Begin typing your search...
Keezhadi might have been an industrial town: Archaeologist
The excavations at Keezhadi point to the fact that the site might have been an industrial town once, said S Santhalingam, Secretary, Pandiya Nadu Research Centre, here.
By
migrator
migrator
Madurai
He also opines that since Madurai was famous for Muslin, Keezhadi would have been the industrial town where Muslin cloth would have been manufactured.
Santhalingam has carried out extensive studies of the Keezhadi archeological site at Sivaganga district.
However, Keezhadi is not free of criticisms and wild claims by a section of scholars. One of the major claims is that there was no proof of place of worship at Keezhadi and so Tamil community did not have the tradition of worshiping any God.
Santhalingam also said that in ancient times, temples were not just the place for worship but also renamed as administrative centres just like the modern day Collectorate. When the towns along the Vaigai river bed were studied, temples were present in some of the towns such as Cholavandan, Thuvariman, Veerapandi and also Manamadurai which proved that they would have been human habitations.
Civilization is a continuous process and the towns would have developed in gradual phases. As no places of worship were found in Keezhadi it adds to the theory that Keezhadi would not have been a human habitation, said Santhalingam.
He further said that Keezhadi might have been the Madurai of ancient times and Keezhadi represents the Vaigai River civilization is entirely unacceptable.
So far, 173 sites have been excavated along Vaigai River and all the sites had yielded substantial evidence of civilization, said Santhalingam.
Keezhadi archeological site is one of the well excavated sites along the Vaigai River bed as more than 5,000 artefacts were unearthed in the first two phases of excavation. The excavation along the Vaigai River bed commenced in 2013 and in 2016-17, the second phase of excavation got completed. In the radio carbon dating method it was found that the age of Keezhadi might have been around 200 BC.
Rain hampers third phase of excavation
Ever since the third phase of excavation commenced, continuous rain hampered the excavation operations at Keezhadi, said Sriraman, Superintending archaeologists in-charge of Keezhadi archeological site.
The third phase of excavation commenced on May 27 on an area of 400 square metres with four trenches. The artefacts unearthed in the first two phases of excavation at Keezhadi had provided ample proofs for existence of a civilisation along the Vaigai river bed.
However, in the three months of excavation at Keezhadi nothing significant had emerged in the third phase. Also, no major artefacts have been unearthed from the site. It’s just that reminiscent of a few ring wells alone could be spotted at the trenches.
Speaking to DTNEXT, Sriraman said that rain played a spoilsport in the third phase of excavation.
Since water gets accumulated in the trenches, the entire workforce is used to empty out the water.
Therefore, it becomes difficult to continue the work during rain, he explained.
“In the third phase only four ring wells and a few beads were unearthed,” said Sriraman. He also said that the third phase of excavation would be completed by the end of September and according to rules as the land belongs to private persons the trenches need to be closed and handed over to the owners.
However, sources at Keezhadi said that 1200 artefacts were unearthed in the third phase but more than 1000 artefacts were just beads which have no significance in assessing the history.
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android
Next Story
