Students unearth fresh evidence to prove extent of Neolithic culture in Tamil Nadu

A team of postgraduate students of the Tamil University, led by senior archaeologist V Selvakumar, unearthed objects belonging to the Neolithic settlement dating back to 1600 BCE-1400 BCE in Molapalayam, a remote village in Coimbatore. The excavation has brought in fresh perspectives on the way the early agro-pastoral communities lived in today’s south India. This is the first time a set of strong evidence related to Neolithic culture has been found in the western part of Tamil Nadu near the Palghat Gap. Neolithic culture, which witnessed the introduction of cattle domestication and agriculture around the early third millennium BCE in South India, is well represented in the states of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, and in the northwestern parts of Tamil Nadu.

Scholars believe that Tamil Nadu and Kerala are devoid of any significant influence of the Neolithic cultural complex of south India, due to lack of noteworthy Neolithic settlements in these regions. The Neolithic cultural remains of Tamil Nadu are mainly limited to Paiyampalli (in Tirupathur district of TN) and a few other sites located close to the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka border.

Even though archaeological excavations were conducted in Molapalayam by the Department of Maritime History and Marine Archaeology of the institute in 2021 in which three human skeletons, a lot of animal bones, seeds, polished stone axes, Neolithic pottery and storage pits were found, a 45-day-long excavation, conducted from June to July in 2024, revealed many objects used by the Neolithic people, including several pits used by them for storage and other activities. The pits have evidence of charred grains, bones, stone tools and pottery.

Three polished Neolithic stone axes were found within the trench. A human burial, ceramics, large variety of animal bones of wild and domestic animals, antlers, spheroids, mullers, shell beads and pendants, terracotta objects, red and black burnished ware pottery, microlithic blades and lunates made of quartz were found at the site indicating human activities.

“Molapalayam is surrounded by hillocks on the three sides and lies away from the Noyyal river and it was ideal for keeping domestic animals, which could be grazed over the hills. The rainfall, which is better in this region, also offered an ideal ecology for the settlement of early agro-pastoral people, who practised animal husbandry and agriculture,” said Selvakumar, who heads the Department of Maritime History and Marine Archaeology, Tamil University, Thanjavur.

While many sites revealed polished stone axes (celt) in Tamil Nadu, they couldn’t prove the Neolithic date of those sites. The evidence of a settlement with pottery can only prove the Neolithic activities. “In this excavation, proper Neolithic evidence has been found for the first time in the western part of Tamil Nadu. Our findings have revealed that the Neolithic people had spread in the western part of Tamil Nadu and they utilised the well-watered flanks of the Western Ghats for their subsistence. The Southern Neolithic culture is generally dated to 3000 BCE to 1200 BCE. Molapalayam falls in the last phase of the Southern Neolithic culture,” he said, adding that the early findings by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) near Paiyampalli (Tirupathur), and at Boothinatham (Dharmapuri) and the ongoing excavation at Chennanur (Krishnagiri) by the Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department and Valasai (Vellore) and Chettimedu Pathur (Chengalpet) by the University of Madras have revealed similar evidence in the northern part of Tamil Nadu.

At least 50 postgraduate students participated in the excavation conducted in Molapalayam, a place frequented by wild elephants today. When the team visited the village in June, the local people warned them about the frequent raids of wild elephants in the region. Knowing the seriousness, the organisers arranged for their stay a little away from the site. But there was another issue. It began raining heavily when the team started doing the preliminary works on the site. Despite the initial hiccups, the team got together and worked hard as the work progressed. For Anbil Nithi, finding a lunate belonging to the Neolithic period was special.

“I first found potsherds, which are abundant in archaeological sites. I wished I could find something more significant so I worked hard. When I first came across a lunate (a tiny stone tool with a sharp edge and crescent-shaped back), I was not aware of its importance. But our professor and other scholars later verified it using scientific analysis and told me the importance of it. It was a great feeling,” said Anbil Nithi, a final year postgraduate student of ancient history and archaeology at the Tamil University.

Devadarshini Vishwanathan said the excavation was a great experience because it was the first time that she came across ancient archaeological objects on her own. “I have studied in detail various objects belonging to different periods of history. I have also seen the objects in famous museums. The excavation in Molapalayam opened my eyes. As students, we get a lot of theoretical knowledge but the excavation gave a good practical guidance,” said Devadarshini, a final year postgraduate student of the same university.

In a series of excavations conducted in Molapalayam in 2021, three human skeletons, animal bones, querns and mullers, spheroids, plant seeds, polished stone axes, Neolithic pottery, marine shell beads, storage pits were found. Veena Mushrif-Tripathi of the Deccan College identified the human bones belonging to two children in the age group of three to seven years. The skeleton of an adult middle-aged woman was also found. Animal bones included cattle and sheep-goat bones and wild animals and they were studied by GS Abhayan of the University of Kerala. Marine shells used as beads were found and they were identified by Arati Deshpande Mukherjee. A pendant made of freshwater mussel in the shape of a fish with fins neatly engraved found at the site reveals the aesthetic sense of the early agro-pastoral communities. Satish Naik from Deccan College identified the millets and other seed grains from the excavation. The chronology of the site was confined by two radiocarbon dates obtained from the Betal Analytic lab in the US.

Selvakumar said the presence of the Western Ghat, intermittent rains due to the southwest monsoon and the waters from the Noyyal and Siruvani rivers might have given a perfect habitat for the Neolithic communities to settle here about 3600 years ago. “An important aspect of the settlement is the presence of marine shells suggesting the long distance interaction with the coastal Neytal region. The evidence unmistakably vouches for the emergence of the cultural landscapes Neytal and Mullai in the second millennium BCE in southern India, besides the Kurinji landscape,” he said. The findings from the site are under investigation to understand the cultural ways of life of the Neolithic people. The excavation was undertaken with the permission of the ASI and the financial support from the Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department.