INTRODUCTION

Archaeology provides us with the opportunity to learn about past cultures through

the study of artifacts, animal bones and litrary works. One of the first sites to undergo

archaeological excavations was Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments in England.

John Aubery was a pioneer archaeologist who recorded numerous megalithic and other

field monuments in southern England. later many archaeologists made several excavations

in and around England.

Then comes the period of William Cunnington [1754-1810], and Sir William

Flinders Petrie [1814-1893] they both made archaeology more modern, Sir William

Flinders Petrie was considered as the father of archaeology. Petrie was the first to

scientifically investigate the great pyramid in Egypt. Petrie developed the system of dating

layers based on pottery and ceramic findings; he laid down many of ideas behind modern

archaeological recording. After the later half of the 20 th century archaeology became more

modern and the study of archaeology became very popular across the world. In India

archaeology was now an important subject but its seed is sown by British.

Archaeology in India :

Study of archaeology begin in British India. Sir William Johns, came to India as a

judge of the supreme court, under the Governel-general warren Hastings, Jones was a

linguistic genius. He founded Asiatic society of India with Charles Wilkins and Alexander

Hamilton as early members of it. At their begining years Bengal society focused on

linguistic and litrary research, however on later 19 th century the Bengal society begin to

turn some of its attention to the material remains of India’s past. Company’s surveyors
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brought back many reports of temples, caves, and shrines to Calcutta they also bought

early coins and copies of inscription in long dead scripts.

In 1831 James Prinsep, an official of the Calcutta mint and secretary of the Asiatic

society of Bengal, interpreted for the first time the earliest brahmin script and was able to

read the edicts of aska the great. Among Prinsep’s colleagues in the work of decipherment

was a young officer of the royal engineers, Alexaner Cunningham . Alexander established

ASI [Archaeological Survey of India] he developed archaeological studies and made

several excavations and research on Indian culture and ancient past, he was called as father

of Indian archaeology.

ASI administers more than 3650 monuments, archaeological sites and remains of

national important. ASI divided into 36 circles. Besides the ASI there were state

archaeological departments which alongside ASI maintains monuments within state. Tamil

Nadu State Department of Archaeology [TNSDA] is the archaeology department of

Government of Tamil Nadu. It was founded in 1961, the department is headed by an Indian

Administrative Service [IAS] officer with the designation commissioner for archaeology

and conducts archaeological excavations in the state of Tamil Nadu.

So far TNSDA has excavated more than 32 sites, Kodumanal which we have taken

for the project was one among that. Kodumanal is a village located on Erode district. Erode

district itself has rich culture and Prosperes land.

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History of Erode :

Erode district lies on extreme north of Tamil Nadu. It is bounded mostly by

Karnataka state also river palar covers pretty long distance. To the East lies Namakkal and

Karur districts. Erode district was once a part of Coimbatore district. Together with the

area comprised in the Coimbatore district, it formed the part of ancient Kongu region. The

history of Kongu Nadu goes back to the Sangam Era. In the early days, the regions were

occupied by tribes like “Kosars”, whom the Rashtrakuta rulers defeated to set foot in the

region.  The capital of the Kosars was ‘Kosamputhur’ or the modern day ‘Coimbatore’. 

Chola rulers defeated the Rashtrakutas to set foot in Kongu and during the time of

Raja Chola, it reached the height of supremacy. Later this area was controlled by

Chalukya, Pandyas and Hoysalas. Kula sekara Pandian was the last independent Pandya

ruler and then Erode came under the rule of the Muslim rulers of Delhi. But, only after a

few days, the Vijayanagar Kingdom gained the control of Erode in 1378 CE. The Madurai

Nayaks ruled Erode from 1559 to 1736. The Mysore Rulers like Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan

also ruled Erode.

During the time of Hydar Ali, Erode had an estimated population of 1500 and there

were 300 houses in the town. The town also had a mud fort which stationed a garrison of

4000 soldiers. The fort was surrounded by coconut grooves and River cauvery. Due to the

attacks by the Marathas, Mysore Army and finally the British East India Company, the fort

was almost ruined.

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Erode Under the British

After the fall of Tipu Sultan in 1799, the kongu Region came under the direct

control of the East India Company, and it restored the power of the Maharaja of Mysore to

rule the region, but kept direct control. Within a year of the British control, peace was

restored and people came back to Erode. The town grew in size and population. The

garrison ultimately withdrew in the year 1807 and the ruined fort was also leveled by the

British in the year 1877, during the relief works for the famine in the same year. Until the

independence of India in 1947, Erode was under the direct rule of the British rulers. Erode

city was widely known for its handloom products, but after the British rule, the traders

were introduced to power loom and only after India’ independence, the dominance of

power looms increased in the city. Both the East India Company and the British rulers

considered Erode as an important trading center of South India.

The district comprises a long undulating plain, sloping gently towards the cauvery

River in the south-east. The three major tributaries of the cauvery,

the Bhavani, Noyyal and Amaravati, run across the long stretch of mountains in the north.

In combination with these rivers, numerous canals, the Bhavanisagar Dam and

the kodhaveri Dam provide irrigation and drainage for Erode.

Noyyal River :

The Noyyal River is a small river in Western Tamil Nadu, and a tributary of Kaveri

River. It rises from the Vellingiri hills in the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu, very closely to

Kerala border, and flows through many villages and cities of Coimbatore, Tirupur and

Erode finally draining into the Kavei river at Noyyal, a village in Karur district named after

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the river itself. The river is 183 km long and covers a total area of 1,800 Sq.Km, Noyyal

contains two major dam Orathuppalayam and Aathupalayam Dam commissioned in the

aim of irrigating about 20,000 acres of land in Tirupur and Karur districts.

Archaeology in erode

Archaeological excavation was conducted in kodumanal village of Erode district.

Kodumanal was a once flourishing city of cheras which lies in a trade route connecting

Chera capital Karur with Chera port of muciri. Kodumanal came to limelight in 1961, the

site was first noticed by ‘’V. N. Srinivasa Desikan , ASI,’’ first excavation took place on

1985. Professor K. Rajan of Pondicherry University made significant discoveries in this

site.

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 CHAPTER - 1

KODUMANAL – 2300 YEAR OLD TRADE CITY

Kodumanal [11 6’ 42’’N, 7 30’ 51’’E] in perundurai taluk, erode Dt., is located on

the north bank of the river Noyal, a tributary of the river Kaveri. It is about 15 km west of

Chennimalai, a famous weaving centre and 40 km southwest of erode. This ancient site

comprises a habitation area of 50 acres and burial complex containing 10 burials scattered

over an area of 100 acres on the eastern side of the habitation. It was once a flourishing

ancient trade city known as kodumanam, as inscribed in patittrupathu of Sangam literature.

‘’kodumanam patta vinaimaan arungalam panthar payantha palar pugal mutham’’

[74:5-6] -Kabilar,patittrupathu

it was once a flourishing Chera city lying on the ancient trade route connecting the

Chera capital of karur with the Chera port of musiri, which is present-day pattnam Kerala.

the inhabitants of this destroyed ancient city of Chera dynasty were highly skilled

craftsman, who were specialized in making beads and high-quality iron. The place is an

important archaeological site, under the control of state archaeological department of

Tamil Nadu.

