23-05-2025
ASI asks archaeologist to resubmit Keeladi report, citing need for ‘more authentic' data
Nearly a decade after the first trench was dug in Keeladi, a now-celebrated archaeological site in southern Tamil Nadu, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has asked the archaeologist who led the early excavations to revise and resubmit his report, citing the need for better classification, dating justifications, and clearer documentation.
In a letter dated May 21, 2025, the ASI instructed K Amarnath Ramakrishna, the archaeologist who directed the first two seasons of the Keeladi dig (2014–2016), to rework his 982-page report. The agency said the current draft, submitted in January 2023, lacked adequate scientific rigour in certain areas and required corrections to make it 'more authentic'.
'The three periods require proper nomenclatures or re-orientation,' the letter said. It added that the time bracket of '8th century BCE to 5th century BCE for Period I requires concrete justification.' The ASI also called for a revision in how dates are presented, noting that 'only mentioning depth for the available scientific dates is not enough, but the layer number should also be marked for comparative consistency analysis.'
The directive was based on feedback from two unnamed expert reviewers consulted by the ASI.
Ramakrishna was transferred to Assam in 2017, which critics described as a politically motivated move after his preliminary findings suggested the presence of a sophisticated urban civilisation in Tamil Nadu that could rival – or at least parallel – the Gangetic Plains. Those findings, which posited a chronology reaching back to the 8th century BCE, have since formed the bedrock of the growing belief in Tamil Nadu that its civilisational roots run deep into the Sangam era and potentially predate it.
Ramakrishna, now serving as ASI's Director of Antiquities, had concluded that Keeladi's fertile land gave rise to an animal-based economy focused on cattle and goat herding, which led to surplus rice production and maritime trade. His report also included evidence from phytolith and pollen analyses, structural remains, terracotta objects, over a dozen varieties of pottery, and a suite of AMS-dated artefacts.
However, the ASI has now questioned temporal claims about the scope of the much earlier existence of Keeladi. 'The date of the earliest period in the present state of our knowledge appears to be very early; it can be, at the maximum, somewhere in pre-300 BCE,' the letter said. It also noted the absence of vital documentation such as a clear village map, stratigraphy drawings, and trench location plans, saying, 'The submitted maps may be replaced with better ones; some plates are missing…'
The ASI's move has caught the attention of academics and observers who were closely watching the Keeladi excavations in Tamil Nadu. While some suspect that there is a political motive behind the ASI's move as the agency has been accused of preventing Tamil Nadu's similar projects and delaying reports, others said they will wait and see as the letter, in nature, could also be interpreted as a usual one in the process of validation in such projects.
'But you may note that they sat on this report for over two years before sending this letter now. It could even be a tactic to defer or dilute inconvenient narratives,' said a source consulted by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology (TNSDA). 'The report is a record of excavation and interpretation,' said the consultant, adding that it is not meant to be rewritten to fit someone else's view of the past.
Keeladi has been central to a quiet but powerful cultural assertion in Tamil Nadu, especially under the state government's push to foreground Dravidian antiquity. Since the ASI's withdrawal, the TNSDA has carried out subsequent excavation phases. Their findings, including a 585 BCE date at Keeladi and an 1155 BCE date at nearby Sivakalai, have narrowed the perceived gap between southern settlements and the Indus Valley Civilisation.
