Nine perforated terracotta pipes, stacked one above the other, have been found during the archaeological excavation at Korkai, an ancient site, in Thoothukudi district.
The diameter and the height of the pipes were both 27 cms. “The pipes stacked in an orderly manner have a thickness of one centimetre. They were found 30-35 cm below the surface and would have probably been used for distillation,” said Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu, who is also in-charge-of Archaeology. There are perforations on the pipes.
He said missionary-scholar Robert Caldwell, the author A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, first conducted archaeological excavation in Korkai in 1876 and unearthed burial urns. “The next excavation was done in 1968 and the carbon dating of the objects found that the site belonged to 7th century BC,” Mr Thennarasu said.
Korkai was the port of the Pandiya Kingdom. “There is reference to Korkai in Sangam literature. We have the advantage of supporting our findings with literary reference,” he said.
