Annual report - Ministry Of Culture

In course of exploration two low lying features
(nullah) are noticed, which might have been created
in the past by the rain water released from the
cultivated lands situated to the west of the canal.
Presently these are not in use.
Southern Side
In the southern area, settlement is found right from
the shore and covered roughly 100 m of the total
area of the proposed harbour site. Big boulders are
put on the shore to arrest the soil erosion by PWD
Department of Tamil Nadu Government It is worth
mentioning here that in 1973 the Kannagi statue
was installed on the shore of Poompuhar about 200
m away from the high water line, and in 1994 it
was shifted about 150 m inward because the
structure was destroyed by the sea. Similarly other
monuments at Poompuhar were also destroyed by
the sea. (Underwater Exploration Off Poompuhar
and Possible Cause of Its Submergence,
Aniruddha Singh Gaur and Sundaresh (p. 87,
Purattava 28)). This area is totally bereft of any
archaeological artifacts, only houses made by
coconut leaves and some concrete buildings are
noticed. Besides these, boats and Catamarans
(Wooden boat) are kept there.
It was also decided by the team leader that few trial
trenches should be taken to ascertain the
archaeological importance of the area. As such three
trial trenches were taken, out of which, two were
within the proposed harbour site and one was near
the prawn cultivation area far from the harbor site.
Trial Trenches at the site
In the centre of the area, a Trench No.1 (11° 09¹
092º N 79° 57¹ 406º E) measuring 2m x 2m was laid
down for excavation. Excavation was carried out in
an area of 2mX1m in the western half of the trench.
It was excavated up to a depth of 1.10 m. Four
layers of sandy deposits were observed in the section,
compositions of all the layers are almost similar but
they can be differentiated only by their colour and
compactness which is due to the oil contents. No
ANNUAL REPORT 2010-2011 21
object of archaeological importance was found. At
this depth water starts oozing up, so further digging
was not possible.
The Trench No. 2 (11° 09¹ 135º N, 79° 51¹ 421º E)
was laid down in north-east corner of the proposed
construction site, near the shore. Here also trench
measuring 2m x 2m was laid. The eastern half of the
trench was excavated up to a depth of 1.10m till the
water was found oozing. In this trench two layers of
sandy deposits were observed. Composition of both
the layers is almost same but they could be determined
only by their compactness.
The third trench (11Ú 09' 30" N and 79Ú 51' 49" E)
was laid out near the prawn cultivation area far from
the proposed harbour site. The size of the trench was
2m x 2m. This area is composed of soil and sand.
Two layers are noticed during excavation. Till the
depth of 50 cm no artifacts was found. It was
excavated up to a depth of 1.25m, till the water was
found oozing up. Two potsherds of red ware were
found in layer 2. The thickness of the upper layer is
about 60cm and composition is sand, while the second
layer is compact and its composition is clay mixed
with sand and contained potsherds. Its colour is muddy
blackish.
Findings
In both the trial trenches laid out on the harbor site,
no object/artifact of archaeological importance was
noticed. However three/four different layers of sand
differentiated by colour and texture were noticed.
Different types of Mollusks and Shells are found on
the shore.
Observation
It is observed that as no estuary is found nor any
traces of the same is noticed anywhere in the proposed
site at present, it might not be a port area of the
ancient time. Estuary has a great help for safe
anchoring and also for navigation of boats. Now the
wave breaks at a distance of about 150m from the
shore and it is not easy to cross this area.