Knowledge Systems of Structural Engineering and Water Management in Sangam Age Keeladi

Ajay Kumar R.*, Ramesh Masethung, Sivanantham Ramalingam

Keeladi excavations in Tamil Nadu have revealed a sophisticated urban settlement along the Vaigai river, dating to the Early Historical Period (Sangam Age). Beyond artefactual resemblance, the site demonstrates advanced knowledge traditions in structural engineering and water management, underscoring how technological practices mediated culture contact and adaptation. Excavations uncovered extensive brick structures with standardised dimensions (36 × 24 × 6 cm; 34 × 24 × 7 cm), laid in multiple courses up to 165 cm high, reflecting deliberate engineering principles and continuity of construction across localities. Industrial installations such as open and closed brick channels, tanks, terracotta pipes and furnaces, indicate organised production zones, suggesting a knowledge system of thermal engineering and controlled resource use. The terracotta ring-wells and water channels, reveal a nuanced understanding of hydrology. These installations, integrated into habitation zones, point to strategies for groundwater access, drainage, and sustainable water distribution in a river-fed yet seasonally variable environment. Based on these findings paper explores Keeladi’s urbanism as not merely a product of cultural diffusion but of locally generated and transmitted knowledge adapted to ecological and social needs. By foregrounding knowledge as the analytical lens, Keeladi exemplifies how structural engineering and water technologies functioned as vehicles of cultural resilience and interaction.