Periyar River Valley Surface Survey Project (PRVSSP)
for Historical, Archaeological and Anthropological Evidence

The Pattanam archaeological research with the limited excavations conducted since 2007 has generated evidence about the proliferation of an urban settlement in the Periyar delta region circa 2000 years ago. The evidence indicate that the settlers had built fine structures with burnt bricks, roof tiles, iron nails and a proto-concrete mixture resembling the pre-modern surki. The orientation of structures, toilet features, terracotta wells etc excavated are indicative of a planned and organised way of life. Material evidence point out that the people could have been cotton weavers, highly gifted semi-precious stone artisans etc. Besides knowledge in iron technology, they seem to have had developed metallurgical skills to work on gold, copper and lead.

An ethno-historical documentation of Koragu community at Perdala, Bediyadukka, Kasaragod

The Korugu colony at Perdala near Badiyadukka comprises of circa 25 families with a total population of about 150 persons. Though the colony is within Kerala, the people speak Tulu. This tribal community leads an extremely excluded life though physically not far from the mainstream society. The people practice the work carried out by their ancestors from time immemorial, as weavers of a few household items including muram, arivatti, etc. The raw material is collected from the forests bordering the village along with other items purchased from the local market. All capable members of families join in the work. The products made are sold in the local market and households; the meagre earnings are used to purchase essential items of food. The community lives focussing each day: the raw material collection, weaving, selling of products and purchase of rice etc are also carried out on a daily basis. There is nothing saved or carried forward to the next day or week. Kanji or simple rice gruel consumed twice a day is almost the only food. The whole time is spent silently in the work to enable the hand to mouth existence. A few of the children go to the local school which has only one teacher. The children’s living conditions are pathetic, lacking basic amenities, proper nutrition or medical care.

The project aims to ensure the general well-being of the community following scientific protocols of cultural interventions. The health and educational wellbeing of the children will have greater priority. The scientific documentation of the Koragu tribal community is the academic goal of the project. A trans-disciplinary team in collaboration with the local-self-governments and academic institutions in the district is expected to undertake the tasks.

For full details of the project, academic collaborations, joining the research team, internships etc; institutions, experts, researchers and students can contact the Principal Investigator of the project by writing to PAMA.

Kerala Photo Archives – Towards a Visual History of Kerala Society

Living in the digital times, we are flooded with photographic images – our everyday communication is constantly punctuated and often driven by visuals, captured through umpteen cameras, not the regular cameras as earlier, but those in our iPads, tablets, or most predominantly, mobile phones.

But a photographic image meant a totally different artefact, process and experience a few decades ago. Every small village or town, leave alone cities, had a studio that met the photographic needs of the locality – passport size photographs for official/legal purposes, photos of various family functions, religious rituals, festivals and public events of all kinds were photographed by them. In time, these photo studios grew into a rich archive of photographic materials of that region or locality, village or town – a virtual repository of images of all the major events and functions, personalities and institutions in that area. In many cases, such images were kept and preserved by photographers, families and institutions in the form of albums or framed pictures, though today most of them are lost or destroyed by the ravages of time

This project, in the first phase, aims to salvage, preserve, document and archive the photographs/negatives that are available with old studios in Kerala. Though many of the old studios have closed shop, there still exist many studios that have migrated successfully into the digital era. There are also instances where some studios and photographers have taken care to store and preserve the old negatives in their custody.

The project also aims to salvage, document and conserve the photographs/negatives in the possession of individuals, families and institutions focusing in a specific administrative area like a ward or a select area of a Panchayat/Municipality.

For full details of the project, joining the research team etc; Colleges, Local Self Governments, Cultural organizations, local history enthusiasts, researchers and students can contact the Principal Investigator of the project by writing to PAMA.

Archaeobiological finds of Pattanam and Berenike sites - a treasure trove of information on nature-man relationship and early exchanges

Archaeo-biological finds hold the key to many questions related to our past, present and future. They are a treasure of information pertaining to varied forms of life in their environmental entirety.

Archaeo-biological finds hold the key to many questions related to our past, present and future. They are a treasure of information pertaining to varied forms of life in their environmental entirety. They can elicit information with regard subsistence and exchanges ranging from hunting-gathering, agricultural practises, food habits, religious practices, shipping, industrial practices etc. It can be prised open only through advanced inter-disciplinary analytical studies.

Painstaking excavations carried out over a number of seasons at Pattanam, on the south-western coast of the Indian sub-continent and at Berinike, the Red Sea Port of Egypt have unearthed a plethora of botanical remains. The archaeobotanical remains of Pattanam included both Indian and non-Indian varieties like black pepper, cardamom, frankincense, rice, pulses, leaves, wood, charcoal, etc. The Berenike site located in an arid region with its better preservation conditions have thrown open a much richer variety of botanical remains. Berenike being the destination port of the vessels from the Malabar Coast, these archaeobotanical remains are critical evidence for understanding the maritime history of this period. It further corroborates with the much lauded written sources that pepper was the mainstay of the spice trade between Kerala region and the Mediterranean.

PAMA envisages to undertake morphological and characterisation studies of archaeo-botanical finds from these two contemporary sites. The studies on the peppercorn finds and other spices unearthed at Berenike using conventional tools and Archaeo-molecular techniques will yield valuable information on the first trans-oceanic connections in human history. DNA analysis using fingerprinting and RAPD marker techniques will hopefully throw light on the pepper and spice varieties traded. It will reveal to us the varieties that were exported from the Malabar region. It will also be of great scientific interest to know if the varieties traded were of the farm origin or semi wild varieties. Comparison with varieties grown today will give us a glimpse into the farming practices in the Malabar region more than 2000 years ago !

For full details of the project, academic collaborations, joining the research team, internships etc; institutions, experts, researchers and students can contact the Principal Investigator of the project by writing to PAMA.