Two culture periods of kodumanal :

The department of epigraphy and archaeology of the Tamil university conducted

excavations in the years 1985-90 and opened 48 trenches in the habitation and 13 burials.

besides, the Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department opened six habitation trenches and

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three more burials. On the basis of culture remains the deposit was divided into two

periods

Two Culture Periods :

• Megalithic period BC 300 – AD 100

• Early historic period AD 100- AD 300

Megalithic period BC 300 – AD 100:

Megaliths refer to large stone structures that were constructed either as burial sites

or as commemorative sited. The megalithic culture lasted from the Neolithic stone age to

eary historic period [2500 BC to CE 200] across the world. In india, the majority of the

megalithics are of the iron age. Megalithics spread across peninsular india, concentrated in

states of maharastra [mainly vidarba], Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Kerala, Andrapradesh and

Telungana. As part of sangam age kodumanal was also part of megalithic culture,

megalithic period in kodumanal previles from BC 300 – AD 100.

The megalithic period had the iron and steel industry, the iron and steel furnaces

and iron artefacts produced in these places revealed the technical advancement made by

the iron smelters around 300 BC. The excavated sword bit contained spheroidal graphite

phase and forge welding of high-carbon cutting edge. This place was once celebrated for

its trade in precious stones like garnet, carnelian, Lapis lazuli, sapphire and quartz. The

people of this city were experts in manufacturing the finest iron. The Tamil Brahmi

inscriptions were commonly found during this period. Thus, it conforms industrial based

economy prevailed in this period.

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Early historic period AD 100 – AD 300:

The early historic kodumanal has seen some diminish in these industries. people of

kodumanal started to focus on agriculture and many granaries were found during this

period, very little of Brahmi inscriptions were found on this period. Terracotta and glass

objects, storage, blackware and redware were found during this period. some researchers

states that people started to evacuate ancient city after this period.

Kodumanal in sangam literature:

By far, the most important source of ancient Tamil history is the corpus of Tamil

poems, referred to as Sangam literature, generally dated from the last centuries of the pre-

Christian era to the early centuries of the Christian era. It consists of 2381 known poems,

with a total of over 50000 lines, written by 473 poets. Each poem belongs to one of two

types: Akam (inside) and Puram (outside). The akam poems deal with inner human

emotions such as love and the puram poems deal with outer experiences such as society,

culture and warfare. They contain descriptions of various aspects of life in the ancient

Tamil country.

litrary evidences are one of the major source for the ancient history, kodumanal

also got some of them infact the first excavation which was done by V. N. Srinivasa

Desikan, ASI, as far back as 1961 was started with the help of litrary sources. He first

found the information of kodumanal in the tamil sangam litratures like patittrupattru and

puranaanuru.

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‘’kodumanam patta vinaimaan arungalam panthar payantha palar pugal mutham’’

- [74:5]Kabilar,patittrupathu

This lines from the sangam literature patitturupathu tells about the legacy of this

ancient city, it shows the city was once a flourishing trade city and a manufacture hub of

wootz steel, it shows the how the fine quality beads were manufactured in this ancient city.

‘’kolkalirral kappudaiya velummurkkip ponniyar punaitottian’’

-puranaanuru

This lines from the puranaanuru describes the ferrules covering the tusks of

elephants were made of steel. Which shows the usage of steels in the ancient kodumanal,

which means it also conforms the manufacture of steel in here. The steel that was

manufactured here was wootz steel which have high carbon contentment and it is the most

valuble steels.

Brahmi script and connection with North India:

It is generally believed that south India entered into the historic phase around c. 3rd

c. BCE. This is because of the historical presence there of emperor Ashoka of the Maurya

Dynasty [whose capital was located In Patali Putra on the ganga river in the present state of

Bihar] whose inscription mention political entities in the deep south. Since those epigraphs

are found in the adjacent regions of Karnataka and Andra, it has been argued that writing

too was introduced into south India during his rule. Ashoka's epigraphs are in the Brahmi

script, one of the two earliest writing systems of ancient India.

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 Kodumanals excavation in recent years, however, have rendered that understanding

as completely invalid. The site yield 5 AMS* [Accelerator Mass Spectrometry] dates of

200 BCE, 275 BCE, 300 BCE and 330 BCE and 408 BCE [all uncalibrated] for the

samples collected from well stratified layers respectively at the depth of 15 cm, 60 cm, 65

cm, 80 cm, 120 cm. These come from layers which yielded a considerable number of pot

potsherds bearing inscriptions in the Tami Brahmi script. The excavation has yielded more

than 600 Tamil Brahmi inscribed shreds. The name on this pot shreds, in several instance,

have affiliations with names from the north and central India. There is excellent evidence

to argue that this commercial centre had well established trade and cultural contact with the

middle Gangatic plains in the 5th BCE.

Foreign Trade in Kodumanal :

Kodumanal played a major role in indo-roman trade and relations, as the ancient

city is located on the midway of a roman trade route, linking muziris port on Malabar coast

with kaveripoompattinam [Puhar] port in the coromandel coast.

• The romans reached muziries by ship and crossing western ghats reaching

kovanputhur [now known as Coimbatore] from where would follow noyyal river to reach

Kaveri River, and to Puhar and other places like kodumanal and arikamedu

Kodumanal was one of the earliest wootz steel centres of world. Wootz steel, a

form of carbon steel, was a prized, highly durable speciality of ancient India, must sought-

after in the west. The archaeologists say there was constant movement of foreign traders

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between Chennimalai, where there are iron deposits, and Kodumanal where the ore was

processed’ and from where finished items were exported. Reference to wootz steel in

Sangam and Roman literature indicate that Roman Egypt imported its finest steel from

here.

Not only iron, ancient kodumanal also produced textiles. A number of terracotta

cotton spindles pierced through the centre with an iron rod have been unearthed here.

Incredibly, a well-preserved piece of actual cotton has been found. it is believed to be

2,200 years old.

More proof of kodumanal’s trade links comes in the form of roman coins, dug up in hoards

as well as single pieces. The town lay on a trade route frequently by roman merchant's,

who came to buy beryl, quartz and other stones. Goods to be exported to the west were

carried by road to the Chera port of muziris [pattinam] on the west coast near Thrissur, and

went by ships.

Goods from south-east Asia were carried east to karur, capital of Chera kingdom,

then to poompuhar near the mouth of the Kaveri, and then overseas. Judging by the trade

pattern, and as is suggested by finds of beryl jewellery in eastern Europe and elsewhere,

kodumanals exports went a long way. Although kodumanal is on the noyyal, a tributary of

the Kaveri, the river was not used for shipping. The noyyal is shallow, rocky and has

strong currents, so the trade route followed its banks.

Wootz steel in kodumanal :

‘wootz’ is known to be an anglicized version of ‘ukku’, the word of steel in south

india. The term ‘ukku’ may derive from ‘urukku’, used to describe fused or melted metal

in tamil sangam literature dated broadly from about the 5th century AD, while accounts of

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the greek zosimos of the early Christian era suggests that the indians used crucible process

to make metal for the swords, i.e. steel. Pliny’s ‘Natural History’ talks of iron from the

Seres which may refer to the ancient south Indian kingdom of the Cheras who are referred

to in Sangamtexts.

