No Scientific Validation of Tamil Iron Age Claims Yet: Centre
Union Minister Gajendra Shekhawat in the Lok Sabha (Image credit Sansad TV)
Premature to Comment on Tamil Iron Age Claims, Says Centre
By TRH Correspondent
New Delhi, March 17: The Centre on Monday said that it’s premature to comment on claims made by Tamil Nadu on iron age discoveries. The Centre said that it will be appropriate to discuss the claims of iron age in Tamil Nadu only after scientific validation.
“I have come to know through media reports and television channels about the claims made in the iron age excavations in Tamil Nadu. But there is no scientific validation yet of the claims,” said Union Minister for Culture Gajendra Shekhawat.
The Minister was replying during the Question Hour. He responded to a supplementary question of the DMK MP T Sumathy.
The DMK MP sought to known from the minister if the Central government will “acknowledge the discovery in Tamil Nadu of the iron age preceding the discoveries of iron tools in the Gangetic by over 100 years”. Sumathy also sought to know if the Central government will work to get a world heritage status for the excavated site in Tamil Nadu.
“The question doesn’t relate to the issue being discussed. But I have seen the claims made by the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (MK Stalin). I have also seen the media reports. But there is no scientific validation for the claims being made by the Tamil Nadu government,” added Shekhawat.
BBC in a report said that “archaeologists discovered iron objects at six sites in Tamil Nadu”. The discoveries are said to be dating back 2,953–3,345 BCE, added the broadcaster.
The findings suggest that “the process of extracting, smelting, forging and shaping iron to create tools, weapons and other objects may have developed independently in the Indian subcontinent”.
Archaeologists had been digging at six sites — Adichchanallur, Sivagalai, Mayiladumparai, Kilnamandi, Mangadu and Thelunganur – for almost two decades. The local media reports claimed that the iron age began in Tamil Nadu.
Stalin has told media in Chennai that the “Iron Age began first in Tamil Nadu on earth”. Until the claims were made, the archaeologists believed that the iron age began in Tukey.
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