TN: 2,600-year-old walls discovered at Keeladi archaeology site

The fifth phase of the ongoing excavation at the archaeological site in Keeladi in Sivaganga district of Tamil Nadu has unearthed, over a period of one month, a total of four brick walls dating back to the Sangam age.

The State Archeology Department unearthed four walls which are 2,600 years old at the site.

The fifth phase of excavation that began in June is likely to close this month.

Excavation work in Keeladi village has been conducted on behalf of the Central Archeology Department since 2015.

The excavations carried out in the village on the banks of Vaigai river unearthed artefacts which have been found to be dating back to Sangam civilization.

A local resident, Marudhu Perumal told ANI, "Tamils are proud to see this discovery of civilization from 2600 years ago. I have studied the oldest civilization when I was in school but there is no evidence of this site. But Tamils are proud to have found this and the items are 2600 years old. Everyone in Tamil Nadu should come down and view Keeladi."

"Earlier nobody knew about this site but now people are aware of it. This makes us feel proud. There is a pride in being Tamil when we see old items in Keeladi civilization," another local Vinitha said.

The second phase was conducted in 2016 and phase three in 2017.

The government of Tamil Nadu undertook the fourth phase of the excavation in 2018 as various parties insisted on continuing the investigation. So far, 14,500 items were unearthed. Funds have been allocated to construct a trench to protect them.

On September 27, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) president MK Stalin visited the Keeladi archaeology site as part of the fifth phase of excavation.