New evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm/ Script as New evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm/ Script as New evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm/ Script as New evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm/ Script as New evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm/ Script as revealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavations revealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavations revealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavations revealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavations revealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavations K. Rajan and V.P.Yatheeskumar K. Rajan and V.P.Yatheeskumar K. Rajan and V.P.Yatheeskumar K. Rajan and V.P.Yatheeskumar K. Rajan and V.P.Yatheeskumar Irrespective of the claims on the decipherment of Indus script and graffiti marks, the earliest satisfactorily deciphered script in India is the Br¢hm/ script. Though it was first recognised in coins, the decipherment of A”okan edicts made it popular and on account of this it came to be known as A”okan- Br¢hm/ or after his dynastic name Mauryan-Br¢hm/. Later, a variant of this script was discovered in the south, in places like at Bhaiprø¶u in Andhra Pradesh. 1 To differentiate this, they called the one found in the north as northern-Br¢hm/ and the one found in the south as southern-Br¢hm/. Again a new variant of Br¢hm/ script was came to know after the discovery of rock shelter inscriptions at M¢‹gu¶am near Mºlƒr in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu by Robert Sewell in 1882. The successful decipherment of these inscriptions in1924 by K.V.Subrahmanya Aiyer 2 provided a new insight on the variant of Br¢hm/ script. The Br¢hm/ inscriptions of Tamil Nadu, in addition to some distinctive letters, were written in Tami~ language whereas the inscriptions outside ancient Tami~ country (ancient Tami~akam) were written in Prakrit language. So as to differentiate them from Prakrit-Br¢hm/, they designated the new variant as Tami~-Br¢hm/. These Tami~-Br¢hm/ inscriptions have certain unique letters to denote ~a, ~a, ªa and Øa occur in Tami~ language. Further, the letters " ma ’ and "ra ’ also have some morphological features that differ from usual A”okan-Br¢hm/. Keeping in view of these developments, scholars opined that the Br¢hm/ scripts that found outside Tamil Nadu and Kerala (ancient Tami~akam) should be re-designated as Prakrit-Br¢hm/ rather than calling them as A”okaØ-Br¢hm/ or Mauryan-Br¢hm/. This view seems to be reasonable. It would be appropriate to designate the inscription on the basis of language and script rather name of the ruler or dynasty. The ancient Jaina and Buddhist texts like Pannava·¢- sutta and Lalitavistara listed sixty four and eighteen scripts respectively that were in practice at the time of the composition of these literary works. Though we have not come across all the scripts listed in the literature, the scholars identified three important scripts namely Br¢hm/, Kharoh/ and Dami~i. Since both the scripts (Br¢hm/ and Dami~i ) find their place in the same literature, scholars like R.Nagasamy, M.D.Sampath and Natana. Kasinathan insist that Received : 18 th February, 2013 : Corrected : 26 th February, 2013
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New Evidences on Scientific Dates for Brahmi Script as Revealed From Kodumanal Excavations
There is a consistency in all the three dates obtained from two different laboratories. Thus, the three samples collected at the depth of 60 cm, 85 cm and 120 cm yielded uncalibrated dates of 275 BCE, 330 BCE and 408 BCE. As stated above, the total cultural deposit at the site is 185 cm and there is still 65 cm thick cultural deposit containing Br¢hm¤ inscribed potsherds below this level, thereby every possiibility of pushing the date further back to 5-6th century BCE.
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New evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asNew evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asNew evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asNew evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asNew evidences on scientific dates for Br¢hm¤ Script asrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavationsrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavationsrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavationsrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavationsrevealed from Porunthal and Kodumanal Excavations
K. Rajan and V.P.YatheeskumarK. Rajan and V.P.YatheeskumarK. Rajan and V.P.YatheeskumarK. Rajan and V.P.YatheeskumarK. Rajan and V.P.Yatheeskumar
Irrespective of the claims on the decipherment of
Indus script and graffiti marks, the earliest
satisfactorily deciphered script in India is the Br¢hm¤
script. Though it was first recognised in coins, the
decipherment of Aºokan edicts made it popular and
on account of this it came to be known as Aºokan-
Br¢hm¤ or after his dynastic name Mauryan-Br¢hm¤.
