Muziris Pattanam excavations: Presentation

Crossing Cultures in antiquity: Archaeological evidence from Pattanam excavations
Presentation by Dr. P. J. Cherian, Kerala council for Historical Research

12 January, 4.00pm
@ Alliance Française de Trivandrum

Alliance Française de Trivandrum will be organizing a presentation on Muziris Pattanam excavations: Crossing Cultures in antiquity: Archaeological evidence from Pattanam excavations
by Dr. P. J. Cherian, Kerala council for Historical Research on 12 January at 4.00pm @ Alliance Française de Trivandrum.
Pattanam, a coastal village on the south western coast of India in the state of Kerala, is a rare archaeological site in South Asia, to yield evidence for overseas transactions in antiquity. A significant portion of material objects unearthed from the site is non-local in provenance, having reached Pattanam from various regions of Asia, Africa and Europe. This strengthens the hypothesis that Pattanam could be an integral part of the early historic legendary port of Muziris, extolled in the Greek, Latin and classical Indian sources as the ‘first emporium of India’.
It is evident from the excavations that, goods, ideas, technology and other creative expressions accompanied the movement of people across geographical zones, often crossing socio-cultural boundaries. The coastal, trans-oceanic and hinterland trade networks that intersected at Pattanam seem to have provided a unique social platform for heterogeneous cultural practices.
The talk would briefly introduce the archaeological record of the site in order to discuss Kerala’s cultural heterogeneity in antiquity.
Entry is free.