The bones and other materials found in 34 burial urns, which were unearthed during the ongoing third phase of excavation in Sivakalai in Thoothukudi district, have been taken to Madurai Kamaraj University’s Genetics Department for analysis to ascertain their age.
After the first two phases of the excavation carried out in Sivakalai in 2020 and 2021, during which more than 40 burial urns, earthenware, brass and iron materials were unearthed, paddy was found in some of the burial urns excavated during the second phase. Subsequent dating analysis done on the paddy fixed the age of the civilization as 3,200 years old.
In the third phase of the excavation going on since March 30 this year, 34 burial urns have been recovered from 10 pits dug in Sivakalai hillock. Since the burial urns remained closed, Excavation Field Director Prabhakaran and Professor of the Department of Genetics, MKU, Kumaresan opened them on Wednesday and examined the contents.
“The materials, including the bones, collected from the burial urns will be taken to the labs of our department for analysis to pinpoint the period,” Dr. Kumaresan said.
