Antiquity and Peopling of the Deccan – an Ancient DNA approach – RUSA project – from Archaeology to Technology, but moving to race (4)

Antiquity and Peopling of the Deccan – an Ancient DNA approach – RUSA project – from Archaeology to Technology, but moving to race (4)

The claim of Industrialized Urban civilization: The Keeladi related news, reports and related papers published papers mentioned about “Industrialized Urban civilization.” It is evident that to compare and equate with the IVC, this type of overstated claims are made. In fact, when they claim what the civilization was about “Industrialized,” what types of industries were there, tools and machinery used, goods manufactured, workers and experts engaged etc., the related details have to be explicitly provided. Similarly, for the status of about “Urban,” also just like IVC, they have to produce evidence of town planning, plumbing, drainage system etc,. With a few examples, they cannot jump to a conclusion and finalize that the Porunai River civilization[1] was as much or more civilized than that of IVC[2].  One has to prove how most of the civilized processes of the people were industrialized i.e, mechanized using specific apparatus, instruments, gadgets, appliances, tools, machines, machinery etc., just verbose would not help to prove such status during 1000 BCE or 2000 BCE.

How to read IVC signs with Tamizhi?: Sangam, Sangam literature, Sangam era, Sangam civilization and such other terms and expressions are repeatedly and interchangeably used in the news, reporting and other narratives. But, they forget the implications of script, language and literature.

1. All the IVC signs, symbols, pictograms etc., should be equated with Tamizhi and read accordingly.
2. When they believe or accept the “Out of Africa” theory, then, all the migration including from the Central Asia have to be correlated with the Sangam period.
3. As pointed out Pichappan pointed out three migrations of “Dravidians” into India.
4. When the internal evidences of the literature point to certain dates and chronology, based on these datings, they cannot be pushed back to such dates, as literary factors do not co-operate.

Position about the race of the people as on April 2023: It may be noted that the forensic bio-archaeological investigations conducted by experts G Pathmanathan, Raghavan Pathmanathan, and T Satyamurthy, on the 169 skeletons collected from Adichanallur, have implied that three major racial groups –

1. Caucasoid,
2. Mongolriver 3,200 years ago. The Chief Minister said that it was confirmed by AMS carbon dating which was done abroad, and
3. Negroid (Australoid) — may have existed in Adichanallur[3].

As per FORDISC analysis[4], some skeletons reflect mixed racial traits and very few of them display similarities with the contemporary Tamil ethnic group, they said.

The racial affinities of skeletal remains recovered from Adichanallur have been further classified into –

• 30% Mongoloids,
• 35% Caucasoids,
• 16% Negroids,
• 6% Australoids,
• 8% ethnic Dravidian, and
• 5% mixed trait populations[5].

They published a paper in 2010, in which they briefed[6], “Adichanallur, a remote village situated near Thirunelvelli city in Tamil Nadu (South India), lies near Tutucorin harbor. It has a long and continuous history of human occupation, including a three-tier prehistoric cemetery covering an area of slightly more than 200 acres. It is one of the largest and the oldest early Iron Age cemeteries of South Asia. The recent excavation (2004-06) of this site by the Archaeological Survey of India has yielded primary burials of 85 human skeletons placed in a squatting position in giant, monochrome or dual-coloured clay urns. This paper discusses the geology of the site and the cranial morphology, with a focus on the racial affinities, of the recovered skeletons.” Meanwhile, a reply from the Department of Archaeology said genomic studies are underway at the Ancient DNA Laboratory in Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) in association with Harvard University’s David Reich Lab. Thus, the experts under the guise of genetics or DNA, again going back to old race and racial classification.

Why more emphasis is given to race?: Thus, it is evident that the experts involved appeared to have more bothered or worried about the race question of the people rather than other factors.

• FORDISC is a software program created by Stephen Ousley and Richard Jantz. It is designed to help forensic anthropologists investigate the identity of a deceased person by providing estimates of the person’s size, ethnicity, and biological sex based on the osteological material recovered.
• In 2012 research was presented at the 81^st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists, which concluded FORDISC ancestry determination was not always consistent, and the programs’ recommended acceptance criteria did not separate correct and incorrect determinations.
• The authors concluded that the program does not perform to expectations and should be used with caution.

