Banthadukka: Rare remnants of the Stone Age, including beads, iron tools and clay pottery, have emerged as archaeologists cleared soil from a cave-like chamber unearthed at Manimoola.

 The chamber, which came to notice while digging the area, had been sealed with a laterite stone slab, and its entrance was adorned with stone sculptures and carvings.

The stone beads recovered from the cellar are mostly carnelian, along with two banded agate beads. The six iron implements include an axe, a chisel and other tools, while the clay pottery consists of small mugs. Larger vessels found earlier had already been removed from the site.

The semi-circular cave opened on Thursday has a radius of 2.70 metres and a height of 95 centimetres. It also featured a square-shaped pillar at the centre, which had been broken earlier during a pit-digging operation for laying a pipeline. Three fragments of this pillar have now been recovered.

The examination of the archaeological site began four days ago by a team led by K Krishnaraj, Officer-in-Charge of the Pazhassiraja Archaeological Museum in Kozhikode. The excavation is being carried out near the mobile tower at Manimoola in Banthadukka, based on indications that the area contains more archaeological materials.

The excavation team includes Assistant Officer V A Vimal Kumar (Department Headquarters, Thiruvananthapuram) and T P Nibin of the Pazhassiraja Museum. It was on April 3 this year that pottery and bone remnants from the Stone Age were first discovered at the site during pipeline-laying work for a drinking water project.