Later, a variant of this script was discovered in the
south, in places like at Bha°°iprù¶u in Andhra Pradesh.1
To differentiate this, they called the one found in the
north as northern-Br¢hm¤ and the one found in the
south as southern-Br¢hm¤. Again a new variant of
Br¢hm¤ script was came to know after the discoveryof rock shelter inscriptions at M¢¬gu¶am near Mël¦rin Madurai district of Tamil Nadu by Robert Sewellin 1882. The successful decipherment of theseinscriptions in1924 by K.V.Subrahmanya Aiyer2
provided a new insight on the variant of Br¢hm¤
script. The Br¢hm¤ inscriptions of Tamil Nadu, inaddition to some distinctive letters, were written inTami~ language whereas the inscriptions outsideancient Tami~ country (ancient Tami~akam) werewritten in Prakrit language. So as to differentiate
them from Prakrit-Br¢hm¤, they designated the new
variant as Tami~-Br¢hm¤. These Tami~-Br¢hm¤inscriptions have certain unique letters to denote ~a,~a, ãa and éa occur in Tami~ language. Further, theletters " ma ' and "ra ' also have some morphologicalfeatures that differ from usual Aºokan-Br¢hm¤.Keeping in view of these developments, scholarsopined that the Br¢hm¤ scripts that found outsideTamil Nadu and Kerala (ancient Tami~akam) shouldbe re-designated as Prakrit-Br¢hm¤ rather than callingthem as Aºokaé-Br¢hm¤ or Mauryan-Br¢hm¤. Thisview seems to be reasonable. It would be appropriateto designate the inscription on the basis of languageand script rather name of the ruler or dynasty. Theancient Jaina and Buddhist texts like Pannava´¢-sutta and Lalitavistara listed sixty four and eighteenscripts respectively that were in practice at the timeof the composition of these literary works. Thoughwe have not come across all the scripts listed in theliterature, the scholars identified three importantscripts namely Br¢hm¤, Kharo¾°h¤ and Dami~i. Sinceboth the scripts (Br¢hm¤ and Dami~i ) find their placein the same literature, scholars like R.Nagasamy,M.D.Sampath and Natana. Kasinathan insist that
Tami~-Br¢hm¤ should be called as Dami~i. Keeping inview of the growing knowledge in this field, the termDami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) is used in this article todifferentiate from Aºokan-Br¢hm¤ and also for betterunderstanding and wider acceptability. The closeobservations of the Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) and SriLankan Br¢hm¤ scripts suggest that they had closerrelations with each other than the Aºokan-Br¢hm¤.Irrespective of their successful decipherment, theorigin and date of Br¢hm¤ script still elude the scholarsas they were mostly recovered from non-perishablematerial like on rock-surface, metal objects andpotsherds. The non-availability of the script writtenon organic material prevented us in fixing the datescientifically. Thus, the study of palaeography,orthography and archaeological stratigraphypredominate the scene in assigning the date to Br¢hm¤script which initiated much debate among theepigraphists and archaeologists due to its ambiguity.However, the recent evidences observed atKo²uma´al, Porunthal, Pulim¢ékùmbai andTh¢thappa°°i in Tamil Nadu and at Anur¢dhapura inSri Lanka shed some light on the chronology of thescript.
The three earliest Tami~-Br¢hm¤ inscribed memorial
stones of India speaking on cattle raids recovered at
Pulim¢ékùmbai generated much debate on the date
of Br¢hm¤ script in Tamil Nadu as one of these
memorial stones is considered earlier than the
celebrated M¢¬gu¶am inscription3 (Figs. 1-6). This
debate is further accelerated with discovery of
memorial stone (a menhir) associated with urn burial
containing Tami~-Br¢hm¤ inscription at Th¢thappa°°i4
(Figs. 7-8). All the memorial stones were discovered
a few kilometres west of Madurai on the banks of
river Vaigai close to the trade route connecting
P¢´²iya capital with Chëra country on the western
side of the western ghat. Before the debates settled
down, the three radiometric dates of Porunthal and
Ko²uma´al have further accelerated the debate on
the origin and spread of this script. An attempt is
made here to place the recently obtained radiometric
dates from the above said two excavated sites for
the scholars close scrutiny and to discuss some of
the issues relating to the chronology of Dami~i (Tami~-
Br¢hm¤ script). A brief description of these two sites
is given to understand the potentiality of the site.