While Thelma Lowe, most of all, and others have made crucial studies on the

mechanisms of late medieval Deccani wootz production, there still remains much to be

investigated and clearly established concerning the antiquity of wootz steel in India and on

the identification of ancient artefacts of wootz. It is significant that there are a couple of

analyses reported in early excavation reports from some megalithic sites in southern India

of iron artefacts with 1-2% carbon (for eg. two javelins from megalithic Andhra Pradesh

mentioned in Sundara 1999);however further investigations with micro-structural evidence

may be required to ascertain if these can be taken as conclusive evidence for wootz steel.

But the investigation by k.Rajan of tamil university has changed the entire history

of iron technology in india, he excavated kodumanal and found some crucible furnace in

there, it shows that how farer the iron and steel industry had grown in the ancient trade city

kodumanal, there is a belief that the iron for the qudup-minar had been taken from

kodumanal region. This shows that how the people of ancient city were knowledgeble in

steel making, this shows that the greatest of steel, the wootz steel had been manufactured

in kodumanal,

Tamil classical works purananuru v.13. [kolkalirral kappudaiya velummurkkip

ponniyar punaitottian, i.e. the ferrules covering the tusks of elephants were made of steel]

refer to artifact made of urrukku. The urrukku which we called here was the wootz steel.

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So we can clearly tell the presence of iron and steel manufactured wootz steel as well as

they have traded the wootz steel to roman and greek countrys.

Modern day kodumanal:

At present kodumanal is a tiny, unassuming village. Agriculture in the locality

consists of dry cultivation, dependent on monsoon rains supplemented by well irrigation.

The raising of cattle and sheep is a concomitant feature, which more than supplements the

meagre income from agriculture. But however, before the archaeological excavation

modern day kodumanal is just a piece of barren land, but now after the excavation the

kodumanal became one of the important places in India, there are multiple daily bus

services to the outside world, one might say that archaeology has brought the village from

the past to present.

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 CHAPTER 2

EXCAVATION AND SITES

Kodumanal, a non-descript village located about 15 km away from erode in

western Tamil nadu, is in the spotlight 1961, when the Archaeological Survey of India

[ASI] made the first dig after noticing antique materials scattered on the barren land. The

antiquity of kodumanal was first noticed by ‘’V. N. Srinivasa Desikan, ASI,’’ as far back

as 1961. After that early in 1980 a trial excavation was made on the site by the state

archaeology department of Tamil nadu whose results, however, have been reported only

briefly by the director of the department, R. Nagaswamy.

It was only S. Raju, Tamil scholar and then Professor of epigraphy, Tamil

University, Tanjavur, who brought out the fact that the barren land was a treasure trove of

antiques, following which excavations began in 1985 for first time.

The course of excavation:

The habitation-cum-burial site was excavated in ten seasons during the years 1985,

1986, 1989, 1990,1997,2012,2013 and most recently in 2021. K.Rajan ,professor of

history, Pondicherry university, sphere headed many excavations and made a significant

discovery over the years, including that kodumanal was known for its gemstone industries

Archaeologists identified two major areas- one that served as a habitation-cum-

industrial area, and the other, megalithic burial sites, the barren land is given life when the

excavation sparks interest among many who want to learn about the ancient civilizations

and their culture. Visitors would find menhirs at the entrance, welcoming the people of the

present to see the past.

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Latest excavation by J. Ranjith:

A 10-member team led by j. Ranjith, archaeology officer and excavation officer of

kodumanal excavation, from the state department of archaeology, Chennai, once again

begun excavating the village on February 26. The work was halted due to the lock down on

June 12, and the team has so far unearthed 1,535 antique items till that date. After the lock-

down was lifted the work continued, this latest season the b10 of the excavation ended on

September 30.

More than two acres of land were excavated as part of the project and in this 10th

phase alone more than 2,000 artifacts were excavated, over 9000 artifacts were excavated

from the site. A total of 662 broken bangles [444 made of glass, 217 shells and one

terracotta], 348 full shapes, one broken and 5 unfinished beads [214 glasses, 38 shell, 36

paste, nine carnelians, four stone, 19 amethyst, 12 terracotta, 10 quartzes, each one of

smoking quartz, jasper, bone and agate and three soapstones], 53 rings 190 iron objects

[161 nail, 14 chisel, 11 knife, one each of took and small bowl and two unknowns], 118

pottery pieces, 83 terracotta items, 28 copper items, 15 coins and two stone objects have

been unearthed

Megalithic sites in kodumanal:

Megalithic tomb's:

The kodumanal excavation of 10 pots, placed outside three-chambered burial cists

and inside the Carian-circle, threw light on burial rituals and concept of afterlife in

megalithic culture. A team led by Ranjith, archaeology officer and project director for

kodumanal excavation has identified 250 carin-circles at the village in erode district.

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 The rectangular chambered cists, each two meters long and six meters wide, are

made of stone slaps, and entire grave is surrounded by boulders that form a circle.

Archaeologists said that “the grave could be of a village head of the community as the size

of two boulders, each facing east and west, are bigger than other boulders,’’. Believing that

the deceased person will get a new life after death, pots and bowls filled with grains were

placed outside the chamber. And also, the archaeologist's states that this is the first time

they found 10 pots near the cists during the excavation in the state. They also confirmed

that multi-ethic groups lived in the village.

DR. Rajan and his team also excavated two megalithic graves at kodumanal, which

revealed cist-burial. The first grave has a cairn circle [rocks formed in the form of circle]

on the surface, entombing a double cist below. The cists are box-like structure of granite

slabes as roofs.

The first grave has an outer circle of stone Slabes planted vertically In ground.

Some of this stone slabs were actually tall menhir's, which have been destroyed. The inner

circle is a wall liked structure. Below are two cists with trapezium-shaped port-holes

scooped out of their front Slabes. The two cists have common passage. The cists contained

disintegrated human bones. The funerary objects found inside are a four-legged jar, ring

stand, dish-on-stand, iron objects and etched or plain carnelian beads. Broken pots and

bowls lay outside the cists.

The second grave has a main cist, and two subsidiary cists. Each has a capstone

roof. While the main cist was of a transepted variety, the others, erected on the either side

of the main cist, were simple ones. There was a cairn-circle on the top to mark the graves

below, but the stones are no longer there. Interestingly, one of the cists, facing south, has a

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port-hole in the shape of a key-hole. The other two cists have circular and trapezium-

shaped portholes. Inside the cists were button and barrel-shaped carnelian beads and

smoky quartz beads.

2,300-Year-old step-well in kodumanal:

Archaeologists have found a 2,300-year-old step well at kodumanal. The circle-

shaped well was unearthed at 2.36 meters depth and is 2.65 meters wide, a flight of 13

steps, which was constructed using weathered rocks, slopes down from the ground to the

well that served the habitation. Two rubble masonry walls measuring 9.30 metres exist on

both sides of the steps. Scientific dating done there revealed that the well is nearly 2,300

years old.

