The 23rd IPPA Congress
Embedded Files
S02
MATERIALISING THE COAST: COASTAL ARCHAEOLOGY, RITUALISTIC TRADITIONS, AND ECONOMIC NETWORKS IN THE INDO-PACIFIC REGION (600 BCE–1200 CE)
Rupendra Kumar Chattopadhyay1,2,3, Shubha Majumder4 and Nibedita Naskar5
Rupendra Kumar Chattopadhyay1,2,3, Shubha Majumder4 and Nibedita Naskar5
1 Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies, India2 Department of Archaeology, University of Calcutta, India3 Presidency University, India4 Archaeological Survey of India, India5 Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute, India
Coastal zones of the Indo-Pacific, encompassing tropical littorals and estuarine belts, have often been interpreted mainly through the lens of maritime trade and long-distance exchange. While important, this view underplays the deep cultural, ecological, and symbolic relationships that coastal communities developed with their environments. This session re-envisions the coast as a dynamic archaeological and cultural landscape where adaptation, ritual, and economic systems flourished alongside interaction networks between circa 600 BCE and 1200 CE. Archaeological material culture, including ceramics, lithic and bone tools, terracotta figurines, shell ornaments, fishing gear, salt-production implements, and faunal remains offers critical insights into daily lifeways, social organisation, and cosmological thought. We also seek studies on ritual and religious traditions embedded in maritime landscapes, particularly the veneration of folk and local deities reflecting ecological intimacy and the perceived power of the sea. Furthermore, the session invites contributions exploring how coastal economies, reconstructed through archaeological evidence, sustained hinterland development via marine resource circulation. Proposed subthemes include: early coastal settlements and adaptation strategies; fishing, salt-making, shell working, and related crafts; ritual and sacred traditions linked to the coast; ethnoarchaeological perspectives on maritime technologies; and coastal networks and hinterland economic linkages.
Sangam Seas: Tamil Ports and Maritime Connectivity with the Mediterranean World — Archaeology and Texts, c. 300 BCE–300 CE
Sadhish Sharma
Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University Delhi, India; sadhishsharma@gmail.com
The Tamilakam region, celebrated in Sangam literature, was deeply enmeshed in the commercial and cultural currents of the early historic Indian Ocean. Between c. 300 BCE and 300 CE, the vibrant port towns of the Tamil coast – Korkai, Puhar and Musiri (Muziris) – emerged as nodal points in a maritime world that stretched from Southeast Asia to the Mediterranean. Sangam texts such as Pattinappalai, Perumpanarruppadai, and Puranaanooru vividly describe bustling harbours, pearl fisheries, and the arrival of Yavana (Greek-Roman) ships laden with wine, gold, and luxury goods. These literary accounts resonate strikingly with archaeological discoveries at sites such as Arikamedu, Alagankulam, and Pattanam, where Roman amphorae, rouletted ware, beads, coins, and Mediterranean ceramics attest to sustained cross-cultural exchange. This paper situates Sangam literature within the archaeological record to reconstruct the maritime landscapes of early Tamil ports and their connections with the wider Mediterranean world. It argues that these ports were not merely conduits for pepper, pearls, ivory, and textiles flowing westwards, but also cosmopolitan contact zones where foreign traders, goods, and ideas intersected with local economies and cultures. Drawing upon both classical sources such as the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and indigenous Tamil texts, the study highlights how the sea functioned as a bridge rather than a boundary, shaping new forms of material culture and social interaction. By integrating textual traditions with recent archaeological evidence, this paper underscores the centrality of the Tamil coast in the global circuits of exchange during the early centuries CE. It also reflects on the enduring legacies of this maritime connectivity, revealing how Sangam-age ports embodied both economic vitality and cultural entanglement across the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean worlds.
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