Found near Tamil Nadu's Kovai: 'Pit houses' that stored grain, protected people 3,500 years ago

CHENNAI: Archaeologists of Tamil University have unearthed rare 'pit houses' dating to the Neolithic period, at Molapalayam near Coimbatore on the foothills of the Western Ghats.

The agro-pastoral community that lived here 3,500 years ago could have used the pits within their houses to store foodgrain or protect themselves from natural disasters, archaeologists said.

Some pits had querns or grinding stones, suggesting that these pits could have been used as kitchens.

Two sides of these pits inside the houses - large enough to hold a person or two. Excavators found skeletal remains of two infants confirming that ancient people buried their dead near their habitation.

"Another Neolithic site in Paiyyampalli in Tirupattur district, excavated in the 1960s, had similar pit houses," said archaeologist V Selvakumar from the department of maritime archaeology in Tamil University in Thanjavur.

Cuts on bones show they may have hunted for meat

The study of bone and plant remains suggests that the people from the Neolithic period reared cattle, sheep and goats, and cultivated millets and pulses. Artefacts such as shell pendants suggest they had contact with coastal communities.

"The site has ancient grinding stones in good numbers, which could have been used for grinding grains, seeds. An earthen lamp and assemblage of pots show they were skilled in pottery," said Selvakumar. There were also burnished ceramics and varieties such as burnished red ware, black ware and black-and-red ware, and coarse red ware, along with stone tools such as hand axes, hammer stones, arrowheads, microliths and bone tools.

Researchers said the ancient people could have lived here during the high rainfall season from June to Dec. They could have shifted near Siruvani river in the drier months of Jan to May.

After examining the samples from Molapalayam, Sathish Naik from Deccan College found plant remains including kodo millet (varagu), little millet (samai), proso millet (panivaragu), browntop millet (kulasamai), foxtail millet (tinai) and barnyard millet (kuthiraivali). Archaeobotanists identified the species by collecting charred remains of seeds and examining taxonomic characteristics.

Analysis of bone remains by G S Abhayan of Kerala University revealed the presence of animals including cattle, buffalo, goat, sheep, pig, dog, nilgai, blackbuck, gazelle, chital, leopard and wild cat. Cut marks on these indicate they could have hunted animals for meat.

Recently, researchers found bone remains of the Indian rhino, indicating the herbivore may have once roamed the foothills of Western Ghats.
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