Industrial sites in kodumanal:

Gemstone industry:

Both the habitation cutting and the megaliths yielded beads made of semi-precious

stones. Beads of sapphire, beryl, agate, carnelian, amethyst, lapis lazuli, jasper, garnet,

soapstone and quartz were collected from the habitation whereas beads of carnelian and

agate were restricted to burials. Carnelian beads, mostly of etched variety, were found in

large number in megaliths [p1, 1]. For instance, meg.2 yielded 80 beads, meg.5, about

2220 and meg.10, about 1000. The occurrence of 2220 Carnelian beads in a single burial

may be the first instance of its kind in India.

Broken pieces of rock Crystel occurred in the habitation trenches through the

deposit. Quite a variety of quartz objects has been noticed: finished as well as semi-

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finished [p1,11]. Roughly shaped balls, cylindrical discs, rings, truncated cones, blades,

etc, strangely. All these were found only in the habitation area and none from megaliths.

This may perhaps show that the people attached some ritualistic or faith to the carnelian

beads. The absence of the raw material like carnelian and lapis lazuli in this region

suggests that this have been brought from Gujarat and Afghanistan or Baluchistan

respectively; through trade.

The limited area of excavation restricted to 29 trenches in the 50 acres habitation

mound could not locate the actual manufacturing centre. However, one trench [A1]. Placed

in the central part of the mound, yielded two interesting circular pits dug into the natural

soil and filled with sand[P1,3]. Quite near to this another pit yielded a heap of rock-crystal

chips. Beads at different manufacturing stages, finished and semi-finished, drilled and

undrilled, polished and unpolished, occurring along with the raw material and discarded

chips, clearly demonstrate that these were manufactured locally at kodumanal.

Even to this day, the rock crystal beads are bored by using simple instruments like

needle flexed with diamond point [borer] and bow drill. The bead to be drilled is fixed on

wax, and, while boring water kept in a coconut shell is made to drip on the bead to cool it.

The kodumanal beads were bored from either side to make a single hole of hourglass

section. The same technique is still followed in the bead making centres of Tirupur,

kangayam and Tiruchirappalli. The use of simple instruments and the long survival of this

tradition in the vicinity of kodumanal recalls the technology adopted in ancient days.

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Iron industry:

Numerous iron slags scattered in an area of 100sq.m was found on the southern

edge of the habitation mound. One of the three trenches laid at this place yielded a circular

base of a furnaced at the depth of 65cm right on the natural soil. This circular portion was

distinguished by white colour. Caused perhaps due to high temperature. The circular

portion had a diameter of 115cm. Around this circular base numerous iron slags were

found. Some of the iron slags stuck to the wall portion of the furnace had a smooth surface.

Some of the slags also had the burnt clay embedded with the slag.

Vitrified brickbats also were recovered. Many3 pieces [terracotta pipes] with

vitrified mouth were also collected. The total length of the available tuyeres is about 15cm

and the thickness is about 6cm. It had a hole of about 1.5 cm in diameter. The length of the

tuyeres suggests that the bellows were used quite near to the furnaces. The granite slabs

found near the furnaces might have been used for forging. Since the furnaces were

dismantled to remove the bloom after smelting. It is hard to get the furnace intact. The

absence of postholes, floor level and less occurrence of potsherds in this [smelting] area

suggests that the iron smelting was done on the periphery of habitation.

Tamil classical works purananuru v.13. [kolkalirral kappudaiya velummurkkip

ponniyar punaitottian, i.e. the ferrules covering the tusks of elephants were made of steel]

refer to artifact made of urrukku i.e., fused metal or steel [burrowl: 1961, p.569 ]. The

excavations at kodumanal yielded important evidence regarding the manufacture of steel

by crucible process as early as c.300 bc.

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Crucible furnace:

Seven trenches laid 300 m north of this iron smelting area yielded a crucible

furnace. These were exposed at the earliest level at the depth of 125 cm. The main crucible

furnaces were found surrounded by more than 12 small furnaces. The big furnace

somewhat oval in shape measured 112 cm north-south and 100 cm east-west and had a

depth of 40 cm. The burnt clay wall was 20 cm in thickness [p1,4]. Inside the furnace pit

were collected burnt clay pieces with rectangular holes. These pieces were obviously part

of the furnace wall. The holes allowed the air to pass through evenly into the furnace. The

complete absence of the tuyeres in the crucible furnace suggests that these holes were

arranged for a natural draft of air into Furnace.

The small circular furnaces surrounding this big furnace, almost at regular

Intervals, had 30cm diameter at the mouth with a small hole or depression in the centre.

These might have been used to heat longer crucibles removed from the bigger one.

An important find here is a vitrified crucible, partially broken, found in the small

furnace in situ position. This small bowl-shaped crucible had a diameter of 9cm at a mouth

with total thickness of 0.7 cm at the top and 0.9cm at the base (pl.v). Besides this, many

other fragmentary pieces of vitrified crucibles were also found. Another interesting find is

an unused crucible made of well laevigated ferruginous clay.

Dr. Buchchnan who travelled in south India in 1801 has given a graphic description

of the steel making industry in the vicinity of the Chennimalai hill, about 15 km east of this

site. This also suggests the long survival of an ancient tradition in this region. Till at least

the early part of the 19th century.

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Textile industry in kodumanal:

kodumanal which situavated near the modern clothing city tirupur which was the

modern day cloth manufacturer which supplys the world, was once itself a textile industry,

they the people of kodumanal not only manufactured and exported the iron ,steel and beads

they also was great at manufacturing cloths, they made fine cloth out of cotton and traded

with greek, Egypt and rome there are evidences shows that the city once supplied cotton to

rome.

The  Kodumanal has yielded evidence for the practice of weaving, in the form of a

number of intact terracotta spindle whorls pierced at the centre by means of an iron rod,

indicating the knowledge of cotton spinning and weaving. To further strengthen this

theory, a well preserved piece of woven cotton cloth was also recovered from this site.

Dyeing vats were spotted at Arikkamedu.

21
 CHAPTER - 3

MATERIELS FOUND ON KODUMANAL EXCAVATION

Excavation at ancient trade city, brought many ancient treasures to our modern

world. These objects found in kodumanal helps us to understand the culture and livelihood

of people lived in the kodumanal thousands of years ago. Over 100 artifacts including

potsherds with brahmi scripts, terracotta objects with brahmi letters, iron drill, carnelian

beads, copper pin, gold objects, iron spear heads, quartz beads, shell beads, burial urns and

deceased bones of ancient people of kodumanal were found during the kodumanal

Excavation.

One of the most important discoveries in the excavation was potshreads with

graffiti markings and brahmi letters present in it. Unlike ashokan-brahmi these scripts are

found in potshreads, seal and coin or ring made of gold, silver and copper there by

showing its wide application.

Potsherds with graffiti markings:

This excavations have yielded large quantities of potsherds bearing post-firing

graffiti marks, mostly written on the shoulder portion of the pottery. Studies have been of

those marks on the basis of their shapes [rajan 1991a]. the stratigraphical analysis of the

graffiti marks has not been made so far, hence in this paper an attempt is made to analyse

the stratigraphical distribution of the marks to find out correlations, if any , that existed

between the burial and the habitation. Though the trenches laid in the habitation constitute

22
only a small proportion of the total area, there were so evenly distributed as to give a

representative picture of a whole area they may be grouped as of a northern sector,

southern sector and central sector.

