Newspaper report: Ancient sea link discovered by ASI

[Ashok Aklujkar]

Some list members may find the following news item useful, particularly
because of its mention of iron and a Brahmi Tamil inscription ("Brahmin" in
the news item seems to be a typo for Brahmi; it is not clear to me how the
inscription was determined to be Tamil and incomplete if it is not yet
decoded; perhaps "decoded" is to be understood as 'not fully deciphered')

ashok aklujkar. 

> From The Statesman, Monday, !3 Feb 06

Ancient sea link discovered by ASI

Press Trust of India
 CHANDIGARH, Feb. 12. ‹ Unraveling some facts buried in history, experts
from Archaeological Survey of India said the possibility of a sea link
between south India and the rest of Asia about 3,800 years ago could not be
ruled out. 
 Mr Arun Malik, an archaeologist with ASI, Chennai, while throwing light on
Adichannallur civilisation, said here that the observation of human
morphological types based on the cranial evidences point to the existence of
more than one racial and ethnic group in that region during the period of
the civilisation¹s long geo-historic period. ³Occurrences of intermediate
and pure traits of yellow race of South­east and Far-east Asia and typical
ethnic and tribal Indians on the external morphology of the skulls and bones
give credence to the fact that a sea trade may have been there,² said Mr P
Raghavan, a bio-anthropologist currently assisting ASI, Chennai, in studying
geo-morphological aspects.
 Mr Malik said the latest excavations at the Adichanallur¹s pre-historic
site along the coast of Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu have yielded more than 160
urns, many of which contained hundreds of different-sized potteries. Husk,
paddy and other cereals have also been found in the urns.
 He said the people of Adichanallur were agrarian in nature who also
mastered blacksmithery and made a variety of iron implements.
 ³The engraved drawings on the clay urns narrate the decoded ecological,
environmental and cultural significance. For example, a fascinating art
showing a tall dancing female with a large-sized reptile, probably a
crocodile, and a member of a deer group explain the pre-historic faunal and
floral wealth. An incomplete ancient Brahmin Tamil script engraved on inner
surface of urn is yet to be decoded,² said Mr Malik. On the practice of
burying their dead, Mr Malik said most of the burials were in association
with iron and copper metallic objects like swords, knives and bangles.
 Mr Raghavan said he had identified a unique pre-historic discovery of a
stillborn baby. ³The foetus is about 3-5 months old, which I found from one
of the urns. Association of fossilised bird bones and domesticated cattle
teeth further throw light on the pre-historic domestication of animals,² he
said.