So naturally, the question arises – why the whole research is directed towards race, when the historians categorically deny that there is no race. Of course, as pointed out elsewhere, the UN also passed a resolution condemning race throes that were pseudoscientific. Now also using scientific methods, laboratory and other technologies, the research is directed to determine the race of the people. So again, the blood, oesteology, craniometry, morphology etc., are measured only with different or modern terminology, but the same old concepts. 

National seminar on Reflections on Cultural Development – An Archaeological Perspective November 2023: The Department of Archaeology conducted a national seminar on Reflections on Cultural Development – An Archaeological Perspective on November 23 and 24, 2023 on the occasion of Muthamizh Arignar Kalaignar Centenary celebrations at Madurai. The proceedings were also published in which the paper, “Ancient Genomic Investigation of the Archaeological Human, Animal, Plant and Microbial Remains from Tamil Nadu, India” authored by some 23 experts[7] including Kumaresan Ganesan, Sivanantham Ramalingam, and Rajan K. However, about the dating of the biological samples, they have not committed anything categorically. The rough or relative dates already given are repeated with the tag, “Of these, about 35 samples predominantly from Kondagai, and Adichanallur were identified to have potential skeletal remains to proceed further for extracting ancient DNA and being investigated at the dedicated ancient clean lab facility established at Madurai Kamaraj University.” The proceedings of the seminar can be viewed and listened to from this video[8]. R. N. Pichappan stuck to his topic on 23-11-2023, “Birth place of Dravidians Linguistic and NRY[9] study.” Though, he started with the assertion that “Dravidian” is a linguistic, cultural transformation and subdivided gene group, he proceeded to racial connotation.

“Dravidians” came from Africa and some settled down in western ghats.

• Dravidian originated in Tamil Nadu / Western Ghats
• By demic expansion, dispersed to Northern India
• Central Asia arrival restricted the Dravidian to pockets in North India – language replacements.

This is how he concluded. So “Dravidians” came from Africa, and settled down at the western ghats. By demic expansion (demic = characteristic of or pertaining to a people or population), the expanded to Northern India i.e., went out of India. Then, again they entered from Central Asia, thus found at some pockets in North India and then, finally settling down in Tamilnadu.

Genetic studies and dating: As the genetic experts directly or indirectly follow the same old method and principles of race etc, they also faithfully take the C-14, TL and other dating of the objects associated with the organic remains and construct a table as follows:

Dating method	Material dated	Age range dated
Carbon-14 to nitrogen-14 (radiocarbon)	Organic remains, archaeological artefacts	Up to 60,000 years ago
Luminescence	Tephra, loess, lake sediments	Up to 100,000 years ago
Fission track	Tephra	10,000 to 400 million years ago
Potassium-40 to argon-40	Volcanic rocks	20,000 to 4.5 billion years ago
Uranium-238 to lead-206	Volcanic rocks	1 million to 4.5 billion years ago

With this, the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Megalithic and related metallic cultures are also studied. Without any definiteness about the “monogenetic” or “heterogenetic” origin of the human race, the genetic experts debate about “Out of Africa” or European Neanderthal. Even the disease-related studies boil down to eugenics and race leading to an old problem.

• Men cannot be made as mere samples or subjects for their vested and interested studies and research.
• The pharmaceutical laboratories have been using African and Asian people for their drugs and formulations.
• The Corona period also revealed how the loopholes in the research laboratories could play havoc. Now, the side effects of vaccine are discussed.
• Therefore, connected experts should have patience and not to interpret the data and information to divide people.
• Science and technological men and machines should be useful to humanity and world peace.

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

20-06-2024

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[1] Director, Porunai River Civilization (in Tamil), Tamilnadu State Archaeology Department Chennai, 2021.

