Tamil Nadu government urges Centre to release Keeladi report

Hindustan Times

14 hours ago

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Sunday cited the research findings by a university in England on Keeladi archaeological site and urged the BJP-led Union government to release the Keeladi research report. Liverpool John Moores University reconstructed the facial features of ancient people who lived around 2,500 years ago. (HT photo)
UK-based Liverpool John Moores University studied the skulls excavated from Keeladi and reconstructed the facial features of ancient people who lived around 2,500 years ago. The images were generated last year after the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) sent them digital files related to skull samples from Kondagai, the burial site of Keeladi which is believed to have existed in 600BC.
On the findings, finance minister Thangam Thenarasu, who holds the archaeology portfolio, said that the UK-based university has reconstructed facial features of ancient people who lived around 2,500 years ago highlighting the antiquity of Tamil culture and civilization to the world. 'Though the Union BJP government has deceitfully tried to suppress the history and heritage of Tamils, constructive scientific findings and historical evidence emerging from the Keezhadi excavations continue to defeat the Union government's unjust denials,' he posted on X.
'The way of life detailed in Sangam literature now stands scientifically validated through the findings at Keeladi,' chief minister MK Stalin said on X.
Professor G Kumaresan, head of Ancient DNA Lab of MKU, said: 'We received the data and images last year. Across the world, such facial recognition is done and we also did it to help us have a visual connection.' The facial reconstruction images using DNA analysis showed proximity of the humans in the region to South Asian origin.
The lab at MKU which primarily focuses on DNA analysis is working in four directions. 'We are looking at genomic reconstruction by extracting DNA from bones and sequencing them to compare it with that of modern people,' Kumaresan told HT. 'The challenge we face is that we get less DNA markers. We are getting only 4,000 markers per sample whereas you require 100,000 markers.' For the research, MKU has collaborated with David Reich Lab in Harvard University.
The MKU lab is also studying animal bones extracted from Keeladi to identify their species, how they came to be domesticated and how these connect to present day animals such as a bull, Kumaresan said. They are also studying agricultural practices from rice and millet extracted from the sites and organic molecules extracted from offering pots in burial sites to understand the ancient civilization's food practices.
Minister Thenarasu's statement came after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in May asked its officer K Amarnath Ramakrishna to rework his voluminous report of the first two excavations at Keeladi challenging the dating and classification of key discoveries.
Ramakrishna refused to and stood by his report, stating that by relying on AMS dating of 23 artefacts, a chronological sequence of Keeladi to be between the 8th century BCE to 3rd century CE has been established.
ASI transferred him on June 17 days after MK Stalin on June 13 said that the truth from the findings in Keeladi does not serve the script of the BJP and RSS and so they are dismissing the rigorously proven antiquity of Tamil culture. The chief minister has framed these archaeological pursuits as part of a broader ideological battle.
On June 11, Union minister of culture and tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat had alleged that the DMK government was refusing to cooperate with the central government on Keeladi research and politicising the findings.
After the first two excavations, Tamil Nadu state department of Archaeology took over from ASI at Keeladi in 2017 and digging entered its 11th phase this year.
In response to DMK's comments, the BJP said that the DMK should not politicise archaeology. 'ASI is one of the oldest institutions in the world. They have not rejected the Keeladi report but only asked for clarifications to prove to the world that we have an ancient civilisation,' BJP state leader Narayanan Thirupathy told HT.
'It is the duty of anyone to provide such clarifications by following standard practices. The DMK is unnecessarily mixing regional and linguistic politics with Keeladi,' he added.