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Minister for Finance and Archaeology Thangam Thennarasu at the exhibition of at Rajapalayam in Virudhunagar on Tuesday.
The Vembakottai archaeological excavation has revealed that a rich civilisation had existed on the banks of the Vaippar near Sattur, which is on a par with the ancient civilisation found in Keeladi and Porunai civilisation, said Minister for Finance and Archaeology Thangam Thennarasu said on Tuesday.
Inaugurating a workshop on Vaippatrankaraiyin Varalatru Thadam here, Mr. Thennarasu said that when the archaeological excavation was taken up in Vembakottai, he had doubts over whether the efforts would be revealing. But, after two phases of exploration, over 5,000 artefacts had been unearthed from the archaeological mounds on the banks of the Vaippar.
The history of Virudhunagar district should begin with Vaippar civilisation. It had revealed that a modern neolithic civilization had existed in Vembakottai. “It is brought to light that the people who lived on the Vaippar banks were literates and had the expertise to design their dress and ornaments,” he said.
Besides, they had the knowledge of making decorative articles out of carnelian, terracotta and shells. “That pieces of shell bangles had been found in Vembakottai revealed that people had procured the shells from seashore and brought them here to set up industrial units to make decorative bangles,” he said.
The artefacts of gold coins and other materials reveal the richness of the civilisation.
A study of the estampages that have been brought from Mysore to Chennai throw more light on the rich past of Tamil Nadu, he added. Athirampakkam in Tiruvallur district had been the dwelling place for stone age people some 15 lakh years back, he said.
Hence, the history of India should not be written from the banks of Ganga, but from the banks of Cauvery, he added.
The Department of Archaeology was getting generous funds from the State Governemnt and a state-of-the-art archaeological museum would be set up in Virudhunagar district at a cost of ₹5 crore and its work would start shortly, he said.
Virudhunagar Collector V.P. Jayaseelan, Tenkasi MP Dhanush M. Kumar, MLA S. Thangapandian, Sivakasi Mayor I. Sangeetha, secretary of Pandya Nadu Centre for Historical Research Santhalingam, Raju’s College administrative council secretary S. Singaraj, and principal Venkateswaran were among those who spoke.
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