Adichanallur
Encyclopedia
Adichanallur is an archaeological site
near Tirunelveli
in Tamil Nadu
, India
. The town is known locally as Aathichanallur, and has been the site of a number of very important archeological digs.
Later, a three-tier burial system was discovered in which earlier generations were buried in urns at 10 feet depth and recent ones above them. Soon the habitation site of the people who were buried was also discovered recently.
Analyzing the habitation site, it was understood that people lived in a fortified town and it had a separate potters quarters. There was also evidence of industrial activity and archaeologists think that it was a crowded busy town. Sherd
s were also found with writings in Tamil-Brahmi
scripts.
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
near Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu...
in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The town is known locally as Aathichanallur, and has been the site of a number of very important archeological digs.
Archaeological excavations
In 2004, a number of skeletons dating from around 3,800 years ago were found buried in earthenware urns. More than 160 urns have been found. These urns also contained writing, which according to some ASI archaeologists, is "very rudimentary" Tamil Brahmi.Later, a three-tier burial system was discovered in which earlier generations were buried in urns at 10 feet depth and recent ones above them. Soon the habitation site of the people who were buried was also discovered recently.
Analyzing the habitation site, it was understood that people lived in a fortified town and it had a separate potters quarters. There was also evidence of industrial activity and archaeologists think that it was a crowded busy town. Sherd
Sherd
In archaeology, a sherd is commonly a historic or prehistoric fragment of pottery, although the term is occasionally used to refer to fragments of stone and glass vessels as well....
s were also found with writings in Tamil-Brahmi
Tamil-Brahmi
Tamil-Brahmi, or Damili is an early phonetic script used to write Tamil characters. It is a variant of many Brahmi scripts used throughout South Asia, namely Ashokan Brahmi, Southern Brahmi, Bhattiprolu script and the Sri Lankan based Sinhala-Brahmi. It is known from surviving inscribed cave beds,...
scripts.
Site Museum
New initiative involves setting up of site museums. “Efforts are on to set up museums in the very places from where significant objects are excavated, the ASI has a huge collection of materials like urns excavated from Adichanallur. “At present, they are lying in Chennai. The idea is to set up a museum in Adichanallur itself and putting on display whatever had been excavated from there.”External links
- Archialogical Survey of India's Page on Adichanallur excavations
- Rudimentary Tamil-Brahmi script unearthed at Adichanallur - The Hindu, Feb 17, 2005
- Iron Age habitational site found at Adichanallur - The Hindu, Apr 03, 2005
- Some pottery parallels - Spread of material culture from south to Deccan? - The Hindu, May 25, 2007