Megalithic graffiti symbols

Last updated

Megalithic markings, megalithic graffiti marks, megalithic symbols or non-Brahmi symbols are markings found on mostly potsherds found in Central India, South India and Sri Lanka during the Megalithic Iron Age in India. A number of scholars have tried to decipher the symbols since 1878, and currently there is no consensus as to whether they constitute undeciphered writing or graffiti or symbols without any syllabic or alphabetic meaning.

Contents

History

Megalithic markings are usually found in burial sites but are also found in habitation sites as well. They are tentatively dated from 1000 BCE to 300 CE marking the transition of the proto-historic period into the historic period of the subcontinent. From archaeological stratigraphy, potsherds with and without symbols are usually found at the lowest level, followed by potsherds with mixed symbols and Brahmi or Tamil-Brahmi and eventually at the highest level potsherds are only found with Brahmi or Tamil-Brahmi etchings. From around 300 CE, they disappear from grave sites. [1]

Relationship to Indus script

In 1960, archaeologist B. B. Lal found that 89% of the surveyed megalithic symbols had their counterparts amongst the Indus script. He concluded that there was a commonness of culture between the Indus Valley civilisation and the later megalithic period. [2] In 2019, archaeologists in Tamil Nadu excavated further potsherds at Keeladi with graffiti closely resembling symbols of the Indus script. [3]

Archaeological findings

In 1935 a dish dating to the 1st century BCE and bearing megalithic graffiti symbols was discovered in Sulur, near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. In a 2001 publication, [lower-alpha 1] Mahadevan argued that the inscription on the dish contained symbols similar to those of the Indus script and also that the symbols are in same order as those of a comparable inscription on a tablet from Harappa. Mahadevan suggested that was evidence that the languages of the inscriptions were related. [4] [5]

In February 2006, a stone celt was discovered in Sembiyankandiyur village, near Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu. [6] The celt dates to the early 2nd millennium BCE, postdating the Harappan decline, and bears markings that Mahadevan identified as being identical with symbols of the Indus script. He argued that to be evidence that the language used by the neolithic people of south India was also used by the late Harappans. [7]

In May 2007, the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) found pots with arrow-head symbols during an excavation in Melaperumpallam, a village near Puhar, Mayiladuthurai. The symbols were reported to have a striking resemblance to seals unearthed in Mohenjo-daro, in present-day Pakistan, in the 1920s. [8] [ better source needed ]

See also

Notes

  1. And also in a subsequent 2004 follow-up article, Mahadevan (2004).

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harappa</span> Archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan

Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, Pakistan, about 24 km (15 mi) west of Sahiwal. The Bronze Age Harappan civilisation, now more often called the Indus Valley Civilisation, is named after the site, which takes its name from a modern village near the former course of the Ravi River, which now runs 8 km (5.0 mi) to the north. The core of the Harappan civilisation extended over a large area, from Gujarat in the south, across Sindh and Rajasthan and extending into Punjab and Haryana. Numerous sites have been found outside the core area, including some as far east as Uttar Pradesh and as far west as Sutkagen-dor on the Makran coast of Balochistan, not far from Iran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brahmi script</span> Ancient script of Central and South Asia

Brahmi is a writing system of ancient India that appeared as a fully developed script in the 3rd century BCE. Its descendants, the Brahmic scripts, continue to be used today across Southern and Southeastern Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indus script</span> Symbols of the Indus Valley Civilisation

The Indus script, also known as the Harappan script and the Indus Valley Script, is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilisation. Most inscriptions containing these symbols are extremely short, making it difficult to judge whether or not they constituted a writing system used to record a Harappan language, any of which are yet to be identified. Despite many attempts, the "script" has not yet been deciphered. There is no known bilingual inscription to help decipher the script, which shows no significant changes over time. However, some of the syntax varies depending upon location.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dholavira</span> Indus Valley Civilization site in Gujarat, India

Dholavira is an archaeological site at Khadirbet in Bhachau Taluka of Kutch District, in the state of Gujarat in western India, which has taken its name from a modern-day village 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) south of it. This village is 165 km (103 mi) from Radhanpur. Also known locally as Kotada timba, the site contains ruins of a city of the ancient Indus Valley civilization. Earthquakes have repeatedly affected Dholavira, including a particularly severe one around 2600 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamilakam</span> Geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people

Tamilakam was the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Traditional accounts and the Tolkāppiyam referred to these territories as a single cultural area, where Tamil was the natural language and permeated the culture of all its inhabitants. The ancient Tamil country was divided into kingdoms. The best known among them were the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyans and Pallavas. During the Sangam period, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamilakam. Ancient Tamil settlements were also established in Sri Lanka and the Maldives (Giravarus), prior to the migration of Prakrit speakers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edakkal caves</span> Caves and archaeological site in Kerala, India

The Edakkal caves are two natural caves at a remote location at Edakkal, 25 km (15.5 mi) from Kalpetta in the Wayanad district of Kerala in India. They lie 1,200 m (3,900 ft) above sea level on Ambukutty Mala, near an ancient trade route connecting the high mountains of Mysore to the ports of the Malabar Coast. Inside the caves are pictorial writings believed to date to at least 6,000 BCE, from the Neolithic man, indicating the presence of a prehistoric settlement in this region. The Stone Age carvings of Edakkal are rare and are the only known examples from South India besides those of Shenthurini, Kollam, also in Kerala. The cave paintings of Shenthurini (Shendurney) forests in Kerala are of the Mesolithic era.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil-Brahmi</span> Historical abugida script for Tamil

Tamil-Brahmi, also known as Tamili or Damili, was a variant of the Brahmi script in southern India. It was used to write inscriptions in the early form of Old Tamil. The Tamil-Brahmi script has been paleographically and stratigraphically dated between the third century BCE and the first century CE, and it constitutes the earliest known writing system evidenced in many parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Sri Lanka. Tamil Brahmi inscriptions have been found on cave entrances, stone beds, potsherds, jar burials, coins, seals, and rings.

