Arikamedu

India · Puducherry

HarbourIntermittent excavation
Approximate period200 BCE — 1,700 CEEarly Historic period and later phases See on the map ↓

In brief

Arikamedu is an important port settlement used to study South India's maritime trade with the Mediterranean. Imported vessels, local pottery and beads have been found during multiple excavation campaigns.

What was found?

  • 1Mediterranean transport amphorae

    Transport vessels of Mediterranean origin were recovered during excavations. These provide direct material evidence of the port's connection with Mediterranean trade.

  • 2Pottery with Brahmi and Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions

    Vessel fragments bearing Brahmi and Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions. They document the use of writing on everyday objects in the settlement.

  • 3Beads

    Small ornaments that constitute a separate subject of study in the excavation reports. They help us understand the variety of objects and the culture of personal adornment in the port settlement.

  • 4Chinese ceramics

    Ceramics of Chinese origin were also documented during excavations. They allow Arikamedu's connections to be studied across different periods and geographical regions.

What does it point to?

Arikamedu points to a port settlement connected to different directions of Indian Ocean trade. Excavation publications emphasise that the trade networks here existed both before and after the period of Indo-Roman trade.

What did it teach us?

  1. It documented maritime trade between India and the Mediterranean through amphorae.
  2. It showed that the settlement's commercial history extended beyond the period of Indo-Roman trade.
  3. Inscribed pottery added linguistic and script evidence to the study of the port's material culture.

Images

Arikamedu, Early Historic Site 03
Jayaseerlourdhuraj · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Arikamedu, Puducherry, India (6)
Muthukumaran pk · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Record

Culture
South India; Indo-Mediterranean maritime trade
Team / historical
Vimala Begley ve K. V. Raman; Pennsylvania Üniversitesi Müzesi ve Madras Üniversitesi
Coordinates
11.9013°, 79.8201°

Sources

  1. ignca.gov.in
  2. publications.efeo.fr
  3. École française d'Extrême-Orient — Arikamedu kazı yayını, birinci cilt
  4. École française d'Extrême-Orient — Arikamedu kazı yayını, ikinci cilt

Nearby excavations


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12.000

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