08-05-2006, 09:25 AM
<b>Unique burial urn found in Kerala </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Kalady (Kerala), Aug 04:<b> A unique burial urn, 4.5 feet high with a radius of 2.75 feet, believed to be belonging to the Megalithic Age, has been excavated from a housing plot near the banks of the Periyar river here</b>.
Archaeologists here say this was the first time such a huge urn, which is conical in shape, has been found in Kerala.
Two other urns have also been found near the big urn, P K Gopi, documentation officer of the Archaeological Museum at Tripunithura Hill Palace, who visited the site, about 35 km from Kochi, told media persons.
The urns came to light when a team of researchers from the Sree Sanakra College, led by Dr B Ramesh, Director of the Research Centre at the College, undertook some excavations in the area.
Gopi said the urns had not been removed from the place due to heavy rains. "Only after some respite from the downpour, the priceless objects would be removed," he said.
"We are thinking of sending the samples to the Lucknow-based Birbla Sahini Institute of Paleo botany for carbon 14 dating which would give an accurate period to which the urns belong," he said.
Further excavations in the area have been stopped to prevent any damage to the objects, he said.
Tools of different sizes and shapes belonging to the Neolithic Age had also been found by the researchers some time ago, he said.
Bureau Report
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Archaeologists here say this was the first time such a huge urn, which is conical in shape, has been found in Kerala.
Two other urns have also been found near the big urn, P K Gopi, documentation officer of the Archaeological Museum at Tripunithura Hill Palace, who visited the site, about 35 km from Kochi, told media persons.
The urns came to light when a team of researchers from the Sree Sanakra College, led by Dr B Ramesh, Director of the Research Centre at the College, undertook some excavations in the area.
Gopi said the urns had not been removed from the place due to heavy rains. "Only after some respite from the downpour, the priceless objects would be removed," he said.
"We are thinking of sending the samples to the Lucknow-based Birbla Sahini Institute of Paleo botany for carbon 14 dating which would give an accurate period to which the urns belong," he said.
Further excavations in the area have been stopped to prevent any damage to the objects, he said.
Tools of different sizes and shapes belonging to the Neolithic Age had also been found by the researchers some time ago, he said.
Bureau Report
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