ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN KERALA:

EXPLORATION OF ITS HISTORY

What is Archaeology ?
 ARCHAEOLOGY

• Archaeology is the science of ‘antiquities’ or ‘ancient

remains’
• These include physical or material objects of various kinds
surviving from a vanished culture or civilisation
• Buildings, statues, inscriptions, bridges, houses clothing,
implements, weapons, coins- all have something to tell us
to the cultural and economic levels reached in different
lands and periods.
 DEFINITION

● “THE STUDY OF HUMAN HISTORY AND PRE-HISTORY

THROUGH THE EXCAVATION OF SITES AND THE ANALYSIS
OF ARTIFACTS AND OTHER PHYSICAL REMAINS”
 IMPORTANCE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES

• Archaeological survivals are more reliable than written

records.
• Archaeological evidences are to be interpreted in the
light of written texts
• Archaeological evidences are highly important in the
case of dates and proper names.
 EVOLUTION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SCIENCE

• In the nineteenth century, archaeology helped mankind to

know more about the past of the Oriental world and the Near
East
• Henry Austen Layard brought to light the ruins of Babylonian
and Assyrian cultures
• Flinders Petrie and his contemporaries brought to light tombs
and other ruins and thus started Egyptology
• Heinrich Schliemann unearthed the site of ancient Troy
• Giovanni Battista De Rossi through research discovered
Pompeii, Roman town
• Arthur Evans unearthed Crete, and thus gave way to the
understanding of the ancient Greek culture
 TWENTIETH CENTURY INVESTIGATIONS

• More governmental finance and private interests were

invested in this field in the twentieth century following
the First World War
• Establishment of Universities and museums quickened
this process
• Excavations in Iraq proved more about the Sumerians
and the people lived there
• The developments in the Harappan excavation,
Egyptology and Greek-Roman archaeology enriched
this tool in historical research
ARTHUR EVANS
V. GORDON CHILDE
 ARCHAEOMETRY

• Archaeometry is a field of study that aims to

systematize archaeological measurement. It
emphasizes the application of analytical techniques
from physics, chemistry, and engineering. It is a field of
research that frequently focuses on the definition of the
chemical composition of archaeological remains for
source analysis
 INTERDISCIPLINARY RELEVANCE

• The discipline involves surveys, excavation and

eventually analysis of data collected to learn more
about the past.
• In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-
disciplinary research.
Archaeology in India
•James Burges a trained architect and James
Fergusson, a historian are important people
contributed to the birth of South Indian
archaeology
•The ASI was formed in 1873.
•In 1874, James Fergusson submitted a
memorandum for systematic measures for the
preservation of historical monuments in India
•The ASI was formed in 1881, and James Fergusson
was the first superintendent
• The Archaeological Survey of South India was
founded but not functioned
• In 1879, Robert Sewell of the civil service was
appointed as officer on special duty (with designation
of Superintendent, Archaeological Survey
• His job was to compile the list of monuments &
inscriptions that formed the basis for a detailed survey
• In the history of European archaeology , the
term ‘antiquarianism ’ is usually referred to
discovery, collection & description of
antiquities, or amateur study of artifacts

• The formative phase in the history of

antiquarianism & archaeological research is less
known

• The research was involved the process of

legitimizion of the British rule in India
▪SURVEY0RS

•16th and 17th European travelers’ description of Indian monuments

and architecture .

• The 18th century also saw the first forays in to the historical
geography of ancient India.

•Ancient Greek and Italian accounts , PLINY, PTOLEMY, and the

Periplus of the Erythearean , etc., served as different points for
attempts to identify ancient Indian sites.
❖Reuben Burrow

❖Colin Mackenize

❖Francis Buchanan

❖These people are significant from several perspectives.

❖Apart from this small circle of surveyors, various others also

contributed to the documentation of sites and monuments .
• 16th and 17th c Europe travelers description gave
references to monuments, architecture etc.

•The 18th century also saw the first forays in to the

historical geography of ancient India .

•Ancient Greek, Italian accounts like that of PLINY,

PTOLEMY, The Periplus of Erythrean Sea, etc., served as
reference points for attempts to identify ancient Indian
sites.
•Rennel’s ‘Map of Hindustan’ in 1783,
represented important landmarks.

•The Asiatic Society of Bengal was founded in

1784 by Williaim Jones.

•It encouraged and published results of

historical investigation in a great variety
Early Ancient Writings
•Alexander Davidson’s report on Roman coins at Nellore
discovered in 1788
•Jonathan Duncan’s discovery of Buddhist antiquities
at Saranath
•J. Babington’s –megalith graves at Malabar in 1823
•Captain Robert Young’s megalithic burial monuments
at Ooupulgutt
•The increased momentum of Archaeological investigation
after 1830 was fuelled by advances made in the study of
ancient texts, inscriptions, & coins

•Alexander Cunningham stands in an important phase of

archaeological research in India.