Excavations at PorunthalExcavations at PorunthalExcavations at PorunthalExcavations at PorunthalExcavations at Porunthal
skeletal remains, swords, pots and knife were placed
on the floor slab (Fig. 13). It seems the grave goods
were placed from the western most part of the
chamber with mouths of all the pots facing west.
Some of the pots had identical graffiti marks. The
bones collected from elsewhere were placed in
disarticulated form at the central part of the chamber.
The presence paddy is observed in all the four
graves placed in a four-legged jar comparatively in
better state of preservation.
Another interesting piece of evidence is the red
polished ware ring-stand engraved with Tami~-Br¢hm¤
script reading va-y-ra (Figs. 14-15). This script is
found in association with a graffito mark. Around
this ring stand, 22 etched carnelian beads were
Fig. 11: Porunthal : A transepted cist (Meg.I) placed at the centre of the circle
286
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
found. Further, four more etched carnelian beads, a
small sword and an arrow head were placed inside
the ring stand. The Tami~-Br¢hm¤ script, graffito mark,
carnelian beads, an iron sword and an arrow head
found along with the ring stand clearly points to the
importance given to the departed soul. The contextual
position of the ring stand clearly points to its
significance. Two long iron swords with a bunch of
arrow heads close to their tip portion are observed.
Besides three set of iron stirrups, carnelian beads,
steatite micro beads, quartz beads, iron swords,
arrowheads, skeletal remains and innumerable pots,
basins, ring stands, vases and plates were recovered
from this grave. Interestingly, in one of the four-
legged jars placed at the central part of the
northern chamber of Meg. II, had paintings
executed both in white and black pigments on the
shoulder and body portion of the four legged jars.
The V-shaped design in black pigment with whitedots was executed at the shoulder just below thegrooving. There are seven dots in each V-designportion. Below this, identical another V-design wasexecuted in white pigment with black dots. Belowthis m¢l¢ (garland) like design, a row of horse (?)in black pigment was executed. Below the horse,another row of peacocks was executed using bothblack and white pigments (Fig.16). Below thisrow, a leaf design was shown. The edges and themid-rib of the leaves are painted with black pigmentwhereas the other ribs are executed with white
pigments.
The remaining two graves are double cists (Meg.III
and Meg. IV) with independent passage on the east
connected through porthole. Each chamber had two
urns placed along with usual grave goods like a
stirrup, arrow heads, swords, dagger, four legged
Fig. 12: Porunthal : Double cists (Meg.IV) grave with passage on the east
287
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
jars, bowls, conical vases, pots, ring stands, plates
and basins (Fig. 17). Several pots had graffiti marks
on the exterior surface. In total, four urns are noticed
in each grave. Generally, the western most urn
placed in both the cists had important antiquities
along with skeletal remains. Several beads of
carnelian, steatite, glass, quartz and agate were
collected. Another important discovery is the presence
of paddy kept in a four-legged jar noticed in all the
four graves. The grave (MEG-I) excavated in the
year 2009 yielded 2 kg of paddy grains placed in
a four-legged jar and kept as grave goods in the
northern chamber of the grave. The paddy was in
better state of preservation at the time of exposure.
The palaeobotanist Dr.Premathilake, Post Graduate
Institute of Archaeology, Sri Lanka and Dr.Anupama,
Head, Department of Ecology, French Institute of
Pondicherry, who examined the sample identified it
as cultivated paddy namely Oryza sativa indica
(Fig. 18).
Based on general observations made during the
course of excavations and subsequent preliminary
analysis of the objects recovered from the site, one
could observe that the site was an industrial site
involved with the manufacture of glass beads. The
presence of cultivated paddy in large quantity
suggests that inhabitants were also involved in
agricultural production. The occurrence of terracotta
human figurines from habitation cuttings and beads
of carnelian, steatite and agate from graves suggest
their external contact. The archaeological material
combined with literary and epigraphical sources
suggest that the clan based society was already
emerged and they were controlled by Vë¶ chieftains.
Excavations at Ko²uma´alExcavations at Ko²uma´alExcavations at Ko²uma´alExcavations at Ko²uma´alExcavations at Ko²uma´al
Ko²uma´al (1106' 42"" N; 77030' 51'' E), a tiny
unassuming village in Perunduãai taluk of Erode
district in Tamil Nadu, is located on the north bank
of the east-flowing Noyyal, a tributary to the K¢vëri.
