Govind TekaleTN CM MK Stalin is in the forefront regarding ancient things. First he announced a prize of $1 million to the person who deciphers the Indus script. Now he has come out with the news that TN may be the birthplace of the Iron Age.
He was referring to the study “Antiquity of Iron: Recent Radiometric Dates from Tamil Nadu” by K Rajan and R Siva Nathan. He released the study at Chennai Thursday. Stalin said, “We have scientifically established that iron was introduced 5,000 years ago in the Tamil landscape. The Iron Age began in Tamil Nadu.”
New dating of charcoal found with iron objects from burial urns at Sivagalai in Thoothukudi district near the southern tip of India reveals dates of 3345 BCE to 3259 BCE. The Hittite empire (Turkey) was believed to have first used iron in 1380 BCE according to findings so far. But the samples from Sivamalai push back the Iron Age date by 2,000 years.
The Sivagalai samples were analysed by three leading research labs – Beta Analytics in the US, Physical Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad and Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeontology in Lucknow. Stalin asserted, “They all dated the objects around the same period.” He added that more metallurgical analysis of the iron objects and future excavation in iron ore-bearing zones could further strengthen these findings.
TN Archaeology Department study has revealed that more than 90% of the ancient graffiti marks found in 140 archaeological sites in the state have parallels or similarities with those of Indus Valley civilisation that existed from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE.
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Archaeologist Rajan, the co-author of the report, said, “The recent radiocarbon dates indicate that when the Indus Valley experienced the Copper Age, south India was in the Iron Age. In this sense, the Iron Age of south India and the Copper Age of the Indus were contemporary.”
Rakesh Tewari, former Director General of ASI (Archaeological Survey of India), described the Sivamalai findings as “a turning point” in Indian archaeology. Advanced techniques such as accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dating for charcoal and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating for ceramics were used to analyse the iron objects from Sivagalai.
The iron objects included knives, arrowheads, rings, chisels, axes, and swords. They were more than 85 in number. Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti, emeritus professor of South Asian Archaeology at Cambridge University, said, “About 60 years ago, the antiquity of iron in India did not go beyond the 6th century BCE. From then to the 25th century BCE is a big jump.”
Tamil Nadu archaeology department’s study shows more than 90% of the ancient graffiti marks found at 140 archaeological sites in the state have parallels or similarities with those of Indus Valley. TN CM MK Stalin says, “We have scientifically established that the Iron Age was introduced 5,300 years ago in the Tamil landscape. The Iron Age began from Tamil land.” According to ASI former DG Rakesh Tewari, it’s a turning point in Indian archaeology.
