Vision: To continuously improve knowledge of our Submerged cultural heritage and to disseminate the same to the society. |
Team Members:
Sundaresh
Tripati, S.
Gaur, A.S.
Bandodker, S.N.
|
Objectives:
- To explore and excavate shipwrecks and submerged
ports.
- To apply geophysical survey techniques for target search in Marine Archaeology.
- To infer ancient shoreline and sea level
changes from Marine Archaeological data.
- Reconstruction of Maritime History and Cultural
Interactions of Ancient India.
- Study of traditional boatbuilding and navigational
techniques of Indian Ocean Countries.
- To disseminate the knowledge gained to stakeholders
General Description:
India's contribution to the ancient maritime
tradition of the world, in terms of development
of harbour engineering, shipbuilding technology,
trade and commerce is very significant. It is
an established fact that seafaring in India is
as old as its civilization (about 5000 years)
as was discovered by R. D. Banerjee in the valleys
of Indus and Saraswati when Sir John Marshall
was the Director General of Archaeological Survey
of India. This discovery led to belief that the
Indus civilization had overseas trade relations
with its contemporary civilizations such as Mesopotamia
and Egypt during the third millennium BC.
Marine archaeological investigations around
the world have revealed that several ancient settlements
were submerged in the sea, perhaps due to sea
level fluctuation, coastal erosion and tectonic
disturbance.
Marine archaeological studies started in India
in the year 1981. A team consisting of archaeologists
and oceanographers joined hands in exploratory
work related to ancient submerged settlements
and shipwrecks, using state-of-the-art equipment.
So far, Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, Somnath, Porbandar,
Vijaydurg, Sindhudurg, Goa, Lakshadweep, Poompuhar
and Mahabalipuram have been investigated along
the Indian coast. Extensive onshore explorations
have been carried out at several port sites to
trace evidences of archaeological importance.
Scientific Achievements:
For convenience, the information has been grouped as follows:
- Gujarat
(incorporating Dwarka, Bet Dwarka, Somnath,
Porbandar etc.)
- Maharashtra
(incorporating Vijaydurg and Sindhudurg)
- Goa
- Lakshadweep
- Tamil Nadu
(Poompuhar and Mahabalipuram)
- Onshore
|
