Exploring the effects of sea level change on an ancient port city through archaeological discoveries-Poompuhar

Abstract

India with its 5000 years history of maritime activity and 6000 km coast has played a major role in commerce and cultural interaction between the East and West. During historical period India had trade and cultural contacts with Egypt, Rome, Greeks, Arabs, China and all most all Southeast Asian countries. The same maritime traditions continued even during the Buddha, the Mauryas, and the Gupta and in later periods. Human settlement depends on the stability of the coast city. The coastline is one of the reason for the development of human civilization. Through this coastline the civilization is transferred from one place to another. There are many indirect references which suggest that the shifting of shoreline was one of the major threats to habitation. Reference in the Literature like Mahabharata and Manimegalai clearly mentioned the migration of shoreline and associated effects, which has an impact on the human settlement.This paper deals with the archaeological evidences of shoreline shift on east coast of India by collecting the underwater data and to find out the submerged extension of the ancient town of kaveripoompattinam and how much it was swallowed by the sea. Onshore exploration in poompuhar and surrounding sites, particularly in vanagiri were conducted as an evidence many archaeological remains exist all along its coast. Offshore exploration is also conducted and the old coastline is found which indicates clearly the shoreline shift.