In an announcement that challenges long-held assumptions about the origins of the Iron Age, a new study has found evidence that the use of iron in the area that is now Tamil Nadu dates back to the first quarter of the 4th millennium BCE. This revelation, based on rigorous radiometric dating from multiple international laboratories, positions the region as a pioneering hub of early metallurgy, surpassing global timelines by nearly two millennia.
The findings were produced in a report titled ‘Antiquity of Iron: Recent Radiometric Dates from Tamil Nadu’, authored by K Rajan and R Sivanantham. Rajan is a professor at the Department of History in Pondicherry University, and Sivanantham is joint director of the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology.
Unveiling the findings Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said history of the Indian subcontinent can no longer overlook Tamil Nadu. “It must, in fact, begin here,” he said Thursday.
The findings, which provide evidence that iron technology in Tamil Nadu dates as far back as 3345 BCE, are supported by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) analyses conducted on samples from archaeological sites such as Sivagalai, Adichanallur, Mayiladumparai, and Kilnamandi.
Three types of iron-smelting furnaces were identified at Kodumanal, Chettipalayam, and Perungalur, showcasing early innovations in extracting iron.
Until recently, the Iron Age in India was believed to have emerged between 1500 and 2000 BCE, closely following the Indus Valley Civilisation. However, new data from Tamil Nadu pushes this timeline further back. A paddy sample from a burial urn in Sivagalai was dated to 1155 BCE, while charcoal and potsherds (broken pieces of ceramic material) from the same site provided dates ranging from 2953 BCE to 3345 BCE, making it the earliest recorded evidence of iron technology globally.
At Mayiladumparai, samples were dated to 2172 BCE, surpassing earlier benchmarks of iron usage in the region. Kilnamandi, meanwhile, yielded a sarcophagus burial dated to 1692 BCE, marking a significant milestone as the earliest-dated burial of its kind in Tamil Nadu.
Experts consulted in the study observed that this discovery is a turning point in Indian archaeology. It also establishes that Tamil Nadu was not merely a participant in the evolution of metallurgy but an innovator, as the smelted iron findings have been dated to the middle of the third millennium BCE for the first time in the world, altering the understanding of global cultural trajectories.
Rajan and Sivanantham, the authors of the report, hypothesised that the Copper Age of northern India and the Iron Age of southern India may have been contemporaneous, suggesting a unique cultural trajectory south of the Vindhyas.
“When cultural zones located north of Vindhyas experienced the Copper Age, the region south of Vindhyas might have entered into the Iron Age due to the limited availability of commercially exploitable copper ore. Thus, the Copper Age of North India and the Iron Age of South India are probably contemporary. Future excavations and scientific dates may further clarify or strengthen the nature of the introduction of iron in India,” the report said.
Archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu also revealed varied metallurgical techniques. Three types of iron-smelting furnaces were identified at Kodumanal, Chettipalayam, and Perungalur, showcasing early innovations in extracting iron. Kodumanal’s circular furnaces, for instance, reached temperatures of 1,300°C, sufficient to produce sponge iron. These findings highlight the region’s technological sophistication in producing durable iron tools and weapons.
Authors of the study believe that these furnaces illustrate an advanced understanding of pyro-technology. The report said, “…this has opened up the subject for an interdisciplinary study on pyro-technology, elemental composition, isotope, metallurgical, furnace engineering, invention and innovations, and experimental study to bring the Iron Age Civilisation of South India to the academic syllabuses.”
Globally, the Iron Age has long been attributed to the Hittite Empire in Anatolia, where iron technology is believed to have emerged around 1300 BCE. However, the Tamil Nadu findings challenge this.
Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti, Professor Emeritus of South Asian Archaeology at Cambridge University, emphasised the global implications of the discovery. “The discovery is of such a great importance that it will take some more time before its implication sinks in. My initial response is that some Harappan sites of the period should contain iron and that the report of iron from the Harappan context at Lothal makes logical sense in light of the present discoveries,” he said.
Unveiling the report, CM Stalin has announced initiatives to establish museums at Keeladi and Gangaikondacholapuram to preserve and promote Tamil Nadu’s archaeological heritage.
The study explains that the people in the area mastered the complex technology of smelting iron, which requires temperatures between 1,200°C and 1,400°C, as far back as 5,300 years ago. T N Udhayachandran, Commissioner of Archaeology, who was the officer at the forefront of excavations by the state archaeology department, said they are glad to place this recent evidence to the academic world for their scrutiny.
“I do hope the academic community will read the monograph ‘Antiquity of Iron – Recent Radiometric Dates from Tamil Nadu’ with a critical mind and provide encouraging words and constructive suggestions for the future course of action,” he said.