Carbon dating puts Porunai River Civilisation at 3,200 years old

CM M K Stalin said the Tamil Nadu government will conduct archaeological excavations in neighbouring states and countries to get to the Tamil roots there

Carbon dating analysis of rice with soil found in a burial urn in Sivakalai in southern Tamil Nadu during an archaeological excavation has revealed that they go back to 1155 BCE.

This means the Porunai River (Thamirabarani) civilisation in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts of Tamil Nadu dates back to 3,200 years old, much older than the Vaigai River civilisation, which is believed to be 2,600 years old.

The findings of the carbon dating of the rice with soil by Beta Analytical Lab in Florida, US was announced by Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday in the Assembly. The latest finding has once again narrowed the gap between civilisations in the south of Vindhyas and the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC).

“It is the duty of this government to scientifically prove that the history of the Indian sub-continent is written from the Tamil landscape,” Stalin said in a statement made under Rule 110 of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. He also announced that the government will set up a grand museum that will display artefacts and other items found from the excavation at Rs 15 crore.

The Chief Minister said the Tamil Nadu government will conduct archaeological excavations in neighbouring states and countries to get to the Tamil roots there. In the first phase, the studies will be carried out in Pattanam in Kerala, while plans are on to conduct such studies at Vengi in Andhra Pradesh, Thalaikadu in Karnataka, and Palur in Odisha.

The findings of the carbon dating analysis from Porunai River civilisation comes amidst continuous findings from archaeological excavations in Keeladi, Agaram, and Konthagai in Sivaganga district. The excavation which is at the seventh phase now has produced thousands of artefacts that date back to 2,600 years pushing the Sangam Era of ancient Madurai to a couple of hundred years back.

In Keeladi, artefacts excavated established a possible continuity between Tamil Brahmi scripts and the one that existed during the Indus Valley Civilisation. The excavation in Keeladi had also established that an urban civilisation existed on the banks of River Vaigai that was contemporary to the Gangetic plain civilisation.

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