•Thus, it ceased to be the exclusive and part time

preserve of surveyors, antiquarians, adventure and
treasure –hunters
ALEXANDER CUNNINGHAM
•He started job as an engineer and also served military
service. He finally became an archaeologist

•At the end of four season’s work between 1861 - 1865,

Cunningham made good progress.

•He systematically surveyed and documented over 166

sites in various part of north India
•It was the beginning of the description and
documentation of historical sites in India
Johns Marshal
•He was a British archeologist and was the Director
General of the ASI (1902-28)
•During his period, archaeology was placed in a
permanent footing with a well defined policy
•The monuments & sites identified were kept under the
Ancient Monument Preservation ACT 1904.
Mortimer Wheeler
o Specialized in archaeology as a academic subject
o Improved the method of excavation in India
ARCHAEOLOGY IN KERALA
ROBERT BRUCE
FOOTE
• The archaeology of Kerala is still in the primary stage in spite of
good work being carried out in the state in the 19th and 20th
centuries.
• Archaeology has remained a largely a marginalized field in
Kerala.
• The initial archaeological efforts in the region were tied up with
colonial antiquarian interests.
• Much of the later archaeological studies focused on the
identification and excavations of the Megaliths.
• Apart from these, there have only been a handful of
archaeological excavations in Kerala.
•Archaeological studies have been revolving around
megalithic monuments for a long time in Kerala
•This is mainly because the predominant
archaeological relics found in Kerala are the tombs of
the dead scattered all over the state

•But the study of megalith culture is considerably is

mutilated by the total absence of settlement sites in
Kerala
JOHN BABINGTON
John Babington
•His work got commendation due to the fact that it was
first published work on megalith on Indian culture
•He excavated few ‘kodey kull’ found on hill of the
Chathaparamb
•It was published in 1823 as ‘Description of the Pandoo
Coolies in Malabar’ in the Transaction of the Literary
Society of Bombay
 BABINGTON’S CONTRIBUTIONS
● A BRITISH ADMINISTRATOR
● “LIKE THE PANDOOLIES ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE
GHAUTS”
● FIRST PUBLISHED WORK ON INDIAN MEGALITHICS
● EXCAVATION IN NOVEMBER 1819
● “DESCRIPTION OF THE PANDOO COOLIES IN MALABAR”
● ANOTHER IMPORTANT BURIAL SITES IN “PANDIANGADI”
AND “NEERKKAPARAMBU”
● “THE SERIES OF INTERESTING ANTIQURIAN REMAINS OF
THIS COAST” (1823)
 ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPARTMENTS IN KERALA:
HISTORY
• Extensive studies into the archaeological heritage of Kerala commenced
during the Colonial Era.
• The first of the same were conducted by Babington on stone monuments in
Malabar.
• In 1881 Robert Sewell was appointed to prepare a list of antiquarian remains
in the Madras Province.
• He did exhaustive surveys in Chirakkal, Kottaya, Wayanadu, Kurumbranadu,
Kozhikode, Eranadu, Valuvanadu, Ponnani, Palakkadu (Malabar), Kochi and
Travancore.
• In 1882, he published a list of the Antiquarian Remains in the Presidency of
Madras.
• William Logan’s Malabar contains a detailed accounts of the socio-political
history and statistics of each district.
• One of the milestone in Kerala’s archaeological history was
the discover of the ancient inscriptions on Edakkal caves by
Fred Fawcett in 1894.
• The inferences of E Hulsh, who studied the documents and
inscriptions during the reign of Chera Peruman Bhaskara
Ravi Varman, also threw a light upon the study of
epigraphy.
• It was in this background the Archaeological Departments
were formed in Travancore and Cochin.
 KERALA SOCIETY PAPERS

• Charles William Egerton Colton was the founder and first

president of the Kerala Society.
• In 1923 he became British Resident in Travancore.
• It was founded at Travancore in 1927.
• It was formed as per the model of Royal Asiatic Society.
• Its journals was called Kerala Society Papers.
• It published 11 series between 1928-1933 in 2 volumes.
• They published original documents, research articles connected
with Travancore, Cochin & Malabar.
• Its secretary was TK Joseph
 ARCHAEOLOGY DEPARTMENT IN TRAVANCORE

