KODUMANAL
EXCAVATION YIELDS A BONANZA AGAIN
The artefacts
unearthed reveal an industrial complex that existed around fourth century BCE
Kodumanal
in Erode district never stops yielding.
Renewed
archaeological excavation in the village in April and May this year by the
Department of History, Pondicherry University, has yielded a bonanza again. The
artefacts unearthed from four trenches in the habitational mound have revealed
an industrial complex that existed around fourth century BCE. The industries in
the complex made iron and steel, textiles, bangles out of conch-shells and
thousands of exquisite beads from semi-precious stones such as sapphire, beryl,
quartz, lapis-lazuli, agate, onyx, carnelian and black-cat eye, and ivory.
Terracotta
spindle whorls for spinning cotton and a thin gold wire were found in the
complex, which has also thrown up 130 potsherds with Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions,
including 30 with Tamil-Brahmi words.
All of them
are personal names. They include ‘Saba Magadhai Bammadhan,' ‘Saathan,'
‘Visaki,' ‘Siligan,' ‘Uranan' and ‘Tissan.' A prized artefact is a big pot with
a superbly etched Tamil-Brahmi script in big letters reading, ‘Samban Sumanan.'
Industrial
site
K. Rajan,
Professor of History, Pondicherry University, who was director of excavation at
Kodumanal, said: “Nowhere else do we come across such an industrial complex.
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