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CHAPTER 5
li ARCHAEOLOGICAL
5.1
Introduction:
ANn HISTORICAL STUDIES
Geoarchaeological studies are
of
immense
help in reconstructing the evolutionary history of an area during
the
late
studies
to
Quaternary period. In the past
few
decades
numerous
have been carried out on the coastal and offshore
ascertain the archaeology and palaeogeography of
(Jardine
and
Morrison, 1976; Chappel, 1982; and
sites
such
Delano
sites
1976).
14
Since no dating either
C or TL could be made from the Palaeo
beach ridges, the support from archaeological investigations have
been
taken into account to unravel the regressive phase
of
sea. The study area, particularly the Kodungallur region
lots of archaeological
The
by
engrave
information.
first Geoarchaeological study in India was carried
Robert
Bruce Foot (1863).
integrated
the
the
De Terra (1939)
carried
out
out
an
study in the river terrains of Narmada valley and
in
terraces of Kortalayar river in Madras coast.
A
number
of
workers later on carried out extensive studies on the prehistoric
remains
work
in
in
Nadu,
various parts of Peninsular India.
the recent time are done by
Gardner
Some
important
(1986)
in
Pappu (1974) in Maharashtra, and Kale and Rajaguru
Tamil
(1983)
in Konkan.
However,
very
Kerala
region.
region
was
extensive
Kerala
prehistoric and
in
the
paleoenvironment
of
the
carried
out
industries
of
He
has
on paleolithic and mesolithic
was able to reconstruct the cultural
paleoenvironment
Besides
The
carried
studied by Rajendran (1984).
studies
and
few such studies have been
of
paleolithic
and
sequences
mesolithic
this, a number of workers have also studied
and
industries.
on
various
archaeological
materials
mainly
the
megalithic
remains
from
different parts of the state ( Sathyamurthy, 19921;
5.2. Results
Extensive
field works have been done in the study
area
in
order to locate archaeological remains. Conducting archaeological
exploration
terrain
in
was
the study area has been very
highly
populated
and
difficult
cultivated.
the
However,
the
exploration
in
mesolithic,
neolithic, megalithic and early historical
A
the study area has resulted in
as
the
total number of 18 archaeological sites have
out
of
which only one belongs to
finding
been
mesolithic, 2
of
remains.
discovered
neolithic,
13
megalithic and 2 to early historic period.
Mesolithic period:
Thevakkal,
about
points,three
Microlithic tools ar0 found in a place called
15
km north east of
flakes and one core are
Ernakulam.
Here
four
found in a lateritic
soil
cover. The presence of flakes along with the core shows that this
was a stone age factory site. The tools are made of quartz (Plate
8) which is abundantly available in the site in the form of veins
in
laterite
country rock.
The site is situated
near
a
water
locked paddy field which would have been a palaeochannel of river
Periyar.
Neolithic period:
Neolithic tools are discovered from two
in the study area.
about
15
neolithic
and
celt
They are Aduvassery and
20 km north west of
(Plate
8)
is
Elavoor,respectively
At
Alwaye.
found
in
sites
a
Aduvassery,
lateritic
a
terrain
adjoining an extensive river terrace of Periyar while at Elavoor,
three celts are spotted in the present Chalakkudy river
All
the
four tools are made of granite.
The
location
channel.
of
the
sites indicates that neolithic people might have used the fertile
land adjoining the river beds for cultivation.
Plate 8 Mesolithie flakes and neolithic eelt from Kalamassery and Elavoor
respectively
Plate 9 Megalithic burial Jar. Kunnukara
78
Megalithic period (iron age):
(Plate
9)
are
Hundreds of megalithic urn burials
found in the study area (Fig. 3).
Most
of
the
megalithic remains are currently being destroyed by the people as
most
of the lands are
used
for
regions
house building.
are
and
Kunnukara,
Alwaye,
Aduvassery,
coastal
Details
of
land
A
number
of
between
Kodungallor
The prominent sites are Perinjanam,
Acheswaram,
Chendrappinni,Thriprayar
sites,
mid
or
Chengamanad,
Puthenchira and Pullut.
are also found in the coastal region
Chavakkad.
cultivation
The important sites in the
KaJamassery,
Kurumassery,
sites
brought under either for
and
Engandiyur.
Unlike
the
sites have yielded more number of
few
important sites and their
midland
urn
findings
burials.
are
given
below.
a)
Kalamassery:
Ernakulam
campus
Kalamassery
is about 12 km
north
and the site is situated within the Cochin
(Plate
10).
The
site
is
unearthed
east
of
University
while
building
operation. Archaeological remains have been found one meter below
surface
level
paddy
field.
site.