It lies on the ancient trade route that connects
Chëra capital Kar¦r (Va®ji) on the east and the
famous seaport Muciri (the site Pa°°a´am) on the
west. Roman coin hoards were reported at a number
of sites like at Katt¢¬ka´´i (located about 5 km
west of this site), S¦l¦r, Ve¶¶al¦r, Vë~anth¢va¶am and
Eyyal. The provenances of these coins suggest that
an ancient trade route was passing along the banks
of the Noyyal through Palghat gap from the west
coast ports to Kar¦r and further east. The ko¬ga-p-
peruva~i is one of the east-west major highways that
connects K¢vëri deltaic region with Ko¬gu country.9
Fig..13: Porunthal : The northern chamber (Meg. I)having grave goods
288
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
It might have passed through Uãaiy¦r, Ku¶ithalai, Kar¦r
along the banks of river K¢vëri and passed further
west along the river Noyyal up to Per¦r near
Coimbatore. The va°°e~uttu inscription found at
Pachchai-p¢~i near Su´²akamutt¦r on the rocky
surface on the side of the highway R¢jakëºari-p-
peruva~i (named after Chù~a king ¡ditya I) is the one
that connects Ko¬gu-n¢²u with Malaima´²alam
(Kerala).10 One could see still the old highway existed
in front of the R¢jakësariperuva~i inscription. Thus,
the site Ko²uma´al lies on the ancient trade route.
The ancient place name Ko²uma´am mentioned in
one of the Sangam anthologies Patiããuppattu (67)
had a close resemblance to the site Ko²uma´al and
it is highly praised for its ubiquitous jewel-stones,
particularly rock-crystal (pali¬ku). The collection of
semi-precious stones from the surface of the
mound and the widespread occurrence of quartz
in the surrounding area would suggest the plausible
identity of Ko²uma´al with ancient Ko²uma´am.
This fifty hectares of habitation-cum-burial site was
excavated in five seasons during the years 1985,
1986, 1989 and 1990 by the Department of
Epigraphy and Archaeology, Tamil University. In
1997 and 1998, the Tamil University and Tamil
Nadu State Archaeology Department jointly excavated
the site.11 Again, the site was excavated in the
months of May-June 2012 (Fig.19). Fifty two
trenches were laid in the habitation area and sixteen
megalithic burials were opened in the cemetery area.
Thus, this is one of the sites extensively excavated in
Tamil Nadu.
Fig. 14: Porunthal : The Tamil-Brahmi inscribed ring stand reading va-y-ra
289
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
The oldest part of the habitation (i.e., on the northern
half) has a deposit of two meters. On the basis of
cultural material, ceramics and palaeography of the
Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) letters the deposit is divided
into two cultural periods. The people of the first
period were mostly artisans working on semi-precious
stones particularly rock crystal and carnelian and
the people of the second period were generally
cultivators. The statistical analysis of the pottery
collected from the different strata of the ten groups
of trenches suggest that at lower levels the russet-
coated-painted-black-and-red ware (RCBRW) on the
one hand and plain black and red ware on the other
are to be found in almost equal proportions and all
the pottery looks bright and polished. In the middle
levels the russet-coated-painted-black-and-red ware
decreases while plain black-and-red ware increases.
Moreover we get comparatively thicker storage vessels
in black and red ware.
The quite interesting and remarkable achievement of
these people was the production of iron and steel.
The evidence for this industry was found exposed in
two groups of trenches 300 m apart from each
other and situated respectively on the southern and
northern part of the habitation mound. The trench
laid in the southern part of the habitation yielded an
iron smelting furnace and the one laid in the northern
part yielded a crucible furnace used for making steel.
Besides the manufacture of iron and steel, another
placed as grave goods in a Early Historic megalithic
grave (Meg-I) at Porunthal site were sent for
radiometric dates (Beta-302854). The acid washes
were the pre-treatment provided to the sample. The
sample provided plenty of carbon for an accurate
measurement and the analysis proceeded normally.
