secondary burial. It was then that he noticed some letters written on the inside of the urn. He cut short his journey and returned to Adichanallur to examine the inside of the urn closely.


According to M.D. Sampath, retired Director, Epigraphy, ASI, Mysore, the script has seven letters. He said: "It may be suggested that the writing is in Tamil-Brahmi in a rudimentary form. Attempts have been made to blow up the writing so as to decipher the same. It may be tentatively read as follows: Ka ri a ra va [na] ta.


"Though the exact meaning is not clear, it is quite likely that the expression seems to suggest the name of the engraver of the record or the maker of the pottery or the person whose skeletal remains are found interred inside the urn. The reading is subject to improvement. It is necessary to compare it with the graffiti and other scribbling found on the potsherds at different stratigraphical levels. The script seems to be archaic, perhaps coeval with the early megalithic period."


Dr. Sampath pointed out that "this was "a rare occurrence" that the script was written inside the urn. Normally, such writings were seen outside the urns. The technique of inverted firing used in the baking of black and red ware must have been adopted in baking this urn also. "How this method has been used here is a question that needs an answer from archaeologists," he said.
Satyamurthy has proposed, on the basis of "preliminary thermo-luminescence dating," that the pots found inside the urn along with the script might date back to circa 500 B.C. He said this method of dating "takes the site to the period from 1,500 B.C. to 500 B.C. So the script is also likely to be dated to 5th century B.C. even if we take the latest date into consideration." This date is, however, subject to confirmation by carbon-14 dating, which is a more accurate method.
It is called Tamil-Brahmi because the language is Tamil but the script is Brahmi. The Brahmi script was predominantly used for the Prakrit language from the period of Emperor Asoka (circa 270 B.C.).


Iravatham Mahadevan, an authority on the Tamil-Brahmi script, says in his seminal work "Early Tamil Epigraphy, From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D.", that "The Brahmi script reached Upper South India (Andhra-Karnataka regions) and the Tamil country at about the same time during the 3rd century B.C. in the wake of southern spread of Jainism and Buddhism." Mahadevan writes, "The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil-Brahmi script may be dated from about the end of the 3rd century or early 2nd century B.C. on palaeographic grounds and stratigraphic evidence of inscribed pottery. The earliest inscriptions in the Tamil country written in the Tamil-Brahmi script are almost exclusively in the Tamil language."
Satyamurthy, however, has proposed that the script inside the urn may belong to 5th century B.C.




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