TOOL INDUSTRY: Some of the Palaeolithic age stone implements are exhibited — PHOTO: S. THANTHONI

CHENNAI: Tools from one of the earliest `industries' in India — discovered at an ancient tool-making site where early caveman manufactured axes and cleavers since the early Palaeolithic era (5 lakh to 2.5 lakh years ago) — are on display at an exhibition organised by the State Government's Department of Archaeology at its head office on Halls Road in Egmore.

The artefacts were discovered by a team constituted by the Archaeology Department at the Parikkulam excavation site near Poondi reservoir during the course of a six-month-long excavation, which concluded recently. The Department's Special Commissioner T.S. Sridhar said it was exciting that some of the artefacts such as hand-axes, hammers and chisels had minimal workmanship. "The lesser the details, the older it is."

A team headed by K. Sridharan carried out the excavations in the project jointly funded by the Central and State Governments. More than 300 artefacts were recovered from the site and the archaeologists have been able to classify 233 of them. They include hand axes and cleavers spread across the early, middle and late Palaeolithic eras. Mr. Sridharan points out that the earliest documented discovery of stone age tools in Poondi region was made by Sir Robert Bruce Foote, a British officer, in 1863. "Since then the region has become an important site for all archaeologists."

Tool `industry'

Former Dean of School of Historical Studies of University of Madras S. Gurumurthy said the site was one of the two earliest stone tool `industries' in India. Archaeologists refer to the Poondi site as the `Madras Industry'. The other tool-manufacturing site is found along the banks of the river Sohan (a tributary of the Indus) near the Shivalik Range. The exhibition also featured coins and artefacts recovered by another team that had conducted excavations at a site in Marakkanam near Pondicherry where an ancient port town existed.

The aim of the excavations was to find out whether the ancient seaport `Sopatma' or the `fair city' mentioned by Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy is indeed Marakanam. Mr. Sridhar said several archaeologists and geographers said Ptolemy was referring to Marakanam but there was no conclusive evidence. The archaeologists excavated more than 42 artefacts from the site in Marakanam and classified 34 of them into various time periods. Some of the coins recovered were as old as 10,000 years and proved that trade links existed through the sea. However, the clinching evidence that Ptolemy was referring to the port on the coast of Bay of Bengal is still missing.

The exhibition will be open on Saturday from 10.30 a.m. to 5.30 a.m. within the Tamil Valarchi Valaagam on Halls Road in Egmore.

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