The burials selected for excavation were random in natural and they are also

evenly distributed in the burial site. Out of the 16 burials, only 14 were taken for analysis

as the other two did not yield sufficient data. Among the fourteen, three did not provide

any data on the graffiti due perhaps to heavy wear on the potsherds. Among the rest, to

burials had to different marks each these two contained twin burials and so it can be said

that the graffiti marks represented some meaning to the person buried. There is a

suggestion that they can be considered as clan marks [rajan 1991a]. these different graffiti

are given in table 1.

To find the correlation between the burial graffiti and those of habitation , symbols

found in the habitation may be analysed. In the habitation trenches about 360 potshreds

containing graffiti have been collected. Of them only 163 marks could be identified with

their full shapes. The symbols which were similar to the ones found in the burials were

sorted and their stratigraphical position and their zones of occurence were noted. These are

given in table 1. The other symbols of frequent occurrence, either in single or compound

form, were also calculated [table 2].

The marks in the burials are clear and well defined lines. On the basis of

geographical positions of the burials with that of the graffiti, it can be recognized that there

was no demarcation between the burials of different groups. For examble, meg.10 in the

southern sector yields a similar mark as that of meg.12 which is located in northern part

23
near meg.1 and meg14 with different graffiti. So it can be said that there was no

geographical particularity among these groups having distinct graffiti as far as the burials

are concerned.

If we compare them with similar graffiti that are found in habitation it is found that

only three of the six burial symbols occured in the habitation. They occur in period 1 and

only in the north sector which has the maximum depth of cultural deposit an where the

industrial community involved in the manufacture of beads and steel is found . this

founding emphasizes that the people in the period 1 involved in industrial activities were

economically affluent and that these elaborate funerary monuments could have been raised

by them. The non occurrence of the other three symbols in the habitation could not be

explained properly with the available data.

The symbols given in the table 1 occur frequently and here too they were found the

northern sector of period 1. From the table it can be inferred that symbols 1 and 2 may be

compared with that of burial symbols because of their basic nature and of their basic nature

and of their association with other symbols. The their third one which occurs prominently

in the habitation is not found in the excavated so far, one reason for this phenomenon may

be that the people using these symbols did not practice burials. Excavation of more burials

alone can help to clarify this problem,. The percentage of the classifiable marks to the total

is now close to 25 % and therefore moré data may help to generalize in a more meaningful

way. The above statement clearly shows that these marks had some significance to the

society.

24
Table 1: comparison of graffiti with burials and habitation

Burial no: Habitation % occurrence Depth in habitation

Symbol North Centre South

Meg.14 nil nil Nil Nil

Meg.5,9,14 3.6 nil Nil 145-180 period 1

Meg.1 nil nil Nil Nil

Meg.9 4.9 nil Nil 75-135 transitional

[period 1-2]

Meg.2 nil nil Nil Nil

Meg.3,7,8,10,12,13 3.6 nil Nil 145-210 period 1

Meg.4,6,11 nil nil Nil Nil

Table: other graffiti of significanct occurrence:

S.No. Symbol% occurrence

in habitation Position Period

1. 5.5 Northern sector 1

2. 1.8 Northern sector 1

3. 4.2 Northern sector 1

25
Ornaments:

Elegant dresses were played a important role in increasing physical beauty. In

Indian tradiation we have copius references to the costumes which were put in different

seasons and on various occasions, excavation at kodumanal has revealed numerous

ornaments weared by the ancient people of kodumanal. People wore several ornaments

made from several materials. Kodumanal was a sangam age city so the ornaments of

sangam age were prominent.

People had the habit of wearing hand ornaments. Bangles were prominent ones

among the hand ornaments. Womens wore bangles prominently, bangles were made of

glass, shells and even clay bangles were found [terracotta], apart from the bangles, other

jewellerys like ‘’necklace, bracelets, earrings and ornaments made of beads’’ were found

during the excavation in kodumanal.

A total of 662 broken bangles (444 made of glass, 217 shells and one terracotta),

348 full shapes, one broken and five unfinished beads (214 glass, 38 shell, 36 paste, nine

carnelian, four stone, 19 amethyst, 12 terracotta, 10 quartz, each one of smoking quarts,

jasper, bone and agate and three soapstone), 53 rings, 190 iron objects (161 nail, 14 chisel,

11 knife, one each of took and small bowl and two unknown).

Kodumanal was not just a consumer, infact it was one of the biggest gem-stone

industry during sangam age. People of kodumanal manufactured jewellery, they made

beedstones and jewells made up of beeds, they traded the jewels with foreigners like greek

and romans, they also exported wellcut polished and quality gemstones, this shows how

rich and flourishing kodumanal was once in ancient period.

26
Beads:

Beads are one of the most common materials that found in kodumanal, these beads

found in kodumanal shows how flourishing the gemstone industry were in kodumanal.

carnelian beads, quartz beads, glass beads, shell beads, paste beads, stone beads, amethyst

beads, terracotta beads, jasper beads, bone beads, agate beads and beads made of

soapstones were found in kodumanal. People of kodumanal used iron drill to put holes in

the beeds, these iron drills consists minute diamond in its tip, which is used to put perfect

holes in the beads.

Terracotta and ceramics wares :

118 pottery pieces, 83 terracotta items, 28 copper items, 15 coins and two stone

objects have been unearthed so far.Currently, the team has identified five megalithic burial

sites, all located 500 metres from the river, and excavation is in progress. Of the three

burial sites with carin-circle mounds that were opened, the team found legged jars, ring

stands, utensils, shallow bowls, ceremonial offering pots and skulls.

A terracotta seal with Sanskrit word ‘’lavasa’’ inscribed on it was also found at the

site. The seal could have been left by a trader from north india.

Previous excavations revealed that a multi-ethnic group lived in the village and

they believed the deceased person will get a new life after death. Hence, pots and bowls

filled with grains and utensils used by them were kept in the cists and chambers. While the

industrial site is located on the northern banks of the Noyyal, the burial sites are located at

two places spread across five acres.

27
Skeletal remains found in kodumanal:

burial of post-excavation type, yielded the skeletal remains of three humans.

During the second season, a trench called ZJ26 was laid in the northern part of the

habitation mound. This represents period II of the site. The second quadrant of the trench

yielded two complete adult human skeletons with their skulls intact, the first one from a

depth of 45-60 cm. and the second from a depth of 78-90 cm. There was a thirdspecimen

of a skull and mandible separated and a few bone fragments found in the III and

IVquadrants at a depth of 65 cm.

The first skeleton was in a crouched position with the head placed to the east, the

left hand between the legs and the right hand below the right leg. It was devoid of any

associated finds. The second skeleton was found in a “padmasana-like”posture in a

southeast-northwest orientation with an easterly placed head and up-looking facetending to

tilt to the north. The right hand restedon the pelvis while the left hand was bent upwards

with the palm placed just below the mandible.

28
 CHAPTER - 4

SKELETAL REMAINS OF KODUMANAL

The first season’s excavations of a habitation mound, which included a composite

pit burial of post-excarnation type, yielded the skeletal remains of three humans. During

the second season, a trench called ZJ26 was laid in the northern part of the habitation

mound. This represents period II of the site.

