Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday laid the foundation stone for an archeological museum in Adichanallur in the district, her office said.
Adichanallur was one of the five archaeological sites declared to be developed as 'Iconic Sites' in the Union Budget 2020-21. It is an archaeological site located on the banks of river Tamirabarani in this district.
திருமதி @nsitharaman தூத்துக்குடி மாவட்டம் தாமிரபரணி (பொருநை) ஆற்றங்கரையில் அமைந்துள்ள ஆதிச்சநல்லூரில், உலகத்தரம் வாய்ந்த தொல்லியல் அருங்காட்சியகம் அமைப்பதற்கு அடிக்கல் நாட்டினார். https://t.co/vUPw4PlIiF pic.twitter.com/0VHAJsnF91
— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) August 5, 2023
"The main objective of the museum would be to focus on establishing the significance of the archaeological sites identified as part of the cultural landscape of the Tamirabharani valley, not limiting to the site of Adichanallur. The museum will be built as a tribute to the history of Iron Age culture in southern India, in the context of Adichanallur," her office said in one of a series of tweets.
அருங்காட்சியத்தின் முக்கிய நோக்கம், ஆதிச்சநல்லூரைத் தவிர தாமிரபரணி ஆற்றுப் படுகையில் உள்ள முக்கியத்துவம் வாய்ந்த தொல்லியல் களங்களின் கலாச்சாரப் பின்புலனை எடுத்துக்காட்டுவதாகும். pic.twitter.com/eZckZIAMwd
— Nirmala Sitharaman Office (@nsitharamanoffc) August 5, 2023
Sitharaman was accompanied by Tuticorin MP Kanimozhi among others.
The museum will house the excavated artefacts, the archaeological significance of the site and history of the region, another tweet said.
As part of the development plan, fresh exploration/ excavation of archaeological remains has been taken up by the ASI, Trichy (Tiruchirappalli) Circle.
"The extensive urn burial site at Adichanallur was first discovered by Dr Jagor of Berlin Museum in 1876. Englishman Alexander Rea excavated a good number of urns during 1910s and discovered gold diadems with parallels from Mycenae (in Greece), bronze objects, notably lids with exquisite finials depicting many animal forms, iron objects besides thousands of potsherds," her office said.
The excavation was resumed during 2003-04 and 2004-05.
"Carbon dating of samples excavated in 2004 from the Adichanallur site has revealed that they belong to the period between 1000 BC and 600 BC. In 2005, around 169 clay urns containing human skeletons were unearthed that date back to at least 3,800 years. The archaeological excavation at Adichanallur again commenced on October 10, 2021 as part of Iconic Site development," it added.