In News:

The Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) has completed a landmark archaeological excavation at Marungur village, located in Panruti taluk, Cuddalore district, uncovering a habitation-cum-burial site dating from the Iron Age to the Early Historic period. This multidisciplinary excavation offers significant insights into the cultural evolution of ancient Tamil Nadu’s Naduvil Mandalam (Central Territorial Division), between the Thenpennai and Vada Vellar rivers.

Key Features:

1. Rare Dual Site Discovery

• Both a habitation mound and an associated burial site were found together — a rarity in Tamil Nadu.
• The site is situated at 100 metres above mean sea level, adjacent to a pond and covered by laterite soil.

2. Chronological Context

• Dated tentatively to the transition from late Iron Age to Early Historic Period.
• Radiocarbon dating (AMS) of charcoal samples, phytolith studies, and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) analysis are underway to confirm dates.

3. Advanced Techniques Used

• UAV Mapping, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), stratigraphic trenching, and archaeo-botanical studies.
• Collaboration with Beta Analytic Laboratory (USA) and the French Institute of Pondicherry for dating and pollen analysis.

Major Discoveries

A. Habitation Mound (8 Trenches Excavated)

• Pottery: Rouletted ware, red-slipped ware, black-and-red ware, grey ware, coarse red ware, and graffiti-inscribed potsherds (some resembling Indus signs).
• Artifacts (95 antiquities): Bone tools (points), burnishing stones, terracotta pipes, and beads (carnelian, agate, quartz, glass, terracotta).
  • Iron implements: Crescent-shaped chisels, knives.
  • Conch shell cores and antimony rods (ornamental use).
  • Copper coin of Raja Raja Chola I from upper layers.
  • Large terracotta storage jars (1.25 m), one containing six bone tools.

B. Burial Site (2 Trenches Excavated in Cashew Grove)

• Megalithic Stone Circles (Laterite):
  • Two concentric circles (outer and inner), capstone-protected burial urns.
  • Total of 10 urns recovered.
• Grave Goods:
  • Iron swords, red jasper beads, black-and-red ware, red-slipped ware.
  • Offering pots around urns — evidence of complex burial rituals.

C. Tamil-Brahmi Inscribed Potsherds

• Found in urn burials and dated paleographically to 2nd–3rd century BCE.
• Inscriptions include terms like “a-ti-y(a)-ka-n”, “a-ma-?”, and “a-ta”.
• Significance: Among earliest epigraphic evidence of Tamil-Brahmi in burial contexts.

Significance:

Future Steps

• Radiometric Dating: Charcoal to be analyzed using Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) in the USA.
• Pollen and phytolith analysis to reconstruct ancient diet and environmental conditions.
• Thermoluminescence and petrology studies to date ceramics and sediment exposure.
• TNSDA proposes further surveys at Manikkollai (30 km from Marungur) for 2025–26.