Chennai, Aug 9(BPNS)

The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) unearthed a diadem at a burial urn in Tuticorin on Monday. This was similar to the 20 diadems that were excavated by the British archeologist, Alexandar Rea 120 years ago.

The diadem was found in a burial urn at a one-meter depth.

The ASI Tiruchi Zone director, Dr. Arun Raj in a statement said that the excavation team was eager to get a gold diadem during the excavations in the area.   The gold diadem, according to ASI officials is in folded condition and is 3.5 cm in length and contains concentric circles.

It is to be noted that Alexandar Rea had clearly mentioned the site from which he had unearthed the 20 diadems. He had described the site as one on a mount near a temple and at a particular distance from the bank of the Thamarabarani river.

Dr Arun Raj said that Alexandar Rea had clearly mentioned the artifacts that could be unearthed during the excavation for diadem. The ASI had mapped the area using satellite mapping and commenced digging four months ago. After 27 days of digging, the ASI team could find that diadem in a burial urn, which has a 2.4-meter diameter. A bronze sieve was also present along with the diadem in the burial urn.

Arun Raj said that Rea had mentioned the possibilities of these artifacts along with the diadem. He said that these diadems were worn by people who had a specific status in society and when he dies, the diadems are crushed or folded so that another person does not wear them.