Tamil Nadu, Department of Archeology
If the iron found by archaeologists in southern India is proven, the discovery will be “classified among the oldest records in the world.”
Archaeologists of the state of Tamil Nadu, southern India, have been investigated for two decades several artifacts, essentially ancient written that reveal the existence of an advanced civilization.
So far, the present Türkiye was one of the places where the first Iron Instruments were known, dating from the thirteenth century BC
But now, archaeologists have discovered something that can be even more crucial to the country’s history: objects of ferro in six different locations of Tamil Nadu, dated 2953 – 3345 BC, ie between 5000 and 5400 years ago.
Historian Osmund Bopearachchi, from the French National Center for Scientific Research, based in Paris, highlights a fundamental discovery – a iron sword of a grave, made of carbon ultra-high steel and dated from the century XIII-XV aC
“We know that the first evidence of a true steel production dates back to the thirteenth century BC in present -day Türkiye. To the radiometric dates They seem to prove that Tamil Nadu’s samples are earlier, ”says the investigators, who add that primitive steel in Tamil Nadu indicates that people there“ were iron manufacturers and not just users – A technologically advanced community that has evolved over time. ”
According to, this means that the process of extraction, casting, forge, and iron molding to create tools, weapons and other objects may have been developed independently in the Indian subcontinent.
In one of the places, more than 85 iron objects – knives, arrow tips, rings, chisels, axes and swords were found – inside and outside the funeral polls
“The discovery is of such importance that it will take some time for your implications to feel,” says archaeologist Dilip Kumar Chakrabarti.
But Parth R Chauhan, professor of archeology at the Indian Institute of Scientific Education and Research (ISSER), advises prudence before drawing generalized conclusions. He believes that iron technology will have emerged “independently in various regions.”
“The older evidence remains uncertain because many regions of the world were not properly investigated Or the archaeological tests are known but not dated correctly, ”the expert also warns.
But if the discovery is validated, “it will certainly be classified among the oldest records in the world,” says Chauhan. Archaeologist Oishi Roy adds that the discovery “suggests parallel developments in Iron production in different parts of the world“.
“Iron age is a technological change and not an event of unique origin-it develops in many places independently,” says Roy. “What is clear now,” he adds, “is that the Iron Indigenous Technology He developed early in the Indian subcontinent. ”
Now, explains archaeologist Katragadda Paddayya, “We need to deepen the origins of iron technology – these discoveries mark the beginning, not the conclusion. The key is to use this as a premise, follow the process back and identify the sites where iron production truly began. ”
