Burrial urns which were 2800 years old were discovered in Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu last year. These urns contained human bones and were decorated with a series of motifs. A three-tier burrial system was also discovered in which earlier generations were burried in urns at 10 ft depth and recent ones above them. Besides the motifs, the urns also had inscriptions based on Tamil-Brahmi.
Now the Archaeological Survey of India has located the habitational site of these people who were burried in urns.
Two things are confirmed, he said. First, the settlement was inside a fortified town. “The fortification wall has been traced. There is a regular alignment wall.” Second, the potters’ quarters have been found inside the fortification wall. Discovery of three potter’s kilns with ash, charcoal and broken pots showed wet pots/urns were baked with fire. Artefacts, including an iron knife, carnelian beads, terracotta beads, couex beads, bone implements and potsherds with graffiti have also come to light.
According to Mr. Satyamurthy, the urn-burial site could be dated “to about 1,000 B.C,” that is 3,000 years ago. “Contemporary to that, we have got the habitational site.”
The discovery of a fortification wall, that is a rampart, and three potter’s kilns confirmed that it was a habitational site. The fortification wall is packed inside with mud.
On the outside, it is packed with stones in an irregular manner.
The kilns have revealed holes to hold posts, thick coating of ash from burnt timber, “a lot of charcoal” and broken pots.
A smith’s shop was located in another trench and there were touchstones to make beads. In one place, about 100 beads made of couex (an organic material) were discovered for the first time.
The floors found in trenches were made of hard reddish clay and coated with cow dung. Ms. Gayathri said the fortification wall separated the industrial area from the habitational site.
Mr. Satyamurthy said: “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 might have been an urban centre.” [Iron Age habitational site found at Adichanallur]
The article in The Hindu has photos of site and some artifacts that were retrieved from there.
