Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s27.t1.8

c23.s27.t1.8

Seal-texts are also in Tamil (with the exception of a seal impression on clay in Prakrit found at Arikamedu² and a few gold rings with Prakrit legends from Karur.³) Inscribed pottery found at various ancient Tamil sites is mostly in Tamil, with a few exceptions in Prakrit confined to cities or ports like Kanchipuram and Arikamedu.⁴ In contrast, during the same period, all early inscriptions from Upper South India on stone, copper plates, coins, seals and pottery are exclusively in Prakrit and not in Kannada or Telugu which were the spoken languages of this region.⁵