Resume excavations at Pattanam: Archaelogist P J Cherian urges next govt in Kerala

T'puram: Archeologist P J Cherian, who led the excavations at Pattanam in Ernakulam district, the first archaeological site on the state's coast that has yielded material evidence on ancient maritime trade, has urged the Congress high command and UDF to take steps to resume excavations when the new govt takes over. Cherian's appeal comes at a time when 10% of the site has already yielded several artefacts dating back to the third century BCE to the fifth century CE. However, Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) has frozen the work. "The govt had supported the excavations from 2006-2016. But it remains frozen in the last 10 years," Cherian said. The site also falls under the constituency from where Congress leader V D Satheesan has won the election, he added. "This makes it all the more significant for the govt to resume the excavations. It is a historical need. There are remains of people from 40 countries in Pattanam," Cherian said. Cherian said that several people from Pattanam, Coimbatore, Kannur and Thiruvananthapuram requested him to draft this appeal addressed to the people of Kerala and the Congress high command. In 2016, KCHR locked the museum and also discontinued a residential diploma programme meant to support the excavation without giving a reason, Cherian said. The full report on Pattanam Excavations (2007-2015) says that it is the first archaeological site on the Kerala (Malabar) Coast to yield a plethora of material evidence on the ancient maritime exchanges, Cherian said. "These exchanges became part of the first trans-oceanic network in human history, linking the Old World (continents of Asia, Africa and Europe) through the water bodies of South China Sea, Bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea, Red Sea, River Nile and the Mediterranean Sea. Based on the scientific assessments of radiocarbon dating, stratigraphic analysis and artefactual studies, the peak phase of maritime exchanges at Pattanam is identified as during the early historic period (third century BCE to fifth century CE)," Cherian said.
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