The measured radio carbon age is 2430�30 BPand the uncalibrated conventional age is 2440�30
BP with 13C/12C ratio factor of -24.3 o/oo. Thus,Thus,Thus,Thus,Thus,
the sample has been dated to 2440the sample has been dated to 2440the sample has been dated to 2440the sample has been dated to 2440the sample has been dated to 2440�����30 BP30 BP30 BP30 BP30 BP
i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE)i.e 490 BCE (Cal. 520 BCE). This date takes the
antiquity of an Early Historic grave to 490 BCE (cal.
520 BCE) and it has great significance in the history
of India. For the first time, an AMS date (Accelerator
Mass Spectrometry) is obtained for a grave that is
associated with Br¢hm¤ script (Fig. 20). So far, the
Br¢hm¤ script is dated on the basis of palaeographical,
linguistic and stratigraphical parameters. Due to the
non-availability of scientific dates, fixing the date of
Br¢hm¤ script had been eluding the scholars. Now,
the date of Br¢hm¤ script can be pushed back two
hundred years earlier to Aºoka. The scholars are
mostly holding the view that the early historic period
of Tamil Nadu begins with 3rd century BCE, but the
present date demands a relook. Now one may be
Fig. 18 : Porunthal : The four-legged jar containing paddy
292
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
justified in presuming that the early history of Tamil
Nadu begins before 5th century BCE and there is a
possibility of pushing this data further back to the
times of mah¢janapadas.
Thus, the AMS date obtained for the paddy grains
from the Porunthal site has the following
implications:
· The Br¢hm¤ writing system in India can be
pushed back to 5th century BCE
· The intensive paddy cultivation goes back to 5th
century BC
· The erection of megalithic monuments introduced
in Iron Age continued into the Early Historic
times
Subsequently, paddy grains obtained from another
grave MEG-IV (a double cist) opened in the year
2010 were submitted for AMS dates for the purpose
of cross validation and to get further conformity of
the earlier date. The second sample (Beta-305904)
is also dated to 2400�30 BP (450 BCE). The acidwashes were the pre-treatment provided to the
sample. The sample provided plenty of carbon for an
accurate measurement and the analysis proceeded
normally. The measured radio carbon age is
2390�30 BP and the uncalibrated conventionalage is 2400�30 BP with 13C/12C ratio factor of-24.6 o/oo. Thus, the sample has been datedThus, the sample has been datedThus, the sample has been datedThus, the sample has been datedThus, the sample has been dated
to 2400to 2400to 2400to 2400to 2400�����30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE)30 BP i.e 450 BCE (Cal. 410 BCE).
These two dates 490 BCE (Cal.520 BCE) and 450
BCE (Cal. 410 BCE) clearly urge us to have a
relook on the introduction of Br¢hm¤ script in India
Fig. 19 : Kodumanal : Excavated trenches
293
Pr¢gdh¢r¢, No. 21-22
Fig. 20 : Pot containing Tamil-Brahmi inscription reading Campaé-Sumanaé
and also the introduction of Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤)
writing system in Tamil Nadu.
In archaeological parlance, several dates from similar
cultural context are required to confirm the dates
appeared in a particular site, in this case Porunthal
site. Keeping in view of the scientific temper, another
well-known site Kodumanal was excavated in the
months of May-June 2012 to obtain a sample from
a well-stratified layer containing considerable number
(Meg.III) yielded a solitary sherd reading Vis¢ki.
Besides the proper names like Ka´´aé-¢taé, Pa´´aé,
Antavaé-¢taé, ¡taé, Campaé, M¢ttaé, ¥ra´aé, etc.,
the north Indian names like Varu´i, Kuviraé, Vis¢ki,
nikama, etc., clearly established close links with other
parts of India.
These inscribed potsherds were recovered from a
well-established stratigraphy and the Ko²uma´al
cultural deposits were dated based on these
stratigraphy. Y.Subbarayalu dated middle of third
century BCE to middle of 3rd century CE and K.Rajan
again revised the date and pushed them back to 4th
century BCE.19 At technical level, the discrepancy in
dates is due to non-availability of scientific dates. At
conceptual level, the scholars believed that Dami~i
(Tami~-Br¢hm¤) script was introduced after the advent
of Mauryan dynasty. These dates were assigned to
the Kodumanal inscribed potsherds before the findings
of Porunthal excavations. The Porunthal dates
demanded to have a relook on the dates of
294
izkX/kkjk] vad&21&22
Kodumanal. To mitigate this vexing problem, the
charcoal sample collected from the trench KDL-
ZD10 at the depth of 85-90 cm was sent for
radiometric dates (Beta-330303). The acid washes
were the pre-treatment provided to the sample. The
sample provided plenty of carbon for an accurate
measurement and the analysis proceeded normally.
