2,600-Year-Old Water System Infrastructure Unearthed in India

News August 5, 2024

Aerial view of Keeladi, India
Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology
SHARE:

TAMIL NADU, INDIA—The Hindustan Times reports that a section of terracotta pipe has been uncovered in southern India at Keeladi, a 2,600-year-old city situated on the banks of the Vaigai River. Other traces of the city’s water system, including an open drain, a closed channel, and small tanks, have previously been uncovered by researchers. This pipe is made up of six cylindrical structures, each measuring about 14 inches long and seven inches wide, that are neatly fitted together. Archaeologists from the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology think the piping may have carried clean water. To read more about ancient water infrastructure, go to "The Ancient Promise of Water."

  • Features July/August 2024

    The Assyrian Renaissance

    Archaeologists return to Nineveh in northern Iraq, one of the ancient world’s grandest imperial capitals

    Read Article
    (Land of Nineveh Archaeological Project)
  • Features July/August 2024

    A Dynasty Born in Fire

    How an upstart Maya king forged a new social order amid chaos

    Read Article
    Maya Guatemala Ucanal Excavation
    (Courtesy Proyecto Arqueológico Ucanal)
  • Features July/August 2024

    Making a Roman Emperor

    A newly discovered monumental arch in Serbia reveals a family’s rise to power in the late second century a.d.

    Read Article
    (Serbia’s Institute of Archaeology)
  • Features July/August 2024

    Rise and Fall of Tiwanaku

    New dating techniques are unraveling the mystery of a sacred Andean city

    Read Article