• The genesis of the Department of Archaeology in the

erstwhile Travancore State may be traced back to
December 1891.
• The then ruling sovereign, Sri Mulam Thirunnal Rama Varma
(1885-1924), sanctioned a monthly grant of Rs.50/- for a year
to Sri Sundaran Pillai (Prof. of Philosophy, HH Maharajas), for
the maintenance of an establishment engaged in the study
and interpretation of inscriptions.
• No permanent arrangement was made until 1071 ME.
• In the same year, a committee was Formed to advise the Govt.
on the methods of maintenance and preservation of historical
sites in Travancore.
• The Committee prepared a list of monuments.
• In 1910 an attempt was made to publish the result of
archaeological studies in the Travancore Archaeological Series.
• Following Prof. Sundaran Pillai, KV Subramaniam Iyer & AS
Ramanatha Iyer were appointed as Superintendent of the
Department of Archaeology.
• In 1937, The Archaeology Protection Law came into effect in
Travancore.
• Prof. Sundaram Pillai assisted by Sri Ganesha Pillai were the
pioneers in Archaeological Research and Sri Thurayur
Gopinatha Rao was the first Superintendent of the
Archaelogical Department.
 KERALA HISTORY ASSOCIATION
• The Kerala History Association was started in May 1965 according
to the Tiru-Kochi Literary Scientific & Charitable Society Act.
• PS Velayudhan presided over the association for a long
term(1965-87).
• Keraliya Itihasa Samiti existed before the formation of the
association.
• It was founded by Komattil Achutha Menon & Sri Mukunda Raja.
• CP Ramaswami Iyer & KM Munshi were the guardians of the
Samiti.
• It conducted an All Kerala History Conference at Trissur
which was inaugurated by CP Ramaswami Iyer.
• In 1956, it was renamed as Kerala History Association.
 RAMAVARMA RESEARCH BULLETIN
• The idea of establishing a Research Institute was born in
September 1920.
• The idea materialized during the Diwanship of P Narayana
Menon in January 1925.
• The aim was to start a consulting Research Library of rare
books.
• The government formed a small committee to draw up a
scheme for providing facilities for research work.
• According to the government plan, the work was to collect books, journals,
articles, unpublished manuscripts on the history of South India in general and
Kerala in particular.
• An annual grant of Rs.2000/- was made available for the committee to work
out the scheme.
• In 1944, at the inspiration of Diwan George T Boag an advisory committee
was set up with a view to bring close connection between the Institute and
the Department of Archaeology
• The first Bulletin was published in 1930 and altogether 15 volumes were
published. The last was in 1948.
• Other Publications:
• “The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology”, LV Ramaswami Iyer
• “Folk Plays and Dances of Kerala”, MD Raghavan.
• Bulletins were republished by Sahitya Academy.
 TERMINOLOGY

● LABELD THE MEGALITHICS SITES AS “PANDOO

COOLIES”
● IT MEANS ANCIENT PITS OR THE PITS OF THE DEAD
PEOPLE
● IT KNOWN AS “MANDAVAR KUZHI”
● HE DISCUSS TWO UNIQUE BURIAL TYPES IN KERALA
“UMBRELLA STONES” AND “HAT STONES”
 BURIAL TRADITION

● BURIAL SYSTEM
● CONNECTION WITH NATIVES
•The Kerala State Department of Archaeology evolved
with the integration of the dept. of the archaeology in the
state of Cochin , Travancore and the Malabar district
•Efforts were started in 1891 at Thiruvithamcore and in
Kochi in 1925
•In 1956, the Kerala State Archeology Department was
formed
•A few researches have explored the lower Periyar basin in
search of early historic settlements, particularly to locate the
port of Muziris
•The evidence from Pattanam clearly demonstrate that it was
an early historic urban settlements with overseas trade
contact
•Pattanam finds are significant in providing the first evidence
for imported Roman pottery identified from Kerala .

The presence of roman amphora clearly demonstrates

overseas contact with the site
•Excavation at Kodugallure area at the site of
Cheramanparambu was started by Anujan Achan in 1946.

•They planned to start excavation and the establishment of

a museum also.

•In 2004, trial excavation were conducted at Pattanam by

the Center for Heritage Studies
പാലിയത്ത് നിന്ന് മറ്റാരു ചരിത്രം

1899ല്‍ ക ൊച്ചിയികെ പ്രസിദ്ധമൊയ രൊെിയത്ത്

തറവൊട്ടിെൊയിരുന്നു അച്ചന്കറ ജനനം. മൊതൊവ് ക ൊച്ചുരിള്ള
ുഞ്ഞമ്മ. രിതൊവ് ചൊെക്കുടി മമക്കൊട്ട് ഈശൊനന് നമ്പൂതിരി.
മ രളത്തിെൊയിരുന്നു സ്‌ക്കൂള് ര~നം. ഇമപൊഴകത്ത ആപ്രയികെ
മദനപള്ളിയില്‍‍‍ഇന്റര്‍‍മീഡിയറ്റ്. ല്‍ക്കത്തയികെ
ശൊന്തിനിമ തനിെൊയിരുന്നു ബിരുദരഠനം.
ആദ്യ ആര്‍ക്കിയയാളജിസ്റ്റ്; ആദ്യ ഉത്ഖനനം

