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FINDING an AMPHORA in ARIKAMEDU an Archaeological Site Near Puducherry Holds the Key to India’S Ancient Relationships with the Rest of the World

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FINDING an AMPHORA in ARIKAMEDU an Archaeological Site Near Puducherry Holds the Key to India’S Ancient Relationships with the Rest of the World Hidden world (Clockwise from left) The ruins of striking Roman arches at Arikamedu; and fishing boats along Ariyankuppam river. S.S. Kumar & Zac O’Yeah COVER STORY FINDING AN AMPHORA IN ARIKAMEDU An archaeological site near Puducherry holds the key to India’s ancient relationships with the rest of the world. That is, if you can find the place first BY ZAC O’YEAH <> Their minuscule size t’s as if I were trying to hitch a ride from made beads the perfect Puducherry to ancient Rome. No one export product — fancy wants to go to Arikamedu. Eventually, a Arikamedu style I rickshaw driver shows mercy by agree- ing to take me for ₹350. It’s twice the microbeads have been amount I paid 10 years ago but I accept his found as far as Bali pricey offer, because I recall the archaeolog- ical site being a seven-kilometre drive from Puducherry, deep inside a jungle. ing amphorae, it is possible to pinpoint not The rickshaw crosses the bridge over Ari- only the place of origin but even date of ex- yankuppam River, which is more of a la- port, as the styles changed with fashions. A goon, but the suburbs of Puducherry conti- normal-sized amphora held the equivalent nue to sprawl in a multi-storeyed, concrete of 36 of today’s bottles and considering that landscape rather than giving way to the huts imported wine costs more than ₹1000 the that I remember. As we turn off the Cudda- value of each amphora (at a time when ship- lore highway, the road meanders past Le Pa- ping was so much trickier) is easy to radise Inn AC Bar — which I’m absolutely imagine. sure wasn’t there before. Women sell fresh catch squatting in the roadside dust and a A coin-sized hole narrow path between boxy houses leads to But I’m especially interested in inspecting what’s left of the jungle. We bump on a dirt the Arretine tableware that Wheeler identi- track through rubbish-strewn greenery, the fied: a standardised high-quality pottery occasional cactus stares back aggressively, that was used throughout the Roman Em- until the discreetly green-painted Archaeo- pire from 1st century BCE to 300CE. I recall logical Survey of India fence comes into seeing, on a previous visit, a fragment sight. No information board welcomes me to stamped with the name of a prominent pot- Arikamedu. A handful of cud-chewing cows ter based at Arezzo in Italy, suggesting that are the only other visitors. the plate was manufactured around 25CE. The fence protects a striking ruin with ve- Since it belonged to a limited period product ry Roman arches. But it’s actually the re- line it was significant for dating all the finds, mains of a 250-year-old French mission, prompting Wheeler to declare: ‘Upon the built around the time the first rudimentary imported Mediterranean wares the whole excavation took place. French scientist Guil- chronology of the site, and its special impor- laume Le Gentil observed that villagers were one clearing, myopic as I am, I come upon a then is the quay that used to jut out into the given a free tourist brochure that deals most- tance therefore to Indian archaeology, already busy recycling the ruins, which ex- meadow of bluish flowers, which on closer river and from where, 2,000 years ago, In- ly with shopping in Puducherry. I enquire if depend.’ plains why there’s no ancient town above inspection turns out to be mineral water dian spices, cloth, jewellery and other luxu- there’s anybody, perhaps a curator or direc- I locate a handwritten label, ‘Italian Terra ground. But looking closely at the mission’s pouches and the explanation for their pre- ry products were shipped to European tor, who knows anything about the Arikame- Sigillata Plate (imported from Roman Em- walls, I notice two different types of bricks: sence is in a nearby grove — empty whiskey markets. du objects, but he says no. pire)’, but the holder is empty. Despite all one of a familiar size used even today, whilst bottles and discarded plastic cups. A roman- The museum displays a whimsical collec- the sari-clad museum guards keeping a others are flatter, larger slabs. I let my fin- tically inclined couple scamper out of the Unsolvable riddle tion of European leftovers like rotting pia- sharp eye on tourists to ensure that nobody gers slide across their rugged surfaces. I feel undergrowth. I don’t know whether to apol- Holding on to that thought and with my nos and a pousse-pousse type of car