New
Delhi, Aug 28 (IANS)
A
site on the Malabar Coast that may have been home to the ancient
city of Muziris and
that continues to throw up artefacts dating back to the 1st century
BC is now in danger of being damaged as archaeologists have not
been able to acquire the land.
It is now believed that the small town of Pattanam in Kerala's
Ernakulam district was Muziris, which served as a major trading
port between the 1st century BC and the 5th century AD.
Excavations there - the last of which were carried out in February
this year - have produced evidence of the area's strong trade
ties with ancient Rome, Yemen, West Asia and even the Nabatian
civilisation of the Arabian Peninsula.
But the historical treasures there are now in danger of being
destroyed.
"People are digging the land for constructing houses, building
roads a digging wells there," P.J. Cherian, director of the
Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR), told IANS here.
KCHR along with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) have
been conducting this ambitious research as part of the Muziris
Heritage Project.
"We need this land - at least five acres of the 45 hectares
- to be acquired by the state government - not by force, but by
taking the locals into confidence and paying them a reasonable
price."
Archaeologists K.P. Shajan and V. Selvakumar along with Cherian
have been involved in the excavations at Pattanam, where evidence
of human habitation dating back to the Iron Age has been found.
However, the state government has not able to acquire the land.
Cherian said he and the archaeologists were very "clear"
- they do not want to antagonise the local people who had been
offering whole-hearted support for the excavations.
"But we have not yet got the land as even protected area.
The ASI also should act immediately. The location is already disturbed
and damaged," said Cherian, who was here to attend a seminar
organised by the Indian Navy on the subject.
Indian Navy's southern command is supporting the team for their
underwater excavations.
Until recently, it was believed that Muziris was located on the
mouth of the Periyar river at a place called Kodungallor. But
now evidence suggests that Pattanam is the real location.
According to Cherian, the Pattanam Excavations 2007 have revealed
several significant facts about "the first habitation site
of the Iron Age" on the Malabar coast.
Pattanam is the first site on the Malabar coast to yield a variety
of the archaeological evidence on Indian Ocean trade, especially
West Asian and Indo-Roman.
"The significance of the site is that - until its discovery,
the classical literary sources, travel accounts and legends remained
the only sources to validate the pivotal role of the Malabar coast
in Indo-Roman trade.
"But the evidences from Pattanam - the potteries, ceramics,
canoes, constructions, coins - also indicate that the region had
good trade ties with West Asia and eastern parts of present India,"
Cherian said.
He said some of the pottery discovered also indicated contacts
with the Nabatian civilisation of the Arabian Peninsula.
The excavations have produced fragments of imported Roman amphora,
mainly used for transporting wine and olive oil, Yemenese and
West Asian pottery, besides Indian rouletted ware that was common
in the east coast of India and in Egypt.
Bricks, tiles, pottery shards, beads and other artefacts found
at Pattanam are very similar to those found at Arikamedu - an
ancient Roman trade centre - in Pudussery and other historic sites
in India.
IANS