Keeladi - An Urban Settlement of Sangam Age on the Banks of River Vaigai

Archaeology is an endless journey in search of our past. Archaeology as we have known always relies heavily on the tools left behind by our forefathers and the human progress is based on technological development. It is true that those tools were the basis for human existence and modern devices have evolved from these simple stone, wheel and other artefacts invented by our ancestors. Archaeological excavations are no longer a treasure hunt but a search for information and obviously means of answering specific questions. Archaeologists are responsible in classifying and interpreting the artefacts of ancient societies with the evolution of mankind.

Archaeology requires the application of a wide range of skills, from discovery to interpretation of the findings. Exploring new ways of thinking about the past, gathering and maximising knowledge and adopting emerging technologies, will expand the knowledge base, improve interpretation of the past and capture everyone's interest and imagination.

Archaeology as a discipline has developed into several dimensions and can be broadly divided into Pre-Historic Archaeology and Historical Archaeology. Due to recent developments in the study of Archaeology, the ecological changes have also been brought under consideration; separate focus is now given to the study of Environmental Archaeology and Ethno Archaeology which deals with the study of living people and their material culture. Archaeology includes not only excavation but also study of original source materials such as literature, epigraphs, coins and monuments. However, the role of excavation plays a pre-eminent part in identifying Mesopotamia, Egypt, Maya and the civilizations of the East like Chinese civilization were exposed mainly through excavations. In India, the excavations carried out in the respective sites uncovered the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Iron Age settlements. Though the history of Tamil Nadu can be traced from Pre-historic period with the discovery of stone tools as accidental findings, it was those proper and systematic excavations in various sites by different agencies that lifted the curtain for understanding the past.

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