PATTANAM - ANCIENT HISTORY
News: No
idols, no arms: the Pattanam mystery
What's in the news?
● In
the serene village of Pattanam in central
Kerala lies the only multi-cultural archaeological site on the southwestern
coast of the Indian subcontinent.
Key takeaways:
● Often
referred to as the ‘first emporium’ of
the Indian Ocean, Muziris - of which Pattanam is part - is an example of the
Greco-Roman classical age coming into direct contact with an ancient South
Indian civilization.
● The
iron-age and post-iron-age
archaeological site in Kerala is revealing an example of a space and time
with no caste or institutionalized creed, but with a close connect to nature.
Findings from Excavations:
● No evidence of
institutionalized religion existed in ancient
Pattanam.
○ No
idols of gods and goddesses, or the remains of grandiose places of worship.
● Secular ethos
- the grave remains at the Pattanam site were confined to fragmentary skeleton
remains.
○ The
burials were of a “secondary” nature, where the dead were cremated first and
the osseous remains ceremoniously buried later.
○ The
people of widely differing backgrounds were buried the same way, strongly
suggesting the prevalence of a secular ethos.
○ The
people of the time were secular in every aspect of their highly sophisticated
and pluralistic society.
● No indication of the
graded inequality embodied within the caste
system that has characterised contemporary Kerala and most of the rest of
India.
● Non-existence of
weaponry:
○ This
stands in sharp contrast with some other Pattanam-contemporary sites such as
Berenike in Egypt and Khor Rori in the Sultanate of Oman.
● Multicultural society
- The technological, metallurgical, literary, and artistic advances of this
phase bear witness to rigorous cultural and commercial exchanges.
○ The
Pattanam excavations have unearthed over 45 lakh sherds (ceramic fragments);
these include approximately 1.4 lakh belonging to the littoral regions of the
Mediterranean, the River Nile, the Red Sea, the western and eastern Indian
Oceans, and the South China Sea. Recent findings include the seal of a sphinx,
native to the ancient Greek city of Thebes.
● The
wide span of locations confirms the existence of a thriving urban centre from the 5th century B.C. till the 5th
century A.D., with its peak phase from 100 B.C. to A.D. 300.
● Material
evidence from the site strengthens the belief that Pattanam society may have
lived in harmony with nature, like several indigenous societies did, and not
viewed people as separate from nature.