In a rare find, the Kozhikode unit of the State Archaeology Department has discovered an early Iron Age burial monument from a rock-cut chamber claimed to be over 2,000 years old at Triprangode village in Tirur taluk in Malappuram district.
K. Krishnaraj of the Archaeology Department said that 16 pottery and three iron implements were recovered from the chamber following a land levelling work on the premises of a newly built house. “The entire range of pottery in different shapes and sizes is wheel-made and finely baked. The collection includes black and red wares of the Megalithic age,” he said.
Almost all the pieces have a fine coating of red slip on the exterior and some on the interior as well. The paintings were executed with white clay directing onto the surface before firing.
First of its kind
“No such kind of painted pottery has been reported anywhere else in Kerala. A rock-cut chamber at Poduvachery in Kannur had yielded painted pottery, but the repertoire differs from this collection in pattern and colour scheme,” Mr. Krishnaraj said.
The iron types discovered from the site consisted of two swords and a tripod stand. One of the swords having a length of 61.5 cm is double-edged while the second sword has been broken into many pieces but the total length of the recovered part is 58 cm. The tripod stand recovered is the commonest type of object recovered from Iron Age Megalithic rock-cut chambers, he said.
The artefacts have been shifted to the Pazhassi Raja Archaeological Museum at East Hill in Kozhikode. The Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, has agreed to carry out the metallographic examination and scientific analysis of the iron implements to find out the type of forging and carbon content, E. Dineshan, Director, Department of Archaeology, said.
Mr. Krishnaraj said that the site and neighbouring Tirunavaya, a town situated on the northern banks of Bharatappuzha, are abundant in such archaeological monuments.
“The cave must be re-excavated scientifically in search of further burial artefacts and possible bone fragments. Further researches should be conducted to get information about painted decorations. Also a detailed graphic, and photographic documentation of the monument is necessary,” he said.