The second quadrant of the trench yielded two complete adult human skeletons

with their skulls intact, the first one from a depth of 45-60 cm. and the second from a depth

of 78-90 cm. There was a third specimen of a skull and mandible separated and a few bone

fragments found in the III and IV quadrants at a depth of 65 cm. The first skeleton was in a

crouched position with the head placed to the east, the left hand between the legs and the

right hand below the right leg. It was devoid of any associated finds. The second skeleton

was found in a “padmasana-like” posture in a southeast-northwest orientation with an

easterly placed head and up-looking face tending to tilt to the north. The right hand rested

on the pelvis while the left hand was bent upwards with the palm placed just below the

mandible. The Skeletal Remains The skeletal remains belonging to three individuals have

been recovered from the excavations.

One skeleton (named Specimen I) was represented by the skull along with

mandible, a clavicle and a few bone fragments. Most of the long bones were represented

by fragile broken specimens with their missing proximal or distal ends. The second

skeleton found in a crouched position has the skull with missing facial and basal portions.

29
Majority of the post-cranial bones were in a fairly good condition with their shafts and

proximal and distal ends intact. The third skeleton included the skull and mandible and

some postcranial bone fragments which are unsuitable for metric study. The skull was

devoid of the entire occipital region. The mandible with the anterior teeth intact was found

in a good condition.

The Crania – Sex, Age and Race :

The skull specimens along with the postcranial bones of the three individuals have been

examined carefully with a view to identify the sex and age as also to throw some light on

their ethnic affinities. Specimen I is represented almost fully. The cranioscopic type of the

skull is ovoides. The lower portion of the frontal bone is straight and shows a high, vertical

forehead. The glabellar region and supraorbital ridges are smooth. The orbits are nearly

circular with sharp margins. Almost all the sutures are closed. The parietal tuberosities are

weakly marked. The occiput is slightly bulged but the muscular ridges on it are not well

marked. The maxillary portion is well preserved with almost all the teeth intact, excepting

the lateral incisor and premolar which are missing. The mandible is complete with all the

teeth in their sockets except the unerupted third molars. The cranial features suggest that

the specimen may be a female. Based on the overall appearance of the skull, and the

eruption status as also the crown morphology of the teeth the age of the individuals is

estimated to be in the range of 16-18 years at the time of death.

In the case of specimen II the entire facial portion of the skull is missing. The skull

when viewed from above is sphenoid in shape. The frontal bone shows a gently sloping

forehead. The roof of the right orbit has a somewhat marked supra orbital ridge. The

30
neurocranium is almost complete with the entire basal portion missing. However, a well

developed right mastoid process is present. The skull vault is relatively high. The lower

jaw represented only by the right posterior portion is massive and shows the three fully

erupted molars which are large in size. This specimen appears to be an Fig.1: Kodumanal :

Trench ZJ 26 Showing Eastern Section adult male MORPHOMETRIC STATUS OF

HUMAN SKELETAL REMAINS FROM KODUMANAL 107 as it is large and heavy,

with paired frontal bosses and well marked muscular lines/ crests on the nuchal region.

Considering detailed observations of the cranial features and the large, moderately worn

teeth this individual might be + 40 years of age.

Specimen III is represented by an incomplete cranium. It lacks the entire occipital

bone and the basal portion. The rest of the cranium consists of the frontal and the two

parietal bones as well as the facial region. The nasal bones are straight and the pyriform

aperture is some what less broader. Alveolar prognathism is well marked. The upper jaw

shows an elliptical dental arch with deeply placed canine fossa. Its four incisors and right

and left first molars are well embedded in their sockets. The mandible, which is moderate,

is complete with all the teeth preserved except for the canines on either side. The chin is

round and the corpora and rami are low. This specimen appears to be female in view of the

relatively small skull size, its rounded and smooth surface, weak muscular impressions,

straight backwardly sloping lower forehead, a single frontal boss, weakly developed

mastoid processes, sharp orbital rims, an obtuse gonial angle and an almost rounded chin.

The age of the specimen has been assessed to be 25 + years, an estimate based on the

partial eruption of third molars and the occurrence of negligible dental wear.

31
Craniometric Evaluation:

A number of measurements were taken on three skulls in order to assess their

metric variability and their biological affinities.Specimens I and III have yielded to many

significant measurements. The values of measurements given in the parentheses are

estimates. On specimen I alone a maximum of 37 measurements could be taken (Table 1).

Its maximum cranial length and breadth measurements are 157 and 115 mm respectively.

The cranial index of 73.25 places the skull within dolichocranial type. The distance values

between inion-glabella and inion-basion are 154 and 152 mm. respectively. The

specimen’s basionbregmatic height is 122 mm. and its vertical index of 77.71 places it

within hypsicranial type. The difference between the minimal and maximum frontal

breadths is very low which consequently resulted in a higher transverse vertical index

(95.65). The skull belongs to eurymetopic type as suggested by its index (76.52). The

sagittal frontal index value of 84.45 characterizes the skull as orthometopic or round type.

The individual had a broad nose as revealed by the very high nasal index of 58.97

belonging to hyperchamaerhinae type. The horizontal circumference is 450 mm. whereas

the Hauschild’s circumference height index is 27.11.

As mentioned earlier in Specimen II a major portion of the splanchocranium of the

skull is missing due to which the measurements on the facial region could not be taken.

The cranial length measures 172 mm. Whereas the breadth measures 138 mm. The

individual belonged to brachycranial type as indicated by the index of 80.23. The least and

greatest frontal breadths measured on the facial region yielded a frontal index of 90.65

which puts it also, as specimen I, under eurymetopic type. The foramen magnum index

value of 78.37 indicates the skull as narrow type. From the parietal and occipital chord and

32
arc measurements, the sagittal parietal index (85.27) and the sagittal occipital index (88.00)

could be calculated. Specimen III is represented by the entire frontal portion while the

occipital region is missing. The maximum cranial length roughly measures 158 mm. and

the breadth measures 127 mm. The cranial index of 80.38 places the skull in brachycranial

type as the preceding specimen. The negligible difference of 2 mm. between the least and

the greatest frontal breadths leads to larger frontal index characterising the skull as

eurymetopic type. The auricular and bizygomatic breadths are 102 and 110 mm.

respectively. The nasal index value of 53.33 places the skull, like specimen I, under

chamaerhinae (broad nose) type. The palate is of heptostaphylin category as it shows a low

palatal index value (68.18). From the frontal chord and arc measurements, the sagittal

frontal index calculated characterizes the skull as round category.

Mandibles :

The two mandibles recovered intact along with specimens I and III are somewhat

lightly built with less marked inner and outer muscular relief. They have shorter ramus and

corpus height (Table 2). The mandible of specimen I is smaller in size than that of

specimen III due to difference in age.

Postcranial Skeletal Variations :

The postcranial bones available are limited in number. Most of them are fragile

and occurred in a fragmentary form. For the purposes of the present study only complete

specimens of long bones which were found in a fairly good condition were considered.

