RAMANATHAPURAM
A team of local amateur archaeologists has discovered celt and other artefacts, said to belong to Megalithic age and Sangam period, at Bogalur near here.
The team of archaeologists of Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation, led by its president V. Rajaguru, found the artefacts near the Mullaikottai Muneeswarar Temple on the banks of Kaathan odai.
“This is the first new stone age artefacts discovered in the district and the findings clearly indicated that neolithic or new stone age people led a settled life in the area till the Sangam age,” Mr. Rajaguru told The Hindu .
After schoolteachers Gandhi and Bhoominathan informed about potsherds strewn in an area of 40 acres near the temple, he, along with association secretary Gnanakalimuthu and research scholar Hari Gopalakrishnan, conducted an exploration and found the celt and other artefacts.
The stone celt measured 7 cm in length and 5.5 cm in width, he said, adding it was also found well-polished and sharpened. The tool had some holes in the upper portion and this could be due to long use. The tool would have been used with a wooden handle, he added.
The team also found a grinding stone, sling stone, graffiti marked potsherds, pot stand, black and red potsherds, spindle whorls, hopscotches, broken part of terracotta kettle, terracotta handle, piece of deer horn, iron ore and iron slags. The iron-based artefacts indicated that megalithic age people also lived in the area, he said.
A black and red potsherd had the graffiti of Tamil Brahmi letter and another had trident graffiti and these artefacts could be 2,000 years old and belong to the Sangam period, he said.
The sling stone was in use since new stone age and it was used for hunting as well as safety, he said.
A lush green Miswak, a medicinal plant native to Palai, one of the five landscapes of Sangam period, was found in the area. He suggested that it was an ideal location for exaction by the Archaeological Survey of India or the State Department of Archaeology, he said.
