Adichanallur

Adichanallur
Location in Tamil Nadu, India
Location	Thoothukudi, India
Coordinates	8°44′N 77°42′E / 8.73°N 77.7°E / 8.73; 77.7
Type	Cultural
State Party	India

Adichanallur is an archaeological site (Tamil:ஆதிச்சநல்லூர்) in Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu, India. The town is known locally as Aathichanallur, and has been the site of a number of very important archaeological finds. Korkai the capital of the Early Pandyan Kingdom is located about 15 km from Adichanallur.

In 2004, a number of skeletons dating from around 3,800 years ago were found buried in earthenware urns. More than 160 urns have been found. These urns also contained writing, which according to some ASI archaeologists, is "very rudimentary" Tamil Brahmi. The script is dated to 500-300 BC.

Later, a three-tier burial system was discovered in which earlier generations were buried in urns at 10 feet depth and recent ones above them. Soon the habitation site of the people who were buried was also discovered recently.

Analyzing the habitation site, it was understood that people lived in a fortified town and it had a separate potters quarters. There was also evidence of industrial activity and archaeologists think that it was a crowded busy town. Sherds were also found with writings in Tamil-Brahmi scripts.

New initiative involves setting up of site museums. Efforts are on to set up museums in the very places from where significant objects are excavated, the ASI has a huge collection of materials like urns excavated from Adichanallur. At present, they are lying in Chennai. The idea is to set up a museum in Adichanallur itself and putting on display whatever had been excavated from there.

ADICHANALLUR has a history of excavation. The urn-burial site was brought to light when a German, Dr. Jagor, conducted a haphazard excavation at the place in 1876. An Englishman called Alexander Rea, who was the Superintending Archaeologist, excavated the urn-burial site between 1889 and 1905. A Frenchman called Louis Lapique had also conducted an excavation in 1904.

In his article entitled "Prehistoric antiquities in Tinnevelly", which appeared in the Archaeological Survey of India's annual report in 1902-03, Rea called the Adichanallur site "the most extensive prehistoric site as yet discovered in southern if not in the whole of India... . The site was first brought to notice in 1876 when it was visited by Dr. Jagor of Berlin, accompanied by the Collector of Tinnevelly and the District Engineer."