Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department

Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department or Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology is the archaeology department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1961, the department is headed by an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer with the designation Commissioner for Archaeology and conducts archaeological excavations in the state of Tamil Nadu.

The department initially functioned from a rented house in Besant Nagar, Chennai. In 2003, it moved to its present premises - a newly constructed building named "Tamil Valarchi Valagam" in Halls Road, Egmore.

The department has a library at its headquarters in Chennai with over 11,500 volumes on archaeology, anthropology, art, history, epigraphy and palaeography. It houses copies of important journals such as Indian Antiquary, Asiatic Researches, Sacred Books of the East, International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics and Journal of Tamil Studies.

The department publishes a quarterly journal called Kalvettu. Like the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), it also publishes excavation reports and guide books for tourists, districtwise list of inscriptions and museum guides.

An epigraphy wing was inaugurated in 1966. Since its inception, the epigraphy wing has prepared estampages of about 14,000 inscriptions which are preserved at a facility in Udagamandalam. The department started an institute for epigraphy in 1973-74. The institute conducts one year post graduate diploma courses in epigraphy and archaeology for Tamil, Sanskrit or history graduates of the University of Madras.

So far, the department has excavated 32 sites.

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