DOCUMENTED OUTFIT · CLOSED CONTEXT OR CONTROLLED COMPARISON
Urns from Adichanallur
Adichanallur: a comparison, not a Vedic tomb
The burials of Adichanallur are shown as a regional comparison, not as identified Vedic tombs.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction; not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.
History and context
ASI excavated 178 burials in 600 m² and distinguished three phases and two funerary treatments.
Representative objects: red and black-red urns, primary and secondary remains, minor pottery and iron objects.
Evidence and interpretation
Documented fact: ASI excavated 178 burials in 600 m² and distinguished three phases and two funerary treatments. Mandatory caution: Vedic text, material culture and ethnic label are not equivalent. This regional case must not be labelled as Vedic royal grave goods.
Catalogue facts
- Date
- Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE
- Location
- Tamil Nadu · India
- Complex
- Red and black-red urns, primary and secondary remains, minor pottery and iron objects
- Level
- Trousseau or funerary context with visible caution
A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS
Objects connected through time
Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.
The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.
THE CURRENT OBJECT
Its date is not sufficiently established to place it on the timeline. We keep it here, separate from the dated objects.
Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE
Urns from Adichanallur
Vedic and later Indian worlds
Two separate samples (665 and 467 BCE), not manufacturing limits of a single urn.
Current recordCeramics39 dated objects

≈29,000–27,000 years
Dolní Věstonice I
Prehistory
Approximate catalogue age; editorial reference 2026 for ordering only, not calibrated dating.
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mid-6th–5th millennium BCE
Before Sumer
Sumer
The full 6th–5th millennia BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record qualifies the date as ‘mid’; the item's date is used, not the broader preceding period.
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Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or
Prehistory
Interval of the VI–V millennia BCE; no precise annual date.
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ca. 4400–3800 BCE
Before Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Date of the representative vessel, not of the entire predynastic period.
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V–IV millennium BCE
Before Nubia
Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Interval of the V–IV millennia BCE of the element, not of the entire preceding period.
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Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE
Before Gojoseon
Gojoseon and early Korea
Date of the ceramic element, not of the preceding period.
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ca. 3500–3000 BCE
Bevel-rimmed bowl
Sumer
The wage ration hypothesis is not used as a functional label.
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Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE
Before Yayoi
Yayoi Japan
Date of the Jōmon element, not of the entire preceding period.
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ca. 2500–2200 BCE
Vasiliki
Greek worlds
Date range for the regional pottery assemblage.
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c. 2400–2200 BCE
Before the Greeks
Greek worlds
Approximate dating according to the record.
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ca. 2550–2030 BCE
Cemetery R-37
Indus civilisation
Interval of the cemetery and its funerary group.
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c. 2500–2000 BCE
Before Ancient China
Ancient China
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 2500–2000 BCE
Longshan
Ancient China
Date range for the Longshan pottery assemblage.
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c. 1802–1640 BCE
Kerma vessel
Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Approximate dating according to the record.
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circa 1750–1550 BCE
Burial at K IV
Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Chronology of the funerary assemblage.
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c. 1900–1300 BCE
Before Vedic India
Vedic and later Indian worlds
Approximate dating according to the record.
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ca. 1700/1650–1200 BCE
Osmankayası and Ilıca
Hittites
The envelope of the explicit numerical alternatives is used as an orientative ordering framework: start towards 1700 or 1650 BCE and end towards 1200 BCE; framework of funerary assemblages, not a single manufacturing date.
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c. 1100–800 BCE in the classical sequence of Hastinapura
Grey bowl from Hastinapura
Vedic and later Indian worlds
Range of the Hastinapura pottery sequence, not the date of each vessel.
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ca. 850–800 BCE
Before Etruscans and Rome
Etruscans and Rome
Approximate dating according to the record.
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9th–8th centuries BCE
The urn under the helmet
Etruscans and Rome
Approximate dating according to the record.
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8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing
Ceramic stand 1010
Iberians
Chronology of the funerary context of Tomb 5, Orientalising horizon.
