Pattanam Excavations/Explorations 2013
Ed P J Cherian et al
Kerala Council of Historical Research
Trivandrum
Indian Ocean Studies has suddenly become the most happening field in the archeology of Peninsular India. The long coast line and the discovery of the navigational potential of the monsoons made India accessible to the Roman world and we find the cultural and economic interaction between the Mediterranean Sea and the coast of India reflected in the materials thrown up in sites like Artikamedu near Pondicherry and more recently ion Pattanm. The Kerala Council of Historical Research under the leadership of Dr P J Cherian has done a highly commendable job in excavating a difficult site in a highly professional manner and more importantly have demonstrated academic integrity in publishing the Results of the excavations. All too often important sites in Tamil Nadu are being vandalized by archaeologists who "excavate" the site and renege on their obligation of publishing the results.
The Report on the Pattnam excavation consists of eight chapters with seven appendices. Though the authors do not go into the identification of the site with Muziris it would none the less be an interesting identification if this site turns out to be the one marked in Peutingers Table. The Harris Matrix given in the Report makes the tables extremely valuable and imparts a high degree of professionalism to the Report. The Matrix,at a glance lets the reader know the level at which the artifact was recovered.. The distribution of ceramics from Pattanam demonstrate that Mediterranean, South Arabian and Chinese pottery which compose about less than 1% of the ceramic material recovered, were interacting with the region through trade and commerce. The Geninza Records from a slightly later date reveal a thriving commercial nexus between the Middle East and the coast of Kerala with commodities like spices, iron and steel, coconut products and textiles being exported. The same kind of Turquoise Glazed Pottery has been found in Suqutra (Socotra) and hence a reasonable inference can be drawn that Arab merchants were intermediaries in the Trade between South India and the Arabian Peninsula, from where the commodities were transported to the rest of the Mediterranean world. The Report on the Pattanam Excavation lists the Trench, Level and find spot of each pottery fragment and a detailed Register of artifacts uncovered forms the second half of the Report. The care with which the Team has worked is obvious and deserves our fullest admiration.
An interesting part of the Report is the radio carbon dates that are given. 15 samples were analyzed using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and 14 samples were analyzed using the more tradition C-14 dating. There seems to be some variation in the dates by these two methods and the Report quite honestly brings out the fact. I was struck by the absence of far fetched theories and fanciful conjectures which pass off as archaeology in Tamil Nadu. The archeologists speculate that even before the Roman Empire there was commercial ties between Arabia and Southern India and this radical new hypothesis needs to be taken seriously as the early history of South India is essentially viewed as Rome beyond the Imperial Frontier. The discovery of Glass beads makes Pattanam a very important site. I am sure the material so carefully and meticulously excavated will yield further answere.
This is a marvelous piece of Archaeological Reporting and this author wishes that its example is emulated by others.
Ed P J Cherian et al
Kerala Council of Historical Research
Trivandrum
Indian Ocean Studies has suddenly become the most happening field in the archeology of Peninsular India. The long coast line and the discovery of the navigational potential of the monsoons made India accessible to the Roman world and we find the cultural and economic interaction between the Mediterranean Sea and the coast of India reflected in the materials thrown up in sites like Artikamedu near Pondicherry and more recently ion Pattanm. The Kerala Council of Historical Research under the leadership of Dr P J Cherian has done a highly commendable job in excavating a difficult site in a highly professional manner and more importantly have demonstrated academic integrity in publishing the Results of the excavations. All too often important sites in Tamil Nadu are being vandalized by archaeologists who "excavate" the site and renege on their obligation of publishing the results.
The Report on the Pattnam excavation consists of eight chapters with seven appendices. Though the authors do not go into the identification of the site with Muziris it would none the less be an interesting identification if this site turns out to be the one marked in Peutingers Table. The Harris Matrix given in the Report makes the tables extremely valuable and imparts a high degree of professionalism to the Report. The Matrix,at a glance lets the reader know the level at which the artifact was recovered.. The distribution of ceramics from Pattanam demonstrate that Mediterranean, South Arabian and Chinese pottery which compose about less than 1% of the ceramic material recovered, were interacting with the region through trade and commerce. The Geninza Records from a slightly later date reveal a thriving commercial nexus between the Middle East and the coast of Kerala with commodities like spices, iron and steel, coconut products and textiles being exported. The same kind of Turquoise Glazed Pottery has been found in Suqutra (Socotra) and hence a reasonable inference can be drawn that Arab merchants were intermediaries in the Trade between South India and the Arabian Peninsula, from where the commodities were transported to the rest of the Mediterranean world. The Report on the Pattanam Excavation lists the Trench, Level and find spot of each pottery fragment and a detailed Register of artifacts uncovered forms the second half of the Report. The care with which the Team has worked is obvious and deserves our fullest admiration.
An interesting part of the Report is the radio carbon dates that are given. 15 samples were analyzed using the Accelerator Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and 14 samples were analyzed using the more tradition C-14 dating. There seems to be some variation in the dates by these two methods and the Report quite honestly brings out the fact. I was struck by the absence of far fetched theories and fanciful conjectures which pass off as archaeology in Tamil Nadu. The archeologists speculate that even before the Roman Empire there was commercial ties between Arabia and Southern India and this radical new hypothesis needs to be taken seriously as the early history of South India is essentially viewed as Rome beyond the Imperial Frontier. The discovery of Glass beads makes Pattanam a very important site. I am sure the material so carefully and meticulously excavated will yield further answere.
This is a marvelous piece of Archaeological Reporting and this author wishes that its example is emulated by others.
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