These include right and left clavicles of specimen I found buried in crouching position and

almost all the long bones of specimen II, which occurred in a squatting position. Specimen

33
I identified as female shows lower values for the clavicle compared to those of specimen II

of the present series, owing to the age and sex differences of the individuals. The caliber

index value of the specimen II left clavicle (32.35) is slightly higher than its right

counterpart (31.06). Similar trends are observed for both cross-section and

claviculohumeral indices. The other postcranial elements which are almost intact also

suggest a moderate build of the concerned individual. The maximum length of the humerus

(right : 316 mm, left : 314 mm) indicates a moderate build. This build is further reflected in

the higher robusticity or caliber index value (right : 18.35, left : 20.70) as compared to the

one earlier estimated for an Iron age adult male specimen from S. Pappinayakkanpatti in

Tamil Nadu (Walimbe and Selvakumar, 1998). The septal aperture (fossa olecrani) appears

between medial and lateral epicondyles of both the right and left humeri. The

measurements and radius and ulna further support the observatioact measures 460 mm in

its maximum length whereas its physiological length (458 mm.) is slightly lower than the

former. Its robusticity index value (12.45) is slightly more than that reported for the

Burzahom male series (Basu and Pal, 1980). The pilastric index values (right: 103.57, left :

103.70) show the presence of a pilaster on the bone.

The femur is within hyperplatymeric category, as shown by its platymeric index

(72.73), a condition, which is considered “primitive”. The femoral head has an oval-shaped

fovea capitis. The tibia also seems to be somewhat robust with well marked tuberosities

and sharp anterior borders. The right tibial measurements (409 mm. and 403 mm.) differ

considerably in their maximum and total lengths. The platycnemic index value (76.92)

places the bone in the eurycnemic category and indicates a very high ratio for the sagittal

to transverse diameter. The squatting facets occurring at the distal ends of the tibiae, are

34
observed to be well marked on tibiae of the Kodumanal people. The stature was estimated

from the maximum length of femur using Trotter’s (1970) formula for White males. It is

170.9 cm. suggesting that the male individual was tall. This finding and also the higher

diameter and circumference values of several of the long bones speak of the stout build of

the Kodumanal man although his stature is somewhat less than that estimated for the Iron

age man from S. Pappinayakkanpatti .

Comparative evaluation :

The age of the specimen I was estimated to be less than 18 years and hence is not

considered for comparison with other Iron age specimens of peninsular India. The other

two specimens, the specimen II male and specimen III female, yielded quite a good

number of craniometric measurements with the help of which an attempt is made to discern

the phenotypic affinities of the Iron age inhabitants of Kodumanal. In their cranial lenth

and breadth, both specimens fall within the range reported for male and female series from

Adittanalur Iron age site which is about 450 km. to the southeast of the Kodumanal. But in

the matter of head shape the people of these sites differed; the two specimens of our series

belong to a brachycranial form whereas a majority of the Adittanalur specimens are

dolichocranial.

A male skull from S. Pappinayakkanpatti site, situated at a some what closer

proximity to Kodumanal, with a cranial index of 77.7 nearly approximates that of our

series indicating affinity between the two. This particular observation is of significance as

it lends support to Sarkar’s (1960) thesis that the broad-headed Brahmagiri Megalithic

people were apparently a unique race of cultural bearers responsible for a sudden

35
replacement of the dolichocranic Neolithic inhabitants of the region. Specimens from other

sites of peninsular India such as Nagarjunakonda (Gupta et. al. 1970) and Yelleswaram

(Gupta and Dutta, 1962) also tend to fall within the brachycranic fold. The Bronze age

sites in the northwestern part of the Indian sub-continent and beyond, such as Mohenjo-

daro (Sewall and Guha, 1931), Harappa (Chatterjee and Kumar, 1963a) and Lothal

(Chatterjee and Kumar, 1963b), where the great Indus Valley civilization flourished, the

brachycranic element was reported in the skeletal record. Of course the cranial length-

breadth index alone cannot be taken as a diagnostic character for race determination

although the importance it has assumed in earlier theories cannot be underrated in view of

its consideration in most anatomical descriptions of crania.

The specimen II female of our series with full complement of bones of the facial

region is characterized by certain characters such as alveolar prognathism, low vertical

forehead, chamaerrhine nose, depressed nasal root, lower minimum frontal breadth, etc

which have been ascribed to be of primitive nature are interestingly preserved still by the

contemporary tribal populations of Southern India. These two specimens markedly differ

in respect of many other craniometric traits even from the other two specimens earlier

reported from the same

the large quantity of slag and other indications of steel manufacture, the close contacts of

Kodumanal with the Chola port city of Kaveripoompattinam and above all, the reference

given to the place in the Sangam literature strongly view that Kodumanal was a flourishing

industrial centre for a considerable time period in the past. This view may be strengthened

further by the possibility of Kodumanal having been inhabited by people of diverse ethnic

backgrounds, although it is unequivocally agreed that this hypothesis may not be closer to

36
reality due to the constraint of limited skeletal material on hand. But the 100 or more burial

structures located on the sprawling site of Kodumanal, if exposed carefully, may yield a

rich treasure of human skeletons to understand the biological history and affinities of the

people responsible for the different life ways.

TABLE: 1

S.

NO MEASUREMENTS/INDICES SPECIMEN

1 2 3

1 Max. cranial length 157 172 158

2 Max. cranial breadth 115 138 127

3 Glabella-inion length 154 156 114

4 Nasion-inion length 152 153 142

5 Basilo-bregmatic height 122 132

6 Auriculo-bregmatic height 111 128 124

7 Least frontal breadth 88 97 89

8 Greatest frontal breadth 92 107 91

9 Bimastoid breadth 87 113 99

10 Biauricular breadth 101 111 102

11 Nasion-basin line 119 102

12 Prosthion-basin line 77

13 Nasin-prosthion line 54 57

14 Bizygomatic breadth 94 110

37
15 Nasal height 39 45

16 Nasal breadth 23 24

17 Bimaxillary breadth 74 76 65

18 Outer biorbital breadth 84 87

19 Inner biorbital breadth 81 86

20 Inner orbital breadth 16 23

21 Orbital breadth [R] 43 36

22 Orbital breadth [L] 41 35

23 Orbital height [R] 33 30

24 Orbital height [L] 31 32

25 Maxillo-alveolar length 17 18

26 Palatal length 44

27 Palatal breadth 30

28 Length of foramen magnum 28 31

29 Beadth of foramen magnum 26 29

30 Greatest occipital breadth 109 125

31 Frontal chord 94 98 105

32 Parietalchord 105 110

33 Occipital chord 85 88

34 Sagittal cranial arc 325 345

35 Transverse cranial arc 276 285 305

36 Horizondal circumference 450 478

37 Frontal arc 110 118 125

38
38 Parietal arc 116 129

39 Occipital arc 98 100

Indices

1 Cranial index 73.25 80.23 80.38

2 Vertical index 77.71 83.01

3 Transverse vertical index 106.09 95.65

4 Auriculo vertical index 70.70 80.50 78.48

5 Hauschilds circumference height index 27.11 27.61

6 Sagittal arc index 46.76 44.35

7 Transverse frontal index 95.65 90.65 97.80

8 Frontal index 76.52 70.29 70.08

9 Sagittal frontal index 84.85 83.77 84.00

10 Sagittal partial index 90.50 85.27

11 Sagittal occipital index 86.73 88.00

12 Nasal index 58.97 53.33

13 Palatal index 68.18

Table 2: Mandibular dimensions:

39
S. Measurements [in mm]/angle/index Specimen
No.
1 2 3
1 Bicondylar breadth 91 101
2 Bicoronoid breadth 75 79
3 Bigonial breadth 68 82
4 Symphysial height 22 24
5 Height of coronoid 45 49
6 Minimum width of ramus 29 32
7 Maximum width of ramus 25 37
8 Height f condyle 39 45
9 Mandibular length 59 66
10 Mandibular angle 130 127
11 Mandibular index 64.48 65.35

CONCLUSION

40
 Excavation at kodumanal proves that it was once a flourishing trade city, people

across the globe used to trade in kodumanal, skeletal remains of multi cultural people and

roman coins found in kodumanal proves the statement. traders from Rome, Egypt, Persia

and Greek came to kodumanal for its extrodinary Beads and Unbreakable wootz.

