Over the past one year, a small hill at Vendallur in Malappuram, Kerala has been drawing historians. They are surprised by the rich repository of history that dates back to prehistoric times

The presence of megalithic post-hole burial cists and petroglyphs dating back to the Iron Age were found during excavations at the hill. Apart from this, hundreds of clay dolls from the late medieval period provides evidence that there had been a continuous human settlement for more than three millennia or more.

A three-day comprehensive field study will be done from November 28-30 by as many as 125 researchers including eminent historians. They will collect evidence on the continuous human settlement from the pre-historic megalithic period to the later medieval period and right up to the present.

P Sivadasan, head of history department of Calicut University, who had led the studies said that the hillock at Vendallur could become a turning point in the historiography of the ancient and medieval history of the state.

It was during the renovation work of Parambath Kavu Bhagavathi temple, that evidence of prehistoric settlement was found.

Sivadasan informed that the invaluable historical evidence discovered from the site call for a detailed excavation by experts and the findings will be submitted to agencies like Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and state archaeological department for further action.