The measured radio carbon age is 2270�30 BPand the uncalibrated conventional age is 2280�30BP with 13C/12C ratio factor of-24.2 o/oo. Thus,Thus,Thus,Thus,Thus,
the sample has been dated to 2280the sample has been dated to 2280the sample has been dated to 2280the sample has been dated to 2280the sample has been dated to 2280�����30 BP30 BP30 BP30 BP30 BP
The maximum cultural deposit containing Dami~i(Tami~-Br¢hm¤) inscribed potsherds in association with
Prakrit-Br¢hm¤ obtained at Ko²uma´al is 1.85 cm
and these deposits were generally found in the
northern part of the mound. The present four trenches
were laid towards the centre part of the mound and
yielded 1.20 cm cultural deposit. The date of 330
BCE has been assigned to a charcoal material
obtained at the depth of 85-90 cm and it is
considered as the middle part of the total cultural
deposit. There is another 30 cm cultural deposit in
this trench (KDL-ZD10) and about a 100 cm
cultural deposit in other trenches. One may assign
one or two centuries for the one metre cultural
deposit lying below this dated layer. Even the
conservative estimate takes the earliest deposit to 5th
century BCE. This confirms the Porunthal dates
mentioned above.
These three dates of 490 BCE (Cal.520 BCE), 450
BCE (Cal. 410 BCE) and 330 BCE (Cal. 380 BCE)
assigned to Dami~i (Tami~-Br¢hm¤) script clearly urgeus to have a relook on the introduction of Dami~i(Tami~-Br¢hm¤) script in Tamil Nadu and finally the
origin of Br¢hm¤ writing system in India.
Post ScriptPost ScriptPost ScriptPost ScriptPost Script
After submission of the manuscript, two more AMS
dates were obtained from Arizona AMS Laboratory.
The charcoal sample (AA99856) collected from the
trench KDL-ZE10 at the depth of 60 cm yielded a
date of 2225�41BP (275 BCE) and another sample(AA99855) collected from the trench KDL-ZE9 at
the depth of 120 cm yielded a date of 2358�40BP (408 BCE). This confirms our earlier assumption.
Further, the first date is obtained from Beta Analytic
Lab and the rest two from Arizona AMS Laboratory.
There is a consistency in all the three dates obtained
from two different laboratories. Thus, the three
samples collected at the depth of 60 cm, 85 cm
and 120 cm yielded uncalibrated dates of 275
BCE, 330 BCE and 408 BCE. As stated above, the
total cultural deposit at the site is 185 cm and there
is still 65 cm thick cultural deposit containing Br¢hm¤
inscribed potsherds below this level, thereby every
possiibility of pushing the date further back to 5-6th
century BCE. The future results alone would
strengthen our point.
Re fe rencesRe fe rencesRe fe rencesRe fe rencesRe fe rences
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2. Subrahmanya Aiyer, K.V. 1924. "The Earliest
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295
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Early Historic Tamil Nadu c.300 BCE-300CE (Essays commemorating Prof.
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of his death (ed.) K.Indrapala, Kumaran
Publishing House, Chennai, pp.57-94.
18. Rajavelu, S. 2009. ""Tami~ E~uttukka¶ié TùããamumVa¶arcciyum (Origin and Development of
Tamil Script)"", Varal¢ãu, vol.19, pp.162-183.
19. Rajan 2009. op.cit : 57-94.
Dr.Dr.Dr.Dr.Dr. K.K.K.K.K. RajanRajanRajanRajanRajanProfessorDepartment of HistoryPondicherry UniversityPondicherry (Tamilnadu) INDIA
Dr .Dr .Dr .Dr .Dr . V .P.V.P.V.P.V.P.V.P. YatheeskumarYatheeskumarYatheeskumarYatheeskumarYatheeskumarPost - Doctoral Project FellowDepartment of HistoryPondicherry UniversityPondicherry (Tamilnadu) INDIA