Sanur, Tamil Nadu
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  Shown within Tamil Nadu  Sanur, Tamil Nadu (India) | |
| Location | Tamil Nadu, India |
|---|---|
| Region | South India |
| Coordinates | 11°54′3″N 79°49′13″E / 11.90083°N 79.82028°ECoordinates: 11°54′3″N 79°49′13″E / 11.90083°N 79.82028°E ⧼validator-fatal-error⧽ |
The site of Sanur 12 33’ 5” N. Lat and 79 55’ 0” E. Long., in Madurantakam Taluk, Chingelput District consists of an extensive high ground 44.93 acres in area, lying to the west of the Madras Trunk Road at milestone 45 and flanked by hills on the west[1].
The ground is extensively covered with megaliths amidst low rocky outcrops hidden by a thick growth of shrubs of the Reserved Forest. The concomitant tank is situated to the north-east and covers a wide expanse irrigating a considerable arable area, locally called ayacut. Except the barrow and the slab-cist stone circle, both characteristic of the northern laterite regions, all the other types of the megalithic monuments, viz. the cairn-circle, the dolmenoid cist and the dolmenoid cist with capstone flush with the cairn, occur here, their total number being upwards of three hundred. Their contents and promiscuous distribution over the site indicate that they were the products of a homogeneous culture.[1]
Based on the dating of Perumbair in Chingelput District by Alexander Rea in 1905 as third-second century BCE, this Sanur megaliths is also approximately dated to the same period.[1]
Excavations[edit]
There were five excavated megaliths at Sanur, two of them (Megaliths 1 and 2) in 1950 and the other three (Megaliths 3,4 and 5) in 1952. They are of three types: cairn-circle, type C (Megaliths 4 and 5), dolmenoid cist type D2 (Megalith 3), and dolmenoid cist with flush capstone, type D3 (Megalith 1 and 2). All of them yielded sarcophagi, burial urns, grave goods, iron and shell objects, stone objects, terracotta figurine, skeletal remains, incipient cist-chamber and pottery. All the megaliths were surrounded by stone circles, their overall diameters ranging from 18ft to 50ft.[1]
The megalithic monuments, from their mere size, could not have been produced by individual effort and their signify a community-living as well as a concerted effort, resulting in the construction of the monuments. These presuppose some established norms of social behavior. There were megalithic tombs and skeletal relics were utterly fragmentary or crushed.[1]
The iron objects found in the megaliths are mostly weapons of war and suggest that the folks were warlike and had always to be on the alert. The presence of horse-bits among them indicate the use of horse. The profuseness of iron objects and their fairly sharp outlines point to the people’s developed skill of forging, not to speak of the knowledge of mining and smelting. The presence of terracotta beads and an animal figurine, etched carnelian beads, a ball of quartz and shell ornaments limitedly evidence the life of the people.[1]
Pots were of types: pyriform and fusiform jar, the black funnel shaped lid, the ring-stand of the ordinary and hour glass shapes, the black-and-red tulip shaped vessel, the conical vessel shouldered towards bottom, the small bright-red pyriform pot, and the black-and-red ware bowl and vessel. The iron objects consisted of the arrow-head, spear, sickle, hook, wedge, horse-bit, tanged dagger or knife, scraper and chisel. Graffiti, so common on the megalithic pottery of India, occurs on the Sanur burial-ware as well. Whatever they may represent-an alphabet, or potters’ or owners’ marks, or regular symbols such as are found on the punch-marked coins, they had certainly no funerary significance, as they occur as well on the comparable domestic pottery in the Black-and-red ware and the red and black wares from the habitational deposits at Sengamedu, Vriddhachalam Taluk, South Arcot District, a site with no megalithic association. The post-firing engravings were of 39 types[1].
References[edit]
Added the excavation result of Sanur under Tamil Vaigai Civilisation[edit]
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