Abstract
Iron Age Site, Kilpauk, Madras A preliminary report on the excavation of what promises to be an important site in the prehistory of southern India has been published by Messrs. M. D. Raghavan and T. G. Aravamuthan (Current Sci., 3, No. 3). The prehistoric cemetery of Kilpauk, Madras, situated in the garden of a bungalow belonging to Mr. E. R. Prudhomme, has been known for about twelve years, and a number of specimens of pottery and a small sarcophagus had been found in the course of laying out the garden. No attempt had been made to explore the site systematically until August last, when operations were begun on behalf of the Madras Government Museum. Up to the date of writing, the authors had extracted a quantity of black-tipped ware, in which the rim and inside are black and the rest red, all-black ware, a figurine of black pottery of high finish, apparently representing a bird, and half of a fine pottery head. Two iron objects were found, of which one was a small hoe blade of a very primitive type with a slightly curved cutting edge and a narrow butt, and the other a stick of iron, about six inches long. The most im portant find, however, was a sarcophagus about six feet in length, standing on six pairs of short legs, closely resembling specimens found at Pallavaram and Jerumbair. It was filled with sand and bits of pottery. A fragment of a human tibia was found nearby. The sarcophagus had been badly damaged by a mango tree root and could not be removed whole. The site has certain distinctive features which mark it off from other prehistoric sites, such as the occurrence of both urn burials and sarcophagus burials, and the abundance of fine pottery. The all-black vessels distinguish Kilpauk from both Perum-bair and Adichanallur. Beyond an attribution to the iron age of Southern India, it is as yet too early to attempt any precision in chronological classification.
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Research Items. Nature 134, 939–941 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134939a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134939a0