Adichanallur is an archaeological site in Tamil Nadu. It is 15 km away from the capital of the early Pandya kingdom, Korkai.
The recent excavation at Adichanallur revealed that the human skeleton remains did not quite match the biological structure of contemporary Tamil people. For example, the jaws of many skulls were protruding and appeared to match those of Australian aborigin or black Africans rather than Tamil or South Indian. The shape and size of the eye socket resembled those of caucasoids. A receding forehead was yet another indicator of foreign origin.
Nearly 170 skeleton remains were studied. In these remains, caucasoids constituted 35%, Mongoloid 30%, Negroid 14%, Australoid 5%, Dravidian 8%, and mixed traits 8%.
It is concluded that these skeleton remains belong to 500 BC to 200 BC. This was the time when the contemporary Tamil population had been formed. It is concluded that foreign-looking skeleton remains were indeed those of foreigners. But what were these foreigners doing in Adichanallur thousands of years ago?
The explanation is given in the context of Korkai which is 15km away from Adichanallur. Sangam literature refers to Korkai as a seaport involved in sea trade and pearl fishing. 2500 years back, the sea might have been at least 6-7 km inside, reaching Adichanallur. So Adichanallur had a seaport by then, where foreigners used to visit. Now the same Adichanallur is a landlocked site.