Kodumanal used to be famous for its bead and its steel industry. they carved fine

beads out of elements. Bead’s and Jwellery made out of beads were high in quality, these

bead’s were famous among Foreighner’s. People of kodumanal used simple instruements

to make beads. Moreover this city was situvated in one of the main trade route that

connected the Chera capital of Karur with its port city muciri, so its no dought that this

place served as a main trade city and industriel site during sangam age.

Wootz steel that manufactured in kodumanal was very famous among the traders

and travellers, people from many nations, inside and out side of India were eager to get the

goods manufactured in kodumanal. Kodumanal has large industrial space, archaeologists

found many crucibe furnace and iron pits this shows that it served as a largest supplier of

the wootz, many scholers states that even the iron used in the iron piller of Qutup minar

was taken from kodumanal.

Kodumanal’s steel is not only great in its quality but also kodumanal is a place that

directly evolved from megalithic culture to iron age culture. The civilizations across the

globe evolved in a chronological phase of stone age , bronze age and iron age, . but in

india its very different either its North India or South India many places evolved into Iron

age from stone age itself skipping the phase of other metallic ages like bronza age . In

41
southern part of india the period of this evoluation took place in sangam age, many of the

cities in the Sangam age period evolved in such manner and kodumanal is also part of it.

Besides the wootz steel and its worldclass beads kodumanal was also a ancient

cotton hub which clothed Rome, Kodumanal which situated near the modern day Cotton

hub of Tamil Nadu Tirupur, exported high quality cotton and cotton products to Rome,

Egypt and other foreighn nations. These examples shows us that kodumanal was one of a

prominent city of cheras.

Thanks to modern day archaeology, help of sangam litratures and effort of

Archaeologist’s, Historien’s and people of kodumanal. Without their effort It is not

possible for us to see a such an ancient culture, the Noyyal civilization of kodumanal still

inspires us in such a manner, it served as such an commandable trade center in past.

42
 Glossary

Term Definition

ASI Archaeological Survey of India

TNSDA Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology

IAS Indian Administrative Service

AMS Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, . This technique counts the actual

carbon-14 atoms remaining in an organic sample. Now something the

size of a single kernel of corn can be dated.

Meg Megalithic

BC Before Christ

AD Anno Domini

BEADS A small, usually round object of glass, wood, stone, or the like with a

hole through it, often strung with others of its kind in necklaces,

rosaries, etc.

SLAG Slag is waste matter separated from metal during smelting. An example

of slag is the iron and silica that is removed during copper and lead

smelting

MENHIRS A menhir standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large man-made upright

stone, typically dating from the middle Bronze Age

TUYERES A tuyere or tuyère is a tube, nozzle or pipe through which air is blown

into a furnace or hearth. Air or oxygen is injected into a hearth under

pressure from bellows or a blowing engine or other devices.

43
WOOTZ wootz (steel), Steel produced by a method known in ancient India.

The process involved preparation of porous iron, hammering it while

hot to release slag, breaking it up and sealing it with wood chips in a

clay container, and heating it until the pieces of iron absorbed carbon

from the wood and melted.

44
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Dr. K. Rajan, Tamil Nadu : Archaeological Perspectives, Royapettah Stationery

and Co- operative Society, Chennai, 1999, pp.11-12.

2. B. Sasisekaran, Metallurgy and Metal Industry In Ancient Tamil Nadu-An

Archaeological Study, Indian Journel of History of Science, 37.1 [2002], pp.22-24.

3. Dr. K. Rajan, ‘’Iron and Gem Stone industries as revealed from Kodumanal

4. Excavations’’, Puratattva , 1990, pp.111-112.

5. Dr. K. Rajan,Traditional Bead Making Industry in Tamil Nadu.

Puratattva, 28(1997-98), pp. 59-63

6. Dr. K. Rajan, Iron Age Early Historic Transition in South India, 2014, pp. 5

7. Kodumanal Excavation, Tamil Nadu Government Archaeological press,

8. Tamil Development Campus, Alzhu road, Egmore, Chennai, 2011, pp. 1-6,23- 27

9. A. L. Basham, The Wonder that was India, 2019 edition, pp. 5-8

10. V. Rami Reddy and B.K. Chandrasekhar Reddy, Morphometric Status of Human

Skeletal Remains From Kodumanal, Periyar District, Tamil Nadu, 2004, pp. 106-

111.

11. Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India: From the Stone

Age to the 12 Century, Pearson Education India, 2008, pp. 401-403.

12. Peter Francis, Asia's Maritime Bead Trade: 300 B.C. to the Present, University of

Hawaii Press, 2002, pp. 121,122.

45
Websites :

1. www.tnarch.gov.in. Retrieved 7 May 2016.

http://www.tnarch.gov.in/excavation/kod.html

2. Subramanian, T. S. (28 May 2012). "Kodumanal excavation yields a bonanza

again". The Hindu. Chennai, India. http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-

review/history-and- culture/kodumanal

excavation-yields-a-bonanza-again/article3463120.ece

3. S P Saravanan, ‘’Kodumanal: How a barren land turned into a treasure trove’’, The

Hindhu,[03July2021].https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamilnadu/

kodumanal-how-a-barren-land-turned-into-a-treasure-trove/article35126812.ece

4. Stone well-like structure found at Kodumanal archaeological Site in Erode, Times

of India, [ 03 July 2021]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/84079734.cms?

utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

PICTURES

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KODMANAL MAP

TRADE ROUTE FROM

MUZIRI TO KARUR DURING

SANGAM AGE

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CAIRN-CIRCLES

 CAIRN-CIRCLES are the Prehistoric Stone row which is a linear arrangement

of parallel megalithic standing stones.State Department of Archaeology identified
more than 250 cairn circles in Kodumanal.

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 POTSHREDS WITH GRAFFITI MARKS, KODUMANAL.

In the habitation more than 360 potsherds with graffiti markings were found.130 potsherds

contains Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, including 30 with Tamil Brahmi words.

JWELLERYS FOUND IN KODUMANAL

BEADS

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GOLD JWELLERYS THAT FOUND IN KODUMANAL

BEADS MADE OF DIFFERENT MATERIALS

50
 BANGLES THAT MADE OUT OF SHELL

MATERIALS THAT RELATED WITH TEXTILE INDUSTRY

OF KODUMANAL

51