✔ A recent study published in Current Science suggests that parts of the Keezhadi settlement in Tamil Nadu were buried by a high-energy flood event approximately 1,155 years before present.
✔ This finding helps archaeologists distinguish between the time of habitation and the time of burial, offering clues about the site's abandonment
● About Keezhadi Settlement:
✔ It is situated along the Vaigai River in the Sivaganga district, near Madurai.
✔ Excavations have revealed an urban settlement with brick structures, drainage channels, fine clay floors, and pottery.
✔ These urban featurescorroborate descriptions found in Sangam literature of busy towns and prosperous trade
✔ This challenges the earlier beliefs that the Sangam society was purely agrarian.
● Sources of the Sangam Age:
✔ The history of the Tamil country during this period is reconstructed from three main types of sources:
✔ Literary Sources:
o Tolkappiyamisthe earliest extant Tamil grammar work.
o Ettuttogai (Eight Anthologies) and Pattuppattu (Ten Idylls) are collections of poems and provide social and political details.
o Then we have the Epics like Silappathigaram by Ilango Adigal and Manimegalai by Sittalai Sattanar.
o Pathinenkilkanakku includes ethical works like the Tirukkural.
✔ Foreign Accounts:
o Periplus of the Erythraean Sea details trade routes and ports.
o Pliny’s Natural History and Ptolemy’s Geography provide information on Roman trade with South India.
o Megasthenes mentions the Pandyan kingdom in his work Indica.
✔ Archaeological Sources:
o Hathigumpha Inscription of King Kharavela (Kalinga) mentions the league of Tamil kingdoms
o Excavationsatsites like Arikamedu, Puhar, and Uraiyur reveal Roman artifacts, confirming extensive overseas trade.