Click to access porunai_text.pdf

[2] The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin told the state assembly on September 9, 2021, that the paddy and soil that came out of an urn unearthed during an excavation in Sivakalai in the Tuticorin district in the state has confirmed that civilization had flourished on the banks of Porunai or Thamirabarani y US lab Beta Analytic. As per the historians, the graffiti found in the Indus Valley Civilization and the one encountered in South India is about 80% identical. It suggests that there may be some form of linguistic connection between the Indus Valley Civilization, South India, and Sri Lanka.

[3] Indian Express, Archaeologists compare DNA samples to affirm Adichanallur early inhabitants were ancestors of present populace, S Godson Wisely Dass, Updated on: 30 Apr 2023, 6:49 am.

[4] FORDISC is a software program created by Stephen Ousley and Richard Jantz. It is designed to help forensic anthropologists investigate the identity of a deceased person by providing estimates of the person’s size, ethnicity, and biological sex based on the osteological material recovered.

[5] https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil-nadu/2023/Apr/30/archaeologists-compare-dna-samples-to-affirmadichanallur-early-inhabitants-were-ancestors-of-present-populace-2570626.html

[6] Pathmanathan, R., Pathmanathan, G., Satyamurthy, T., & Talwar, I. (2010). Secrets of a Cemetery: The Geology and Forensic Skeletal Biology of the Ancient Maritime People of Adichanallur, Tamil Nadu. Quaternary Australasia, 27(1), 2-7.

[7]  G. Kumaresan et al, Ancient Genomic Investigation of the Archaeological Human, Animal, Plant and Microbial Remains from Tamil Nadu, India, in  Reflections on Cultural Development – An Archaeological Perspective , Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, 2023, pp.177-206.

[8] IN COMMEMORATION OF THE CENTENARY CELEBRATION OF MUTHAMIZH ARIGNAR KALAIGNAR NATIONAL SEMINAR .4, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiMTfAjUR94

[9] Along ∼95% of its length the Y chromosome is male-specific and effectively haploid, since it is exempt from meiotic recombination. Therefore, this Y-chromosome segment where X-Y crossing over is absent has been designated as the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome or NRY.

Antiquity and Peopling of the Deccan – an Ancient DNA approach – RUSA project – from Archaeology to Technology (3)

Antiquity and Peopling of the Deccan – an Ancient DNA approach – RUSA project – from Archaeology to Technology (3)

Paddy known in 2020 and husk thereafter in the excavations: The details given by the leading dailies (The Hindu, Times of India, Deccan Herald) continue as follows: When the MKU teams informed that the excess production of rice prompted the settlers to set sail in the seas to far-away land that are chronicled in several literature, the ASI report, which is yet to be made public, such reports were in circulation in the media. Therefore, it is evident that the excavators or some persons were leaking out findings partly, partially or otherwise for sensation or publicity. While carbonised paddy was found on the stratified surface at Agaram, it was found in an offering pot at Sivagalai[1]. These are to be sent to labs for carbon dating and identification of the grains – whether they are rice or millet or any other type of grain, and whether they were local grains or imported grains, as this will throw more light upon the life of the people during that period[2]. It may be recalled that it was the carbon dating done on a carbonised paddy grain in Sivagalai, which helped determine the age of the Porunai River civilization to 3200 years old, dating to 1155 BC[3].

Husk or hull of paddy of rice or millet – to be decided: However, it can be noted that the word paddy is used and it is related to rice only. Detailed analyses of plants and soil from Keeladi, a Sangam-era archaeological site near Madurai in Tamil Nadu, have shown that surplus production of rice in the area might have paved the way for the increase in trade 2,000 years ago, even as artefacts unearthed show that an industrialized urban civilization existed on the banks of River Vaigai[4]. However, certain researchers have already concluded this point and started publishing their papers also. The above finding by the French Institute of Pondicherry will be part of the final report of the first two phases of excavation at Keeladi, 12 km southeast of Madurai, conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in 2014 and 2015[5]. As many as 5,800 artefacts were unearthed during the first two phases, but the ASI withdrew from the excavations after it announced that there was no “significant finding” in the third phase.