from clicks a pic, somehow the treasure of the col- I’ve seen similar flat bricks at historical plac- ogise for disturbing or take the uncle ap- shoes slowly sinking in the mud, crabs run- the 18th century powered by two natives lection has disappeared. I’m in mortal es around the Mediterranean. It seems the proach and explain that historical places ning amok whenever I move, I’m struck by who ran behind pushing it. There’s also a shock. There’s also a display of Roman coins mission was built with looted bricks. should be used for history purposes only. how, without appropriate signage, this re- room housing Arikamedu discoveries in- — of emperors Gallienus Antoninianus ( But in the end, I tell myself that if Romans mains an unsolvable riddle for anybody who cluding an informative display of beads cu- three pieces) and Tetricus Antoninianus (a Romans and the romantics drank wine here, then why shouldn’t a cer- isn’t an expert. It’s not as if nobody has rated by a British archaeologist 35 years ago, single piece) – but the occasional empty In the absence of signposting, the way to ex- tain romantic tradition continue? thought of doing something about it. One making it a valuable museum piece in itself. coin-sized hole suggests that things have plore the site is to follow a path that leads off At the riverfront one may descend at scholar, S. Suresh, discusses in his book Ari- Their minuscule size made beads the per- gone missing here as well. from the ruin through the jungle and to- one’s own risk by an old rope down the kamedu: Its Place in the Ancient India-Rome fect export product — fancy Arikamedu style There’s still enough evidence left for us to wards the river. Butterflies are disturbed by scarp. It’s dicier than expected and I tumble Contacts a plan for a Tamil trail to highlight microbeads have been found as far east as buy the idea that Roman influence was pre- my steps and flutter up from the grass. Souls to the bottom of the steep embankment, sites that in ancient days traded with the Vietnam and Bali. sent. However, along with his path-breaking of Romans? Reborn as tropical insects? Ac- which is basically a mud-caked flat. As I West. There has also been talk about an on- discoveries, Wheeler spread an inflated nar- cording to excavation reports, somewhere crawl in the black goo, I’m amazed at the site interpretation centre. Years ago, a UN- Wheeler’s discoveries rative of Arikamedu being a full-fledged Ro- underneath are the foundations of a 45- fact that nothing has been done to develop ESCO World Heritage tag was proposed and Luckily, I’ve been doing some additional man port. Later archaeologists, such as Vi- metre-long 1st century warehouse, sur- this as a tourist destination. Yet it directly Arikamedu is currently on a tentative list of reading. Finds made by the French in the mala Begley who excavated rounded by streets and drains and pits — the links two of the greatest ancient civilisa- ‘Silk Road Sites in India’. But nothing has late 1930s suggested that Arikamedu might comprehensively in 1989-92, disagreed with latter perhaps used for dyeing the fine mus- tions, the Indian and the Roman. As if to happened and when someone built a mu- be a ville romaine that drew the attention of him. According to Begley’s findings, Arika- lin cloth that Tamil bards called ‘milky mist’. prove this, I spot pot shards in the mud and seum nearby, he was forced to shut it down Mortimer Wheeler, Britain’s celeb archaeol- medu was inhabited and had lapidary indus- Archaeologists found imported Roman ta- layers of bricks in an archaeological jigsaw because it’s illegal for private citizens to col- ogist who at that time headed the ASI. try as well as pottery production long before bleware and wine amphorae shards suggest- puzzle laid bare by recent cyclones. This lect and display archaeological finds. Wheeler excavated in 1945 and announced any foreigner set foot here — which is prob- ing that somebody who lived here had extra- Back in town, where the French left an oc- his discoveries with great enthusiasm: his ably why Romans came in the first place to vagant habits, but there were also traces of cidental esprit behind in 1954, I head for report has many quotable if factually dicey trade wine and fine-quality plates. The rich bead-manufacturing, signifying that the har- As I crawl in the black Rue Saint Louis where a merchant’s 18th statements such as the claim that Arikame- bead finds suggest an indigenous export- bour housed a mixed population of indige- <> century villa has been converted into the Pu- du ‘represents the site of a considerable bu- oriented business that perhaps started as goo, I’m amazed that nous artisans and foreign businessmen.
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