Over 900 artefacts unearthed during fifth phase of Keezhadi excavation in TN

More than 900 artefacts were unearthed during the fifth phase of the excavation in Keezhadi village in Tamil Nadu’s Sivagangai district. The fifth phase, which lasted four months, was completed on Sunday.

According to reports, the archaeologists dug up 51 trenches during the fifth phase of exploration in Keezhadi, after the state government granted an extension of 13 days. Among the artefacts unearthed were pots of different sizes, ceramic shells with inscriptions and semi-precious stone engraved with a shape of a pig, among others.

As the fifth phase was wrapped up, the state archaeological department has reportedly sought permission from the Central Advisory Board of Archaeology (CABA) to begin the sixth phase of excavation in Keezhadi. The sixth phase will include exploration in the villages of Manalur, Konthagai and Agaram in the district.

The news about the results of the fourth phase of excavation at Keezhadi provided a spike in the number of visitors to the site. Around 12,000 visitors have toured the spot over weekends while the number of visitors hovered around 2,000-3,000 during weekdays. The sudden increase in interest around Keezhadi has also resulted in unidentified drones flying over the site and some videographing or photographing the structures.

Recently, the state archaeological department released a report on the Keezhadi excavations, which stated that there might be a possible link between the scripts of Indus Valley Civilisation and the Tamil Brahmi script, a precursor to the modern Tamil script. Another landmark discovery that was reported recently from Keezhadi was the existence of an urban civilisation on the riverbed of Vaigai that was contemporary to the Gangetic plain civilisation. 

The discovery is crucial because it has long been speculated that people from the Indus Valley Civilisation might have moved down south around 1500 BCE (before common era) after the collapse of the civilisation. The script used by its people was called the Indus script and experts have speculated for a long time that language used by the people in Indus Valley Civilisation could be Dravidian. The recent discoveries from Keezhadi show a possible link between the two cultures.