Thiruvananthapuram:
Recent archaeological excavations at Pattanam in central Kerala have yielded shards of Spanish amphorae (earthen wine jars), throwing further light into the maritime link of the Kerala coast with the Roman empire dating to first century BC.
An expert from the British Museum, who analysed the shards, said it could have come from Catalonia province in Spain, indicating that the ancient port town of Muziris (now Kodungallur in Thrissur district) had maritime links with entire Mediterranean regions of the Roman Empire.
This was the first time that shards of Spanish amphorae were being discovered from any site in India, Roebrta Tomber, an expert on Roman pottery from British Museum, told a press meet here on Monday along with Prof P J Cherian, Director of Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR).
Most Roman amphorae found at Pattanam as well as Arikamedu on the Coramandel coast were of South Italian origin, going by the material used for making them, Tomber said.
The new type of wine amphora found at Pattanam came from Catalonia province, the region around Barcelona in Spain.
They had a distinctive collared rim, grooved handle and solid base. Another type was a jar for fish sauce, made in similar way for keeping fish sauces produced in South East Asia today. Both belonged to the period when Pattanam was commercially very active in the 1st century BC and 1st century AD, she said.