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7th–6th centuries BCE · work of Nebuchadnezzar II
Ishtar Gate
Sumer
Wide interval of the piece and its phases; The museum setup is modern.
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522–486 BCE
Glazed brick guards
Achaemenid Persia
Date range associated with the reign of the decoration.
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circa 440 BCE; attributed to the London Painter E 497.
Orpheus among the Thracians
Thracians
Approximate dating according to the record.
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4th century BCE
The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo
Greek worlds
Approximate dating according to the record.
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664–30 BCE
Thoth in the form of a baboon
Ancient Egypt
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE
Leipzig Fish Plate
Greek worlds
The full 4th–3rd centuries BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record specifies the last third of the 4th century and the early 3rd.
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3rd century BCE
Dove of the Amarejo
Iberians
Approximate dating according to the record.
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3rd–early 2nd century BCE
Vas dels Guerrers
Iberians
The full 3rd–2nd centuries BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record specifies the 3rd century and the early 2nd.
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3rd–2nd centuries BCE
Warriors' Vase
Iberians
Approximate dating according to the record.
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2nd–1st centuries BCE
Northern mound
Yayoi Japan
Date of the funerary assemblage.
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2nd–1st centuries BCE
Kalathos of Alcorisa
Iberians
Approximate dating according to the record.
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regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE
Urewe vessel
Bantu-speaking worlds
Regional date range for the Urewe type, not an individual date for each vessel.
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Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE
Two rows of coffins
Yayoi Japan
Framework of the cemetery and its ceramic coffins.
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Last third of the 2nd century BCE–1st century CE
Ceramics that continued
Iberians
The full 2nd century BCE–1st century CE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record specifies the last third of the 2nd century BCE and the 1st century CE; this is a production date range, not the date of an individual object.
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3rd–4th centuries CE
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon
Ancient Egypt
3rd–4th centuries CE
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3rd–4th centuries CE
Laon lamp with fish
Etruscans and Rome
Approximate dating according to the record.
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ca. 400 CE
Kabusanza, ca. 400
Batwa / Twa histories
Approximate date of the Kabusanza context; no automatic ethnic attribution.
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13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview
Missing grave goods
Bantu-speaking worlds
Date range of the burial assemblage; incomplete individual inventories.
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Also connected, without a comparable date (16)
These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.
- A Kerma vessel deposited at AbydosAncient Egypt · Second Intermediate Period
- A tradition that inventsBatwa / Twa histories · collected in 1993 or 1995
- A vase travels; the rite changesIberians · No individual dating published on this record
- AkrotiriGreek worlds · c. 1700–1500 BCE
- Dia’s strataMande Worlds · 9th century BCE–2nd millennium CE
- Early potteryMande Worlds · before ca. 9400 cal BCE
- Jenne-jeno contextsMande Worlds · ca. 250 BCE–1400 CE
- Liédena FlaskEtruscans and Rome · Roman period · individual chronology not published in the entry
- LothalIndus civilisation · ca. 2400–1600 BCE
- Made in GaramaGaramantes · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE
- Nile towards NubiaAncient Egypt · ca. 3300–2800 BCE
- The unfinished gestureBatwa / Twa histories · 1947
- Three hundred lives in the sandYayoi Japan · Mainly 4th century BCE–3rd century CE
- Travelling objectsGaramantes · Mainly Roman period
- Trumpet from NumantiaIberians · No individual dating published on this record
- Vessels without a languageBantu-speaking worlds · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
The position of the grave goods preserves the order of deposition
The ASI catalogue describes urn 62 of Adichchanallur as a primary burial: the skull was in the centre and the limb bones occupied differentiated positions. The small vessels appeared above the remains, allowing interpretation that they were placed after the body. This is a more informative detail than merely counting vessels: it helps reconstruct a sequence of funerary actions. The comparison corresponds to a tradition of the southern subcontinent and does not turn the burial into execution of an identified Vedic rite.
Sources and references
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