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Carbon dating establishes Thamirabarani River civilization to be 3,200 years old: TN CM

Stalin informs assembly that excavations would be carried out in other states

22-Stalin-new

The carbon dating analysis of rice and soil retrieved from an offering pot during excavation at the Sivakalai archaeological site, near Tirunelveli in south Tamil Nadu has revealed that the Thamirabarani civilization is 3,200 years old.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin said in the assembly that a museum will be set up at Tirunelveli to exhibit findings from the excavations, at a cost of Rs.15 crore. The museum will be called Porunai, an ancient name for the Thamirabarani river.

The Beta Analytic Testing Laboratory in Miami, USA, released carbon dating results of rice and soil in an urn retrieved from Sivakalai. The results of the Beta Analytic Testing showed that rice and soil existed dates back to 1155 BCE. The report was released by the laboratory on August 27. This is the oldest civilization perhaps, older than the Vaigai civilization which is believed to be 2,600 years old.

“The finding has established that the Porunai River (Thamirabarani) civilization dates back to 3,200 years. It is the task of the government to scientifically prove that the history of the Indian sub-continent should begin from the Tamil landscape,” Stalin said in the assembly. The CM further said archaeological excavations would be carried out in other states and countries in search of Tamil roots there. In the first phase, he said studies would be undertaken at the ancient port of Muziris, which is now Pattanam in Kerala, to study the Chera Kingdom. Further studies will be done at Vengi in Andhra Pradesh, Palur in Odisha and Thalaikudi in Karnataka.

“The State Archaeological Department would also conduct research in Pernika Anecce and Quaker al-Qadim in Egypt to establish Tamil links,” chief minister added.

“A silver punch marked coin was recently excavated from Keezhadi. It bore the symbols of the sun, the moon, the taurine and other geometrical patterns. Studies on this found the coin to date back to the 4th century BC, which is before the time of the ancient Maurya empire,” Stalin said.

Stalin’s announcement comes at a time when the new government has been into continuous archaeological excavations, since it took over a few months back. The Keeladi excavations, which was at a slow pace till a few months ago, the excavations at Sivakalai near Tirunelveli, the Agaram and Konthagai excavations, near Keeladi at Sivaganga and the excavations at Athichanallur, Korkai in Thoothukudi district have thrown many surprises on the urban civilization that existed on the banks of Vaigai river. The Keeladi excavations, which is at the seventh phase now, have yielded timelines dating back to the ninth and eighth centuries. 

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