Excavations on the Noyyal river bed at Kodumanal village in Chennimalai Union have revealed that iron smelting units were present in large numbers, as furnaces and other processing materials were unearthed here on Saturday.
A team from the State Department of Archaeology, Chennai, led by J. Ranjith, Archaeology Officer and Project Director for the Kodumanal excavation and K. Suresh, Archeological Officer, has identified two iron smelting furnaces, air blow pipes, iron melting pipes, earthen pots, storage containers, huge deposits of iron slag, crucible pot, all just in 10 cm depth.
Unlike the earlier excavations that were done about 500 metres from the river, the current excavation, that began on February 26, is being done on the river bed to study the earlier human settlements in the area. “Furnaces in which iron ore is heated at 1,800 degree Celsius, after which iron melts into crucible pots, were found”, said Mr. Ranjith.
The team had dug 28 quadrants and unearthed six copper coins, over 1,000 antiquities and graffitis. “The river bed could be the place of earlier settlement after which due to flooding or other reasons, humans had moved away from the river”, he added. The officer said that mass industrial activity had taken place at Kodumanal as units were involved in making iron, terracotta, copper and beads. “The current excavation shows the presence of iron smelting units in large numbers”, he added.
The team is also digging a rubble masonry wall measuring over 30 metres to identify whether it had served as a waterway in the habitation.