The
in a laterite slope
overlooking
A total of twelve buried jars are
megalithic burials here are
a
water-logged
found
composed
of
a
sized burial jars containing associated pottery, iron
and
disintegrated
block
or
bones and the jars are capped
with a pottery lid.
medium
lateri te
red
pottery, ranging in size from 50 to 80 cm in height and 40-60
~
diameter.
vases
of
the
implements
with
The jars are hand made
in
ware
cm
The associated pottery include bowls, pots, dishes,
and cups, they are all
black and red ware type.
disintegrated bones.
wheel made and are
essentially
The burials have also yielded
some
Plate 10 Megalithic sill ,Kalamassery
P!:ltl' 11 :Vfl' ~a lithi c howl and rim
or hurialJ ar.
Kunllul{ara and Chend rappi nll i
79
b)
Chendrappinni:
Chendrappinni is 15 km north of
Kodungallur.
I
The
site
is
palaeobeach
situated
NH
17,
on
a
prominent
ridge overlooking a swale and the Pullut channel
on
the eastern side.
of
Chetuva-Perinjanam
hundreds
500 m east of
~hile
digging for a
road
line on the
~i~e
the site is said
to
have
of urn burials aligned in a linear fashion .
megaliths in this area comprise of
black
However,
jars
broken.
containing
and red ware pottery (Plate 11) and iron tools,
covered
they
are
with either laterite cap stone or pottery lid. The
are 0.75 - 1 m in height and 0.60-1 m
shape.
jars
in diameter and conical in
These jars are found at a depth of 0.5 - 1.0 m below
surface.
In
semispherical
covered
burial
side
yielded
the author could find only ten burials either in full or
The
is
one
instance,
the
jar
is
found
the
covered
with
laterite cap stone while all other jars are
with pottery lid. The occurrence of laterite
found
cap
stone
within the beach ridges is significant as no laterite exposure is
found
in the area.
The nearest laterite exposure is in the
mid
land region to the east of Pullut channel.
c)
Engandiyur: It is situated about 25 Km north of
Megalithic
burials
Perinjanam
road.
burials
are
are
found on both
the
According to the local
found in this area.
sides
people,
The maximum
Kodungallur.
of
Chetuva-
hundreds
of
concentration
of
burials are noticed in a 200 m wide and 500 m long area near
Catholic Church, Engadiyur.
broken pieces of
below
the
10 burial jars.
ground
significant ·feature
coated
However, the author could find
level
of
the
only
The jars are found 0.5 to 1
and covered
with
the site is the
pottery
occurrence
painted pottery (Andra ware) which is an
early
lid.
of
m
The
russet
historic
80
cultural
trait of Peninsular India.
The russet
coated
painted
pots have been recovered by local people and are now exhibited in
the Thrissur museum.
Early
historical period:
early
historic
Archaeological remains, sUpposedly
period, were recovered by the
sites in the coastal area near Paravur.
author
of
from
two
A well preserved terra-
cotta ring well was found at a depth of 1 m from the surface,
Kottuvally
ring
village
12).
The
well was made up of 70 cm in diameter ,4 cm thick and
deep.
This site lies just
Roman coin hoard site.
was
about 5 km SW of Paravur (Plate
made
by
500 m west of Valluvally, the
Discovery of Roman coins from
some labourers while sand quarrying
during september 1983.
coins.
Most
legible
inscriptions
m
famous
Valluvally
in
the
area
pot
the hoard may exceed one thousand
of the coins in this hoard
found in Kerala.
2
The coins were found buried inside a
and according to local public,
in
were
mint-fresh
and it is an index to Roman
gold
with
coinage
The" obverse side of a Roman gold coin is
shown
in plate 13.
Early
historical
objects like pot sherds
and
bricks
are
noticed on an elevated place called Pattanam, situated about 2 km
NW of Paravur and 8 km SW of Kodungallur.
Three glass beads
and
one agate bead also were recovered from this site (Plate 14). The
most
significant finding is a potsherd obtained from a depth
0.70
m,
which
Dr.Selvakumar,
Dept. of
Archaeology
Deccan
college post graduate Research Institute, Pune has identified
a
piece
of
significant
an amphorae (personal
communication).
feature is the presence of large sized
probably of megalithic affinity.
of
The
pot
as
other
sherds,
Plate 12 Terracotta ring well (Early Historical Period ), Koltuvally
Plate 13 Roman
~o lcJ
coin
(Ea rl~'
Historical Pcriod),Vallu\,ally
Plate 14 Piece of amphorae? ( top len) pottery and beads (Early Historical Period),
Pattanam, north west ofParavoor
SI
5.3. Discussion
One
of
the research objectives
of
geoarchaeology
is
to
reconstruct the land scape that existed around a site or group of
sites at the time of occupation. The changing sea
the
l~vels,
late Quaternary have dramatically affected the
during
distribution
and preservation of sites of early coastal adapted people and the
evolution
of
activity.
A reconstruction of the original relationship
settlements
these land scapes has affected the loci
and
coastal geography is often
of
human
between
necessary
starting
point for any adequate interpretation of their economy and
Geoarchaeological
investigation in the study area
form.
revealed
the
existence of various archaeological cultures and the geographical
distribution of these cultural remains can be effectively used to
study the land form evolution in the past.
