Keezhadi-Cradle of Tamil Civilization-Ep-4
Keezhadi excavation is springing more surprises to archaeology and Tamil lovers equally. It is proving up to be a settlement, trading post, burial ground, industrial center all rolled into one. This could be the megapolis ancient city that we have all been imagining for so many centuries.
The recent discovery of two skeletons each measuring 75 and 95cm from the site is exciting. Normally skeletons dugout is a stark reminder of some murder mystery, but when it is from an ancient site, you cannot but gasp for breath. These have been discovered in the burial urn and have been sent for analysis of age, sex, and other details.
Animal bones have been unearthed as well, in addition to the gold coin burial. Burial urns were used in two ways, one was when dead bodies were decomposed enough or used when kids died. When dead bodies are left with just bones, they were deposited in these urns, but in the case of children, likelihood of them dying was due to disease. It could have been scientific to bury them in these urns to contain the disease spread. It is still a practiced custom not to burn the dead children but to bury them. Since these urns were small, they could accommodate these small bodies in them.
Weighing stones of 8, 18, 150, and 300gm were found in the site.
They not only did the trade but did measurably.
We were using underweight and fake weighing stones in our trade as recent as 10 years. They have now been replaced with electronic weighing scales. Imagine people conducting trade, but also did with brutal honesty, weighing those precisely. They all had a flat base, made of basalt, spherical in shape, and finely polished. We got to be really lucky to find such craftmanship in 2020 in India, and they existed two millennia ago. A furnace with iron, copper objects and glass slags strongly suggests the evidence of industrial site.
Two storeyed buildings, bone fragments, different colored pots, connection pipes, and a tiny boat were discovered. One significant thing has been the absence of any religious artifacts. It is a common fact that religion and caste were recent additions in human memory. It is heartening fact that idol worship of any kind was not performed in those ancient times. Maybe they worshipped Nature as god-like many ancient civilizations.
One thing is certain, keezhadi excavation is going to surprise and enlighten us for many years to come. It shall spread light on the customs, traditions, and living practices of our ancestors.
