A new archaeological research indicates Tamil Nadu was probably one of the first parts of the globe where smelted iron was in use, overthrowing the longstanding assumption that the Iron Age began in current Turkey around 1300 BCE.
Iron Items Discovered
A research paper by K Rajan and R Sivanantham, Antiquity of Iron: Recent Radiometric Dates from Tamil Nadu, discloses that iron implements have been discovered in six sites across the state with dates as old as 2953–3345 BCE. This indicates the people living there were actively producing and working on iron more than 5,300 years ago.
Archaeologists found such tools as spears, swords, chisels, and hoe-spades at places like Adichchanallur, Sivagalai, and Mayiladumparai. A burial urn at Sivagalai was dated at 1155 BCE, and charcoal and potsherds date to 3345 BCE.
Why It Matters
Historians once attributed iron technology to have been pioneered by the Hittite Empire of Anatolia (present-day Turkey). But Tamil Nadu discoveries show that metallurgy could have emerged in the Indian subcontinent many centuries earlier.
Historian Osmund Bopearachchi added that Tamil Nadu’s ultra-high-carbon steel iron sword may be earlier than Turkey’s steel-making process. Archaeologist Oishi Roy contributed, “People here were not just iron users but makers, showcasing an advanced civilization.”
A Change in History?
Though the significance of this finding is recognized by experts, others such as Parth R Chauhan warn against iron technology most probably developing independently across several areas. More work needs to be done in order to establish that Tamil Nadu was really the cradle of the Iron Age.