The
earliest
archaeological
remains
obtained
from
study area are the microlithic tools obtained from a site
the
called
Thevakkal. The beginning of mesolithic culture in India has
dated
to
Kerala
which
8000
yrs B.P. and the mesolithic
cultural
phase
has been dated to around 5000 yrs B.P. (Rajendran,
indicate
neolithic
a
late mesolithic
occupation
in Kerala is
habitation.
The
uncertain, as no
been
1984)
period
sites
been reported in a stratigraphical context. It has observed
neolithic cultural phase in India can be assigned a time span
around 2350 to 1200 B.C. Therefore, the mesolithic and
cultural
in
of
has
that
of
neolithic
phase might have existed from 5000 to 3000 yrs B.P.
in
the coastal region. Eventhough, no generalization is possible
on
the basis of the limited number of tools recovered from the study
area
and
also
in the absence
of
stratigraphic
context,
the
82
mesolithic
span
and
neolithic phase can be dated to the
above
in the study area. The absence of mesolithic and
implements
time
neolithic
in the coastal area indicate that man inhabited
only
in the mid land region of the study area during this period.
The
extensive
cultural
remains
include
monuments
a
which
associated
the
Megaliths
significant.
of
megalithic
through out study area
in
concentrations
India,
occurrence
most
in India,
variety
are
with
inner
of
either
and
iron
their
strand
sepulchral
built
of
particular
plains
particularly
large
is
in
and
age
very
Peninsular
commemorative
stones
or
a some what homogenous group of black
else
and
red
ware pottery. By and large, they are collective burials in
which
14
post exposure bones of more than one person are found buried.
C
dates place the megalithic cultures of India between 1000 B.C and
A.D.
1000
popularity
burials
in
However, the period
appears
to
of
their
be between 600
maximum
B.C.-100
A.D.
The
are the most common variety of megalithic burials
Kerala, especially
in coastal regions. In Kerala.
urn
found
only
two
14
C
dates are available for urn burials at Mangadu
Dt.,
and
they
(Sathyamurthy
show
an age of
2890~70
and
from
2850~90
Kollam
yrs
B.P.
1992). On the basis of typological studies of
the
excavated materials, the urn burials
of
-~
to a
Porkalam~
period from 300 B.C. to 100 A.D. So
the
time
span of Kerala's megalithic culture can be assigned at 900 B.C to
100 A.D.
The
absence
of stone age sites and the presence
of
vast
numbers of megaliths in the interior strand plain areas are clear
evidences of a migration of human settlements towards the coastal
plains
as
the
sea started receding.
Mathai
and
Nair
(1988)
83
observed a periodic cyclicity in the emergence of landscape.
presence of early historical remains in the coastal plains
megalithism
are
once
flourished indicate
a
gradual
development
from the primitive megalithism to a settled
The
where
cultural
early
historical cultures.
The
contain
accounts
of
classical writers
of
reference
to
Kerala.
these
Megasthenes,
Some
of
Greece
and
Rome
writers
are
Pliny, and the author of the Periplus of
Erythrean
Sea, Ptolemy and Cosmos Indicopleustus. Most of these
give
accounts
like
coast
port
account
was
ports
Muziris, Tyndis, Barrace and about
on
the
Malabar
export
items. All these references indicate that Muziris
import
chief
of shipping routes to various
references
on
the west coast of
India
and
was
Kodungallur
Muchiri,
or
Cranganore
Mahodayapuram,
Muyirikodum
of
was
variously
Mahadevapattanam,
Tiruvanchikulam
etc. in the
a
Kodungallur
called
a
geographical
given by these authors help us to identify that
situated near the Periyar river mouth in
author
the
and
as
port
area.
Muziris,
Makotaipattanam,
earlier
the Periplus speaks in admiring terms
periods.
of
the
The
chief
Malabar ports of Muziris (Cranganore) and Barace (Porakkadu).
The
Tamil sangam literature of early
Christian
centuries
also give a good account of the port of Muziris. In Ahananuru, it
was mentioned that the Yavanas sailed into the Muziris located at
the
mouth
sailed
also
of
the Periyar river, Kerala __
with
gold
off with pepper. Another sangam text of first century
mention
visitors
presented
~untains.
that
arrived
to
the
pepper
were exchanged
at Muziris by ship. The
visitors
for
gold
Chera
the rare product
of
King
the
with
and
AD
the
Kuttuvan
sea
and
84
The
have
fact that cultural remains of early historical
only found in the coastal areas around Paravur,
significant
Port
in the context of
"Muziris".
accounts
Sangam
It
location of the
was mentioned earlier
that
period
is
famous
the
highly
ancient
classical
of the writers of ancient Greece and Rome and also
literature give vivid description of this port
the light of available evidences in the form of early
archaeological remains
city.
the
In
historical
from the sites around Paravur, it can
be
rightly pointed out that the location of ancient Muziris might be
some where in the south east of Periyar river to present
town
The absence of stone age, megalithic and early
sites
in
indicate
a
the
3 km wide stretch in
recent
central Kerala region.
emergence
the
nearshore
of the coastal
Paravur
historical
coastal
land
scape
area
in