News Excerpt:
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu has virtually inaugurated archaeological excavations at eight sites across the state.
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What is archaeological excavation?
- Archaeological excavation is the practice of meticulously digging and documenting cultural items buried in the earth.
- It entails lowering the earth’s strata in a controlled manner to expose artifacts, features, and buildings.
Why is archaeological excavation important?
- Archaeological excavation is significant because it offers a direct and tangible link to the past.
- The materials, characteristics, and structures uncovered during excavation may be leveraged to recreate previous human activity, social organization, and cultural traditions.
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More detail about news:
Additionally, he unveiled the findings from the Perumbalai excavations and presented the Tamil Nadu Inscriptions Volume XXVIII report.
The excavation sites are located at:
- Keeladi and its cluster (Kondagai) in Sivaganga district
- Vembakottai in Virudhunagar district
- Kilnamandi in Tiruvannamalai district
- Porpanaikottai in Pudukottai district
- Tirumalapuram in Tenkasi district
- Sennanur in Krishnagiri district
- Kongalnagaram in Tiruppur district
- Marungur in Cuddalore district
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Keeladi
- It is a tiny hamlet in the Sivaganga district in south Tamil Nadu.
- It is about 12 km south-east to the temple city of Madurai and is located along the Vaigai river.
- The excavations here from 2015 prove that an urban civilisation existed in Tamil Nadu in the Sangam age on the banks of the Vaigai river.
Vembakottai
- This site is expected to be the most revealing archaeological site as several Sangam-era artefacts were found during field exploration here.
- The findings suggest that the site could be at least 3,000 years old.
Kilnamandi
- Iron implements, mostly blades and axe heads, carnelian beads, offering pots and a stone nut-cracker were unearthed from the excavation site at Kilnamandi around 20 km from Vandavasi town in Tiruvannamalai.
- Archaeologists say the findings indicate the existence of human settlements dating back to the later phase of the Iron Age at the site.
Porpanaikottai
- Recently a second phase of excavations was started at Porpanaikottai in Pudukottai district.
- During the phase-I excavations launched in May last, several artefacts and antiquities were found at the excavation site.
- The excavation seeks to unearth an ancient fort at Porpanaikottai village that is situated a few km from Pudukottai Town.
Thirumalapuram
- Recently excavation of an archaeologically important site at Thirumalapuram in Tenkasi district began.
- Artefacts, including burial urns with bones, mud cups with lids, black and red pots, etc., were found at four-feet-depth at this spot.
- Moreover, spear, dagger, sword and knife had also been recovered from there.
Sennanur
- Works on the preliminary exploratory excavation was inaugurated at Sennanur village in Krishnagiri district.
- It came into the spotlight after bricks dating back to the Sangam period were unearthed last year.
Kongalnagaram
- The 20-acre archaeological mound is located 1 km from Kongalnagaram, Tiruppur district.
- This archaeological site features cave paintings, Iron Age monuments, and other artifacts from early stages of history, visible 2 meters above the surface.
Marungur
- This village is located in Virudhachalam taluka of Cuddalore district.
- Archaeologists will work towards finding evidence of the Iron Age in Marungur.
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