Arikamedu – Indo-Roman Harbour of Podouke
Podouke harbour · Arikamedu emporium
Early Historic Iron Age to Medieval (c. 200 BCE – 1000 CE)·Tamil / Indo-Roman·🇮🇳 Puducherry, Ariyankuppam, India
About
About Arikamedu – Indo-Roman Harbour of Podouke
Arikamedu at the Ariyankuppam river mouth, Podouke of Periplus 60, preserves a 2nd c. BCE brick warehouse complex with groundwater quay now 2 m above floodplain but former estuary bank at 0 m, and a northern harbour basin silted under paddy with Rouletted ware and amphora kiln wasters. Wheeler–Casou–Begley excavations (1941–1992) mapped brick warehouses with teak tie-beams, terra sigillata, Tiberian coin hoard sealing harbour, and a 45 m-long brick quay wall with mooring holes at 1.5 m above mean sea but originally tidal. Ariyankuppam progradation 1.5 km since Roman era silted estuary; the brick quay's silt cover 1.5 m anchors Pondicherry sea-level.
Why it mattersType-site for Indo-Roman Rouletted ware and bead trade; quay stratigraphy anchors Tamil–Rome bridge and estuary progradation.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether warehouses served bead factory or customs house
- 02Chronology of Rouletted ware peak vs. quay build
Theories
- 01Harbour moved to Silted northern basin after 300 CE when estuary mouth closed
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 200 BCE (warehouses); brick quay 1st c. CE
- Period
- Early Historic Iron Age to Medieval (c. 200 BCE – 1000 CE)
- Culture
- Tamil / Indo-Roman
- Purpose
- Indo-Roman emporium – beads, muslin, Rouletted ware to Rome
- Abandoned
- c. 1000 CE (Ariyankuppam silt and Chola shift to Nagapattinam)
- Rediscovered
- 1937 Jouveau-Dubreuil; 1941 Wheeler; 1989 Begley harbour trench
- Excavation
- Buried
c. 200 BCE
Arikamedu brick warehouses built on estuary bank
60 CE
Periplus records Podouke; Tiberian coins seal harbour
1941
Wheeler excavates brick quay wall
On the ground
Structures & features
11.9008° N · 79.8203° E · 2 m · 3 mapped features
Brick Warehouse Complex
structure100×80 m brick warehouses with teak beams – bead factory at Arikamedu – Indo-Roman Harbour of Podouke
11.9010° N · 79.8210° EBrick Quay Wall
quay45 m brick quay wall with mooring holes at 1.5 m at Arikamedu – Indo-Roman Harbour of Podouke
11.9000° N · 79.8200° ENorthern Silted Basin
harbourSilted northern harbour basin under paddy – Rouletted ware horizon at Arikamedu – Indo-Roman Harbour of Podouke
11.9020° N · 79.8190° E
Gallery