A select portion of rare artefacts dating back to 2nd century B.C. to 3rd century A.D. , discovered at Pattarai Perambadur, a small village in Tiruvallur on the city’s western outskirts, will be on display at the city’s museums.
Visitors to the three museums can have a glimpse of rare artefacts, which include Roman’s rouletted ware, conical jar and lid knob of various sizes, all excavated by the Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department a few months ago, at the site.
The artefacts will be open for public view at three sites — site museum in Poondi (Tiruvallur), the Government Museum at Egmore and a museum maintained at the Tamil Nadu State Archeology Department at its headquarters in the city.
In fact, the site museum in Poondi is the country’s first pre-historic museum, located along the Kosasthalaiyar river in Tiruvallur.
Pre-Christian era
During the excavation, archaeologists found layers of artefact belonging to civilizationsbeginning from the pre-Christian era.
“Currently, artefacts found from the excavation site are being documented. Once the process is complete, most of the collections will be displayed at the site museum in Poondi,” D. Jagannathan, Commissioner in-charge, Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department, told The Hindu .
At present, the Poondi museum, established in 1985, has a few dozen pre-historic artefacts like Sarcophagi-Urn burials, stone tools of various sizes from Palaeolithic Age, Neolithic celts and Megalithic pottery like storage pots and cups.
Most of these artefacts, found in nearby areas like Attirampakkam and Gudiyam caves, were proof of the existence of pre-historic man there, archaeologists said.
Discoveries from Pattarai Perambadur include conical jars, hopscotch, lid knobs in various sizes, a deer horn, beads made of terracotta, stone and glass, copper nails with gold coating, neck ornaments made of iron, terracotta wheel and 23 feet-deep ring well.
Of the over 200 objects found at the excavation site, a broken piece of rouletted ware (Roman’s household ware) and perforated conical jar drew the attention of archaeologists as they believe the site located along the dry Kosasthalaiyar river might have been a key trade route connecting Romans with the rest of India.
Archaeologists honoured
In recognition of their tireless effort in unearthing new findings on Roman’s trade link deep into inland, T.K. Ramachandran, Secretary, Department of Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments, Government of Tamil Nadu, felicitated the excavation team of Pattarai Perambadur for their discovery.
The team comprised R. Sivanantham, deputy director of the Department, J. Baskar, archaeological officer (Chennai), J. Ranjith, Arcot curator and P. Baskar, epigraphist, Poombuhar.