The press reporting was intriguing: The Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA) took over in 2017 and has conducted five phases of excavation so far. It is likely to launch the ninth round next year. Sources in the know told (Deccan Herald) that analyses conducted by a leading palaeontologist for the past few months have concluded that there was surplus rice production in and around Keeladi. “Artefacts found from Keeladi have indicated that trade ties flourished between inhabitants of Keeladi and other countries in the form of coins and other items. And the results of the analyses serve as further proof of the trade ties, and excess rice production played a crucial role,” the source added. Archaeologists who worked in Keeladi at different times told DH that overwhelming evidence of industries based on beads and terracotta having existed there were unearthed in the past eight years. “Surplus rice production might have flourished those industries as the inhabitants set out in the sea to unfurl their flag in far-away nations,” another source said. Here, that, “leading palaeontologist” has not been named and the “source” not revealed, yet, all these are appearing in the public domain.

Genetics liking Tamil merchants with Mesopotamia: Few researchers have already started publishing papers about the existence of Tamil merchants at Mesopotamia based on genetic interpretation[6]. They conclude, “Taken together, our mtDNA analysis shows that mtDNAs of these ancient Mesopotamians probably originated from Indian merchants. This, thus rules out the hypothesis that these samples comprise an ancient component (Upper Paleolithic) of macrohaplo group M involved in the founding of the Mesopotamian civilization. Therefore, the present study sheds new insights on the understanding of the origins of ancient Mesopotamian macrohaplogroup M lineages and the influence of Indian-Tamil merchants to Mesopotamian gene pool during trans-oceanic trade.” Had the “Dravidians” included Telugu, Kannada, Malayala and other languages, then, such merchants must have also existed there.  Perhaps, soon such claims be added.

The date of the rice husk awaited: The findings are significant as carbon dating of artefacts found in the fourth phase date back to 600 BCE, pushing the Sangam Era behind by three centuries than it was thought and making it contemporaneous with the Gangetic Plains Civilisation of north India. Rice husks found in burial urns at Konthagai, the burial site of Keeladi, over the three phases have also been sent for DNA analysis[7]. It may be noted that rice husks found in an urn in Sivagalai, another excavation site, dated back to 3,200 years[8] or 1155 BCE. Refusing to share any details, ASI’s Superintending Archaeologist Amarnath Ramakrishna told DH in December 2022, that the report on the first two phases of the Keeladi excavation was in the final stages and is likely to be completed in a couple of months. “We have finished 90% of the work, but the report compilation is taking time. The diagrams are ready, and they have been incorporated into the report. We are exercising utmost caution and not rushing because of the sensitivities attached to the issue. One thing I can assure you is the report will be comprehensive,” Ramakrishna said.

The gap between IVC and Sangam to be narrowed down: The second source quoted said 23 samples have been sent for carbon dating analysis to Beta Analytical Lab in Florida, US and other institutes in the country and added that results of almost all of them have arrived except for a few. Nearly 18,000 artefacts, including over 2,200 from the latest phase, have been unearthed from Keeladi, bearing testimony to the rich urban life ancient Tamils had lived, thereby providing further archaeological evidence to the Sangam Literature. The archaeological findings have created a buzz with researchers and archaeologists in Tamil Nadu, calling them significant as they “narrow down” the gap between the Tamil urban settlements and the Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC). However, they say “more evidence” should be forthcoming, while experts outside Tamil Nadu say there is no link between Keeladi and IVC. The latest excavation phase has led to the discovery of several artefacts, including dice made of ivory, an ivory gamesman, an iron knife, an antimony rod, copper pendants, ring wells, structures, rectangular-shaped ivory dice, beads, and terracotta figurines. The dating of all recovered objects have not been revealed.