ബിരുദരഠനത്തിനു മശഷം രുകനയികെ ഭണ്ഡൊര് ര്‍‍ഓറിയന്റല്‍

റിസര്ച്ച് ഇന്റിറ്റിയൂട്ടില് മജൊെി കചയ്തു ക ൊണ്ടിരിക്കുമമ്പൊഴൊണ്
അച്ചകന മതടി മ രളത്തില്‍ നിന്നുള്ള ക്ഷണം വരുന്നത്. ക ൊച്ചി
സംസ്ഥൊനകത്ത ആദയ ആര്ക്കിമയൊളജിറ് ആവൊനൊയിരുന്നു ക്ഷണം.
തിരുവിതൊം ൂറികന അമരക്ഷിച്ച് മുന് ക ൊച്ചി സംസ്ഥൊനത്ത്
രുരൊവസ്‌തു രരയമവഷണ പ്രവര്ത്തനങ്ങള് ൊരയമൊയി
നടന്നിരുന്നിെല. 1924ല്‍ സര്ക്കൊര് അച്ചകന ആര്ക്കിമയൊളജിറ് ആയി
നിയമിച്ചമതൊകടയൊണ് ഇതിന്കറ ആരംഭം.
1926 ുംഭം ഒന്നിനൊണ് ക ൊച്ചി സംസ്ഥൊനകത്ത സ്‌മറ്ററ്റ്
ആര്ക്കിമയൊളജിറ് ആയി അനുജന് അച്ചന്
നിയമിതനൊവുന്നത്.1949ല്‍ ഈ സ്ഥൊരനം തിരുവിതൊം ൂര്
ആര്ക്കിമയൊളജി ഡിപൊര്ട്ട്കമന്റില്‍ െയിച്ചു. 1956ഇല്‍ മ രള
സ്‌മറ്ററ്റ് ആര്ക്കിമയൊളജി ഡിപൊര്ട്ട്കമന്് രൂരീ ൃതമൊയി. അങ്ങകന
മ രളത്തിന്കറ പ്രഥമ ആര്ക്കിമയൊളജിക്കല് ഡയറക്ടറൊയി,
രൊെിയത്ത് അനുജനച്ചന്‍.
യചരമാന്‍ പറമ്പിറ്ല ഉത്ഖനനം

ഇന്തയയികെ മറ്റു സംസ്ഥൊനങ്ങളികെമപൊകെ മ രളത്തില്‍ അധി ം

ശൊസ്‌പ്തീയ ഉത്ഖനനങ്ങള് നടന്നിരുന്നിെല. നടന്നവയുകട തകന്ന രൂര്ണമൊയ
റിമപൊര്ട്ടു ളും െഭയമൊയിരുന്നിെല. മ രളസംസ്ഥൊനം രൂരകപടുന്നതിന്
മുമ്പ അനുജന് അച്ചന് ക ൊടുങ്ങെലൂരിനടുത്തുള്ള മചരമൊന് രറമ്പില്‍
നടത്തിയ ഉത്ഖനനമൊണ് മ രളത്തില്‍ ചരിപ്ത ൊെഘട്ടത്തികെ ഒരു
രുരൊവസ്‌തു സമേതത്തില്‍ നടത്തിയ ആദയകത്ത ശൊസ്‌പ്തീയ ഉത്ഖനനം.
1927ല്‍ ആയിരുന്നു ഇത്. അതുവകര മ രളത്തികെ ഗമവഷണങ്ങള്
ശിെൊഫെ ങ്ങളില്‍ മൊപ്തം ഒതുങ്ങി നില്‍ക്കു യൊയിരുന്നു.
മചരരൊജൊവിന്കറ തെസ്ഥൊനവും മറൊമന്പ്ഗീക്ക് പ്ഗന്ഥങ്ങളില്‍
രരൊമര്ശിച്ചിരിക്കുന്ന മുസിരിസിന്കറ കതളിവും കണ്ടത്തു യൊയിരുന്നു
ഈ ശൊസ്‌പ്തീയ ഉത്ഖനനത്തിന്കറ പ്രധൊന െക്ഷയം. മചരമൊന്
കരരുമൊളിന്കറ ക ൊട്ടൊരം ഇരുന്ന സ്ഥെമൊണിത് എന്ന്
വിശവസിക്കകപടുന്നു.
PARAMBATHUKAVU, VENDALLUR,
IRIMPILIYAM
THANKS…