Archaeologists from the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Madras, have uncovered the skeleton of a child thought to be 9-11 years old, based upon the presence of a deciduous first molar in the mandible, at a Neolithic site in the village of Chettimedu near Chengalpattu in Tamil Nadu. The body was orientated north-south with the head to the north, and facing to the west, a practice which began in the Neolithic and persisted into the Early Historic Period. It is thought to date to between 3000 BC and 2500 BC and was buried alongside a broken pot in the Burnished Grey Ware style, which is typical of the Late Neolithic in southern India.
While typical of the southern Indian Neolithic, Burnished Grey Ware is actually rare in Tamil Nadu State, having been found only at the Chettimedu site and at Valasai in Vellore District, 370 km to the southwest. As well as the Burnished Grey Ware, examples of Burnished Red Ware, Black and Red Ware, All-black Ware, Red Slipped Ware, Red Ware and Coarse Red Ware have been found in different layers at the site, with pottert from the uppermost layers having some writing upon it, implying a sequence of occupation lasting through the Neolithic and Iron Age into the Early Historic Period. Some bricks also thought to date to the early historic period were also found.
The site at Chettimedu was first identified in 2019, by construction workers digging foundations for a new project. The initial material uncovered included incised potsherds, earrings made of baked clay, and iron arrowheads, associated with the Iron Age-to-Early Historic Period Sangam Culture, which lasted from about 600 BC to about 300 AD. Subsequent excavations have uncovered material from a succession of earlier periods, including some pottery which may be associated with the Chalcolithic Malwa Culture of central India.
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