Junior Digest

Both the Harappan and Mohenjo-daro river valley civilisations date back to 2,500 BCE. Since carbon dating has not been carried out yet at Keeladi, it is impossible to accurately estimate the age of the site yet. However, based on the script found on pottery shards, archaeologists have tentatively estimated that it dates back to 200 BCE, and believe it might be even older. Ramakrishnan feels that the site will eventually be referred to as the Vaigai River Valley Civilisation in the future, and that it has the potential to be as big as the other two, provided they have the time and resources to dig. He reminds us that digging at Mohenjo-daro went on for 20 years before all its details were uncovered.

During its survey, the ASI earmarked 293 of these villages as promising. “In the villages immediately surrounding Keeladi, we found inscriptions that referred to an ancient urban centre. Scattered across these adjoining villages were megaliths, burial grounds and dolmens (single chambered tombs),” says Rajesh. “It was evidence enough that there was possibility of finding an ancient settlement somewhere in this area, and yet, the habitation site that we sought in these parts continued to elude us.”

By early 2013, after spending months studying the terrain, the archaeologists had zeroed in on 8-10 potential sites for their excavation. However, lacking the resources to excavate indiscriminately, much still depended on being able to estimate the exact location. “There were many indications that the village of Keeladi was the perfect place for the dig,” says Rajesh. “It is situated on an elevated mound, about 2.88 m above ground level, within a 10 km radius from the river Vaigai. We found coins on the surface of the soil that dated back to the reign of the Tamil King Raja Raja Cholan (985-1014 CE). We surmised that Keeladi was once an important commercial centre, possibly a trade route between Madurai (the then-thriving capital city of the Pandya Kings) and the port town of Alagankulam on the right banks of the River Vaigai.”

Merely identifying the lands for the dig was not enough, though. There were other challenges ahead too — the archaeologists had to secure permission to excavate these parts from various land owners, who were understandably reluctant to part with their property without an iron clad agreement that it would be returned to them intact. “If people had built homes over the site, much of this wealth of history would have been lost to us forever,” says Rajesh.

Today at the site, there is rapid and industrious labour, like a well-oiled machine with wheels smoothly turning, efficient yet calm. Men are engaged in digging. Women carrying loads of pot shards pass swiftly by, little aware that these small sharp fragments balanced so casually over their heads hold secrets that can perhaps unlock centuries-old history.

Keeladi is desolate and has a tiny population of only around 5,000 people. “At first, we were so confused by all the activity,” laughs 65-year-old Theiyvamma, a local women from the area. “I could not believe my eyes when I saw all that came out of the ground. It has made Keeladi famous.”

Dressed in dark slacks and shirts, ASI officers mill around the site, engaged in inspecting the operation and grading and sorting pot-shards and other artefacts. Spread over an acre of sun-baked sands and presenting a rather startling sight to the first time visitor are 96 precisely cut square pits called quadrants, each 4 m deep. This is an excavation technique called horizontal trenching, says Rajesh, that allows archaeologists to explore a vast surface area. The ASI is focusing on this one acre in the second phase of digging.

Deep inside each pit, you can view artefacts that the ASI has painstakingly unearthed — a portion of a kiln (oven or furnace), an enclosure which may have been used as a water tank, even grooves in stone that appear to be an ancient drainage system. They are working with archaeology students, some of whom are bent over double inside the quadrants, scraping away at the sand on either side of the artefact in soft, gentle strokes.

The dig is being carried out entirely by hand, using special archaeological implements that they have been trained to use. Sometimes they cannot cut more than 10 cm every day. Forty-three quadrants were cut last year and 54 this year, entirely using hand-held implements. Using machinery could destroy whatever they are seeking beneath the soil. It is a process that requires a considerable deal of patience, knowledge and skill.

“One of the most remarkable discoveries that we’ve made are the remains of brick homes,” says Rajesh. “Being prohibitively expensive, bricks were not normally employed in civic structures in early history. They’re usually restricted to public spaces or houses of worship. This is a rare finding, especially significant when you consider how most other excavations in these parts have revealed only gravestones and cemeteries.”

Peer into each grid and you will be fascinated by the fact that you are actually looking at the crumbling yet solid remains of homes that existed over 2,500 years ago. “The most significant finding we made last year was that of a deep terracotta ring well with 13 steps,” says Ramakrishnan. “Never has there been such overwhelming evidence that this was a very civilised society where urban planning mattered.”

On display in a makeshift tent in a corner of the site are the exquisite artefacts uncovered during the excavation. I am amazed by the stone dice, quaint chess pieces, jagged chunks of semi-precious gems such as agate, carnelian, chalcedony (these were once worn by both men and women), metal knives, rings, ivory earrings, and even carvings made from bone. Not only did people live well, it appears that they had ample time for leisure. The chess pieces are plain, deeply coloured and heavy, but similar in shape and size to our modern-day versions. You can even count the dots on the dice!