ABSTRACT
It is generally agreed that the first land plants evolved on this earth during the late Silurian and early Devonian periods. Hence, when the modern human species, Homo sapiens, arose around 200,000 to 250,000 years ago, he had to confront all major groups of plants, including angiosperms, which were already there on this earth. By that time, plants had adapted themselves to the diverse habitats/ecosystems of the world through structural and functional modifications. The early human populations also had to adapt themselves to these diverse habitats/ecosystems, made possible largely through the generation and application of knowledge, both ecological and technological, which they gradually gained during their long years of hunter-gatherer experience (Cotton, 1996). This ethnic knowledge system is often called traditional knowledge system (TKS). When one critically analyzes the ethnic cultures and their non-codified and codified TKS of different parts of the world, he would be greatly impressed on knowing that these cultures placed great emphasis on the value and importance of their environment and its resources. Hence, it is not surprising that Merculieff (1994) had shown how traditional concepts on environment and ecology have preempted modern ecological ideas of western science. It is now possible to get a fair idea on the traditional systems of classifications of ecosystems, vegetation types and plants (and animals). This chapter deals with ethnoecology, ethnotaxonomy and nomenclature of the ancient Tamil people belonging to the Dravidian race that occupied the major part of the study region covered in this volume. The Tamils are one of the most ancient ethnic peoples of this world with a history of around 50,000 years. The Tamil TKS is also a well-codified system of knowledge in the form of ancient literary works that belong to the Sangam (200 BCE to 250 CE) and post-Sangam (250 BCE to 600 CE) periods. This article summarizes the knowledge that belonged to these periods, although it should be stated that most of this knowledge continued to be there till the British occupation of India in the 16th century.