Harvard Medical School, US experts at Madurai February 2023: Tamil Nadu’s first Ancient DNA Lab at the Madurai Kamaraj University has opened its doors for a team from the world-renowned David Reich Lab to assist it in extracting DNA from 30 human samples collected from burial urns unearthed during excavations with “minimal damage” as part of the efforts to provide scientific evidence to archaeological findings[9]. The team led by Kendra Sirak[10], Senior Staff Scientist at David Reich Lab of the prestigious Harvard Medical School, US, is camping in the temple town of Madurai since February 13 2023, to help the new lab analyse the samples collected from Konthagai, Sivagalai, Adichanallur, Mayiladumparai, and Kodumanal[11]. Konthagai is the burial site of Keeladi, the urban habitation site that is believed to have existed between 800 BCE to 300 CE as per a recent report submitted by Archaeological Survey 2014 and 2016. The new date derived by the ASI pushes the Sangam Era behind by another 500 years than it was earlier thought to be.

Migration and admixture of races: Whether one or three, 50, 100 or more than 100 experts on the genetic studies, they come back to the same race hypotheses and theories. One such >100 experts summarize[12], “By sequencing 523 ancient humans, we show that the primary source of ancestry in modern South Asians is a prehistoric genetic gradient between people related to early hunter-gatherers of Iran and Southeast Asia. After the Indus Valley Civilization’s decline, its people mixed with individuals in the southeast to form one of the two main ancestral populations of South Asia, whose direct descendants live in southern India. Simultaneously, they mixed with descendants of Steppe pastoralists who, starting around 4000 years ago, spread via Central Asia to form the other main ancestral population. The Steppe ancestry in South Asia has the same profile as that in Bronze Age Eastern Europe, tracking a movement of people that affected both regions and that likely spread the distinctive features shared between Indo-Iranian and Balto-Slavic languages.”

© K. V. Ramakrishna Rao

19-06-2024

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[1] The Hindu, Carbonised paddy from excavations could shed more light on a variety of activities in Iron Age, say experts, T. K. Rohit, Published – September 08, 2020 12:16 pm IST – CHENNAI

[2] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/carbonised-paddy-from-excavations-could-shed-more-light-on-a-variety-of-activities-in-iron-age-say-experts/article32549834.ece

[3] Times of India, Tamil Nadu: Paddy husk found in burial urn at Keeladi, TNN / Updated: Sep 17, 2022, 08:49 IST

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/paddy-husk-found-in-burial-urn-at-keeladi/articleshow/94258143.cms – :~:text=It%20may%20be%20recalled%20that,old%2C%20dating%20to%201155%20BC.

[4] Deccan Herald, 2k yrs ago, surplus rice boosted trade in Keeladi, ETB Sivapriyan DHNS Last Updated : 18 November 2022, 00:38 IST DHNS Last Updated : 18 November 2022, 00:38 IST.

[5] https://www.deccanherald.com/india/2k-yrs-ago-surplus-rice-boosted-trade-in-keeladi-1163389.html

[6] Palanichamy, M. G., Mitra, B., Debnath, M., Agrawal, S., Chaudhuri, T. K., & Zhang, Y. P. (2014). Tamil merchant in ancient Mesopotamia. Plos one, 9(10), e109331.

[7] Times of India, Tamil Nadu: Paddy husk found in burial urn at Keeladi, TNN / Updated: Sep 17, 2022, 08:49 IST.

[8] https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/paddy-husk-found-in-burial-urn-at-keeladi/articleshow/94258143.cms

[9] Deccan Herald, Harvard team helps Tamil Nadu lab with ancient DNA extraction and analysis, ETB Sivapriyan DHNS Published 16 February 2023, 22:51 IST; Last Updated: 17 February 2023, 09:38 IST DHNS Last Updated : 17 February 2023, 09:38 IST.

[10] Kendra Sirak, Senior Staff Scientist – https://reich.hms.harvard.edu/people/kendra-sirak

[11] https://www.deccanherald.com/india/harvard-team-helps-tamil-nadu-lab-with-ancient-dna-extraction-and-analysis-1191996.html

[12] Narasimhan, V.M., Patterson, N., Moorjani, P., Rohland, N., Bernardos, R., Mallick, S., Lazaridis, I., Nakatsuka, N., Olalde, I., Lipson, M. and Kim, A.M., 2019. The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia. Science, 365(6457), p.eaat7487.