Naduchief minister M K Stalin on Friday inaugurated the eight phase of excavation atKeeladiin Sivaganga district, the third phase atSivagalaiin Tuticorin district and the first phase at Vembakottai in Virudhunagar district and Thulukkarpatti in Tirunelveli. Excavations are being taken up in these four places and three others at a cost of Rs 5 crore this year.
The Tamil Nadu state archaeology department is conducting the excavations.
The eighth phase of the excavation at Keeladi and its cluster villages of Konthagai, Manalur and Agaram would work towards identifying the continuations of brick structures found in the earlier excavations at the site. It would focus on finding evidence of the trade connections that Keeladi had with different parts of India and other nations and also more evidence of this urban civilization which had flourished on the banks of the river Vaigai.
Keeladi disproved a theory that Tamil Nadu did not have a riverbed civilization like theGangescivilization. In addition, it has been proven that the people who lived there were literate as early as in the 6th century BCE.