Thiruvananthapuram: A quiet cardamom estate on the green slopes of Anappara near Kochara in Idukki was a bustling centre of trade, where people used iron implements, wore colourful ornaments and quarried rocks, between the third century BCE and third century CE. After three months of excavation in the area, Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) has confirmed the presence of an early historic settlement spanning the pre-Iron Age and Iron Age periods. The finds show that the Idukki region had a bustling settlement around the same time when Pattanam near Ernakulam, Arikamedu in Puducherry, Alagankulam and Keeladi in Tamil Nadu were thriving.
This is the first time remains of an early historic settlement have been found in the Idukki region. Excavations conducted in this area revealed two cultural periods — pre-Iron Age Microlithic and Iron Age-Early Historic Megalithic, said KCHR chairman K N Ganesh. Unearthed artefacts include ceramics, iron objects, glass beads, stone beads and ornaments.
Around 379 iron objects, including fragments and full shapes of arrowheads, spearheads, knives, sickles, spoons and pieces of a hoe, were found from four trenches. "We also found many pieces of iron slag, prills and fragments of the crucibles in a trench dug near a temple. An iron ore fragment and a 3.
7kg piece of haematite, rich in iron, were also found. The presence of iron slag, prills and ore indicates iron production at the site," Ganesh said. Ceramics include black and red war.