The Bronze Age in the Indian subcontinent begins around 3000 BCE, and in the end gives rise to the Indus Valley Civilisation, which had its (mature) period between 2600 BCE and 1900 BCE. It continues into the Rigvedic period, the early part of the Vedic period. It is succeeded by the Iron Age in India, beginning in around 1000 BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bhirrana</span> Archaeological site and village in Haryana, India

Bhirrana, also Bhirdana and Birhana, is an archaeological site, located in a small village in the Fatehabad district of the north Indian state of Haryana. Bhirrana's earliest archaeological layers predates the Indus Valley civilisation times, dating to the 8th-7th millennium BCE. The site is one of the many sites seen along the channels of the seasonal Ghaggar river, identified by ASI archeologists to be the Rigvedic Saraswati river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early Indian epigraphy</span> History of South Asian writing systems

The earliest undisputed deciphered epigraphy found in the Indian subcontinent are the Edicts of Ashoka of the 3rd century BCE, in the Brahmi script.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iravatham Mahadevan</span> Indian epigraphist (1930–2018)

Iravatham Mahadevan was an Indian epigraphist and civil servant, known for his decipherment of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions and for his expertise on the epigraphy of the Indus Valley civilisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sources of ancient Tamil history</span> Literary, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic sources of ancient Tamil history

There are literary, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic sources of ancient Tamil history. The foremost among these sources is the Sangam literature, generally dated to 5th century BCE to 3rd century CE. The poems in Sangam literature contain vivid descriptions of the different aspects of life and society in Tamilakam during this age; scholars agree that, for the most part, these are reliable accounts. Greek and Roman literature, around the dawn of the Christian era, give details of the maritime trade between Tamilakam and the Roman empire, including the names and locations of many ports on both coasts of the Tamil country.

Sembiyankandiyur is an archaeological site in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu, India.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athiyamān</span>

Atiyamāṉ were a royal Velir dynasty. These king-chiefs ruled from their capital Tagadur from at least the 3rd century BCE. The royal house was one of the four kingdoms of Tamilakam, ruling parts of the Kongu Nadu. They were surrounded by the Cheras to the west and the Pandyas and Cholas to the east.

Tissamaharama inscription No. 53 refers to a fragment of black and red ware flat dish inscribed in Brahmi script excavated at the earliest layer in southern town of Tissamaharama in Sri Lanka. It is dated to approximately 200 BC by German scholars who undertook the excavation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anaikoddai seal</span>

The Anaikoddai seal is a soapstone seal that was found in Anaikoddai, Sri Lanka during archeological excavations of a megalithic burial site by a team of researchers from the University of Jaffna. The seal was originally part of a signet ring and contains one of the oldest Brahmi inscriptions mixed with megalithic graffiti symbols found on the island. It was dated paleographically to the early third century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mangulam</span> Village in Tamil Nadu

Mangulam or Mankulam is a village in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) from Madurai. The inscriptions discovered in the region are the earliest Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keezhadi excavation site</span> Archaeological site in Tamil Nadu, India

Keezhadi, or Keeladi, is a Sangam period settlement site, where excavation are carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India and the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology. This site is located near the town of Keezhadi in Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu, about 12 km southeast of Madurai. The settlement lies on the bank of the Vaigai River and it reflects the ancient culture of Tamil Nadu. Epigraphist V. Vedachalam, who served as a domain expert for the excavation, dated the excavated remains between 6th century BCE and 3rd century BCE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tamil inscriptions</span> List of Tamil archaeological artefacts and epigraphs

This is a list of archaeological artefacts and epigraphs which have Tamil inscriptions. Of the approximately 100,000 inscriptions found by the Archaeological Survey of India in India, about 60,000 were in Tamil Nadu

References

  1. Rajan, K (2008), "Situating the Beginning of Early Historic Times in Tamil Nadu: Some Issues and Reflections", Social Scientist, 36 (1/2): 40–78
  2. Lal, B.B. (1962), "From the Megalithic to Harappa: Tracing back the graffiti on the pottery", Ancient India: Bulletin of the Archaeology Survey of India, 16: 21–24
  3. Department of Archaeology, Government of Tamil Nadu - Keezhadi, An urban settlement of sangam age on the banks of the river Vaigai (2019) p60-62 https://archive.org/details/keeladibookenglish18092019/page/n59/mode/2up
  4. Mahadevan (2001a).
  5. Mahadevan (2004).
  6. Subramanian (2006).
  7. Mahadevan (2006).
  8. Subramaniam, T. S. (1 May 2006). "From Indus Valley to coastal Tamil Nadu". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 24 June 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2008.

Sources