WARANGAL: History and archaeology researcher Reddy Ratnakar Reddy has claimed that ancient ‘terracotta cakes’ have been found on and near the Kothakonda hill in Bheemadevarapalli mandal of Warangal Urban district.
According to him, three types of baked clay tiles were found in the cotton fields on and beside the hillock. Some of the finds were similar to those recovered from the Indus Valley Civilisation sites.
“These terracotta tiles are shaped like a tablet cut in half. Others are rectangular and the edges are sharp. The remaining are bent in the shape of the English letter ‘L’. They are about 3.5 inches long and three inches wide with half an inch thickness," Ratnakar said.
Terracotta cakes glued to lime mortar were also found on the edge of the hillock, he said adding that archaeological evidence suggests that they were used in pyro technology operations.
Speaking about the find, Ramakrishna, retired director of archaeology, opined that the terracotta tiles appeared to be from the Chalcolithic era, the earliest historical era.
"A variety of terracotta cakes along with triangular terracotta cakes have been found in historical places like Lothal, Kali Bangan, Rakhigar and Banavali where the Indus Valley Civilisation flourished," he said.
Noting the places where the terracotta cakes were known to be found, Ratnakar Reddy said they could also be seen in the Mughal monuments in Delhi but are a bit larger and called lacquer bricks.
He said similar tiles were used on the inside of the Gunfoundry heritage building in Hyderabad. There are houses with ceilings made of terracotta cakes in Nellore and Chennai. The locals call these square-shaped tiles ‘palasthree’.
"There is a massive Stone Age dolmen type tomb on the Kothakonda hillock. Rare historical relics and structures dating back to the time of ancient humans can be found here,” Ratnakar Reddy said.
He suggested that valuable historical evidence is likely to be available if the archaeological department examines the area.
