Discoveries from the excavation carried out at Mayiladumparai have revealed iron implements belonging to the Iron Age dating back 4,200 years. Among the 28 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry- based (AMS) sites in the country, this could be the earliest Iron Age site. M K Stalin, CM, stated in the Tamil Nadu Assembly that the excavations in Mayildumparai are dated in the ranges from 2172 BCE to 1615 BCE.

Along with this important discovery, the archaeologists have found evidence that the late Neolithic phase in Tamil Nadu begun before 2200 BCE, based on a cultural deposit of 25 cm below the dated level. They revealed that black and red ware pottery was introduced in the late Neolithic period, and not in the Iron Age as was believed earlier.

Photo Credit: Department of Archaeology, Tamil Nadu