Annigeri Skulls are 638 Years Old: Lab
DHARWAD, May 10 (TOI): The carbon-14 tests on the human skulls found at Annigeri in Navalgund taluk of Dharwad district __ conducted to determine their period __ have indicated that they are 638 years' old. The ball is now in the court of historians and archaeologists to find out how and why nearly 500 skulls were buried there.
Prof. D P Mahapatra of The Institute of Physics in Bhubaneswar, where five samples were sent for testing, has stated: "The institute has analyzed five replicates of skull samples derived from bone collagen from a single piece (size 3cmx2cm) which were loaded with eight oxalic acid (NIST OX-II) standards. According to this, the age of the sample turns out to be equivalent to about 638 years from today (2011 AD) with an error of plus/ minus 60 years."
The institute, after carrying out Accelerator Marks Spectrometry (AMS) analysis, concluded that the skulls belonged to the latter part of 14th century or beginning of 15th century. That was the best-possible result under the given conditions, Prof. Mahapatra said, and added that the tests could not be carried out early as AMS machine was not working properly.
CORROBORATIVE TESTS
Dharwad DC Darpan Jain, who received the report on Monday evening, said the department of archaeology has been informed of the findings. The department will send the samples to Archaeological Survey of India's Central Institute (Ahmedabad) for corroborative tests.
The findings indicate that the skulls were buried in 1373 AD. Now, the historians have to find out whether it was a massacre or deaths in the war or mutiny. There are inscriptions in Annigeri's Amruteshwar Temple, which belong to a period between 1100 AD and 1200 AD. But the skulls found are reportedly of the later period.
R Gopal, director of state department of archaeology, is of the opinion that there was a religious massacre in Annigeri in 13th century AD, and another by a unit of Adil Shahi army in 15th century AD, which killed hundreds of people in Annigeri. The historical evidence should throw light on the exact cause of death.
Jain said historians/ archaeologists are welcome to throw more light on the issue, provided they have material to substantiate their statements.
A decision on whether to shift the skulls to a museum or retain them in the place where they were found will be taken soon, he added.