Adichanallur facts for kids
 Location in Tamil Nadu
Location in India
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| Alternative name | ஆதிச்சநல்லூர் |
|---|---|
| Location | Thoothukudi, India |
| Coordinates | 8°44′N 77°42′E / 8.73°N 77.7°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 905 BC–696 BC |
| Cultures | Ancient Tamils |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1876–present |
Adichanallur is a very important archaeological site in Tamil Nadu, India. An archaeological site is a place where scientists dig up old things from the past. This site is in the Thoothukudi district. It is about 15 kilometers from Korkai, which was once the capital of the Early Pandyan Kingdom.
Scientists have found many ancient items here. These items help us learn about how people lived thousands of years ago. For example, in 2004, they found things that were from about 1000 BC to 600 BC. In 2005, they found 169 clay pots with human skeletons inside. These pots are about 3,800 years old!
Digging Up the Past: Recent Finds
In 2004, archaeologists found many skeletons buried in large clay pots called urns. Some of these pots even had ancient writing on them. This writing was in a script called Tamili, which is an early form of the Tamil language.
Scientists sent some of these old items to a special lab in the USA. This lab uses a method called carbon dating to find out how old things are. In 2019, the results showed that the items were from between 905 BC and 696 BC. This means Adichanallur is one of the oldest known ancient sites in Tamil Nadu.
The court in India was not happy that it took over 15 years to send these important items for dating. They wanted to make sure the site was protected. So, they asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to build a fence around the 114-acre site. They also asked for a police outpost to keep the site safe from damage.
Discoveries from Long Ago
Adichanallur first became famous in 1876. A team of three important people visited the site. This team included the local leader, an engineer, and a German scientist named Dr. Jagor. They started digging and found many clay pots. These pots were much better made than the ones sold in markets back then.
They also found baked clay dishes and many iron weapons. These weapons included knives, short swords, and hatchets. A large number of bones and skulls were also found.
A scientist named Alexander Rea later said that Dr. Jagor took all these amazing items to a museum in Berlin, Germany. Alexander Rea himself did a lot of digging at Adichanallur between 1899 and 1905. He found many more items, just like Dr. Jagor had.
Alexander Rea carefully wrote down everything he found in a book in 1915. The book was called "Catalog of the Prehistoric Antiquities from Adichanallur and Perambair." He found many items made of bronze, iron, gold, and clay. It's interesting that recent digs have mostly found clay items, not as much metal. All of Alexander Rea's finds are believed to be still in India.
A Museum at the Site
On August 5, 2023, a new museum was started at Adichanallur. This museum will be built right at the archaeological site. This means it will be one of the first "on-site" museums in India. Visitors will be able to see the ancient items very close to where they were found.
See also
- Keezhadi Excavation site
- Kodumanal
- Arikamedu
