Two Years After Submission of Report on Keezhadi Excavations, ASI Asks Archaeologist to Rewrite it
The Wire Staff
New Delhi: An archaeologist who had earlier overseen the excavation of an ancient civilisation in Tamil Nadu’s Keezhadi, has been asked by the archaeological survey of India (ASI) to resubmit his report regarding the findings after making necessary corrections for taking further action.
More than two years after he submitted a report on the findings, in a letter, the ASI told archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna to make the report “more authentic” and that two experts had suggested corrections, reported The Hindu.
The findings of the excavations, that also unearthed iron age material had suggested that that an urban civilisation existed in Tamil Nadu in the Sangam age on the banks of the Vaigai river.
Earlier, Ramakrishna was transferred to Assam, allegedly in a perceived attempt to play down the excavation findings.
In its latest letter the ASI has said that three periods require proper nomenclature or re-orientation, and the time bracket of 8th century BCE to 5th century BCE for Period I requires concrete justification.
“The other two periods also must be determined based on scientific AMS dates and the material recovered with stratigraphical details. The date of the earliest period, in the present state of our knowledge, appears to be very early. It can be, at the maximum, somewhere in pre-300 BCE,” said the ASI.
“The submitted maps may be replaced with better ones; the village map lacks clarity, some plates are missing; plan, contour map, stratigraphy drawing, drawings are missing; and a plan/map giving the location of the trenches/cuttings is required,” the letter added.
The presence of such an ancient civilisation in south could pit it against the narrative that the Indus Valley Civilisation had ushered in the Iron Age.
Politicians in Tamil Nadu have alleged that the BJP-led Union government is trying to suppress information about the ancient Tamil civilisation that had flourished on the banks of the Vaigai river.
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