Krishnagiri site traces iron tools to 2172BCE

Tamil Nadu’s iron age is 4,200 years old, making it one of the oldest iron ages in the country. A report by the Tamil state archaeology department released on Monday, stated that the Tamil civilization mastered the art of making iron tools, which helped them grow economically, as larger areas could be cultivated, using these tools when compared to stone tools.Excavations began in this region in the year 2021.
The Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dating by Beta Analytic Laboratory in the US of the piece of iron found in Mayiladumparai in Krishnagiri district by the state archaeology department, has established that the iron age started in Tamil Nadu 4,200 years ago, as early as in 2172BCE (before current era), making it one of the oldest iron ages in India, which also brought about economic development and cultural changes in civilization.
After the discovery of iron, it took 700 years for the members of this civilization to master the art of adding carbon in it to make steel or reducing it to make iron tools, said a senior archaeologist who is a member of the team that analysed the findings.
Any technology would have a bigger impact on the cultural transformation of a civilization, be it economic or ritualistic, said the archaeologist. “Excavation in this area was undertaken with the aim to prove the iron age, and now we have established that we are on a par with other iron age civilizations,” he said. A team of archaeologists, led by professor K Rajan, and including R Sivanantham K Sakthivel, S Paranthaman and K Bakialakshmi, analysed the findings and prepared the report called Beginning of Agrarian Society.
The trenches laid in locality-4 in the present excavation yielded two important AMS dates. The two dates were obtained at the depth of 104cm and 130cm which yielded the mid- range calibrated dates for the said two dates — 1615BCE and 2172BCE respectively. These two dates provided a new understanding of the nature of cultural deposits. Three important features could be understood based on these dates.
The Indus Valley did not have any iron usage. What they had was the copper age, which preceded the iron age by about 1,000 years. Introduction of iron is considered as one of the most important technological inno- vations in human history. Deforestation began after the introduction of iron, which in turn led to larger areas being brought under agriculture and production increased manifold. This was followed by population growth and formation of societies, then the emergence of clan-based societies and finally the formation of the state.
The introduction of iron helped the ancient people to bring forest land into cultivable land and agricultural production increased manifold. The surplus agricultural production led to population growth. The population growth led to the formation of societies. The formation of society led to the emergence of clan-based society finally leading to the formation of the state. The establishment of a state with control of territory, men and materials slowly paved the way for economic development in the form of trade and technology.
An off-shoot of economic development, the art, architecture, fine arts and other cultural activities accelerated. Thus, there is a complete cultural transformation due to technology. In the technology-driven world, the introduction of any technology that suits and meets the aspirations and expectations of society always serves as a catalyst for social transformation. Therefore, the introduction of iron in a particular region is considered as one of the important factors in human development.
The date of the introduction of iron in other parts of India is considered as the 2nd millennium BCE. But this date has been eluding Tamil Nadu for the past several years irrespective of the availability of a large quantity of iron ore in Tamil Nadu, particularly in the Salem region. The recent AMS dates obtained for samples collected from the graves at Mangadu near Mettur in the iron ore bearing zone of the Salem region placed the manufacture of the iron in mid-range calibrated date of 1510BCE. But it did not match with all India dates. Therefore, the search for such dates continued for several years. Now the answer is obtained at Mayiladumparai near Thogarapalli of Krishnagiri district.
Scholars from the West insisted initially that the technology had developed in Asia Minor and from there the iron technology percolated to different parts of the world. Through this statement, they wish to insist that civilised society emerged in Asia Minor due to iron technology. To counter this hypothesis, all the countries tried to get the date of introduction of iron in their respective countries. Tamil Nadu has finally found its date too.