インドの水中考古学　まとめ

インドの海岸線は７５００ｋｍあり、その大部分がまだ考古学遺跡の発掘のためのサーヴェイなどがおこなわれていません。インドの水中考古学が始まったのは1980年代からで、諸外国に比べて20年送れての始まりでした。

1981年にTamil NaduのKaveripatnamで発見されたSangam時代の水没遺跡、その後のベンガル湾でのプロジェクトなどが始めでした。近年ではDwarkaの水没都市とローマの沈没船など。また、Mahabalipuram（これもTamil　Nadu）の水没神殿跡なども有名なプロジェクトです。

また、沈没船、湖や川沿いの旧石器時代の遺跡などさまざま発見・発掘されています。開発が進む中、これらの遺跡を守る必要があります。そのため、インド政府関係機関はこれから5年間で水中考古学を専門とする研究者を100人にまで増やす予定だそうです。

The sea, it is said, hides its secrets well. Over centuries, it has concealed sunken cities as well as wrecks of many ships in its depths. No wonder then, that archaeologists believe that there are more historical secrets lying underwater than on surface. Especially, in a country like ours.

“India has a 7,500 km long coastline and a maritime heritage that is over 5,000 years old. Most of the country’s waters are unexplored and have the potential of containing rich archaeological treasures that can help solve many mysteries of the past,” says Alok Tripathi of the Underwater Archaeology Wing of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Till now, however, marine or underwater archaeology hasn’t really taken off in India. ”Marine archaeological excavations in India started only in the early 1980s, though the world over, they started in the 1960s,” says K H Vora, scientist in the marine archaeology division of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa.

Agrees Tripathi, ”The beginning of this stream of archaeology in India can be traced to excavations at Kaveripatnam in Tamil Nadu in 1981, where the submerged remains of a city of the Sangam era were found. This was followed by the offshore survey of an ancient submerged port that was undertaken in the Bay of Bengal in the same year.”

DWARKA EXCAVATION
Since then, underwater archaeological excavations have mostly been done on the eastern and western coasts of India, as well as around the islands near the coasts. The most talked about excavation has been the one at Dwarka, off the Gujarat coast. ”While underwater excavations have been continuing here since 1983 and regular claims have been made of it being the site of Krishna’s capital city, mentioned in the Mahabharata, fresh excavations this year in the intertidal zone and underwater locations here have revealed new evidence which will help determine the actual antiquity of the site,” says Tripathi.

Apart from Dwarka, the island of Bet Dwarka in the Gulf of Kutch has also yielded significant clues to underwater archaeologists. Findings here have included inscriptions and pottery dating to the late Harappan period. There is also an indication of a shipwreck of the Roman period in Bet Dwarka waters, says Vora. This could suggest that there was maritime trade contact between India and the Roman world in ancient times, he says.

Locating a shipwreck helps in better reconstruction of a bygone era, agrees Tripathi. ”Since a ship usually goes down with its cargo as well as other on-board material, it’s possible to learn a lot about those times from items excavated here,” he says. Recently, ASI in collaboration with the Indian Navy carried out excavations of an 18th century shipwreck Princes Royal, found off Bangaram Island, near Lakshadweep.

The antiquities retrieved from this wooden hull European ship, that presumably sank after hitting a coral reef, included iron cannons, glazed pottery as well as copper objects. ”What made this excavation remarkable was that archaeologists dived to 60 m, making it the deepest archaeological excavation conducted so far in the country,” says Tripathi.

SEVEN TEMPLES

Another significant discovery has been at Mahabalipuram. For years, this ancient port town, off the Tamil Nadu coast was known to sailors as the town of seven temples. Present day Mahabalipuram, however, has only one shore temple. The popular belief is that there were six more temples here, which later got submerged. Excavations by NIO in 2002 revealed some amount of truth in these tales. According to Vora, underwater investigations showed the presence of the remains of walls as well as large stone blocks, which seemed to correspond to the time period of the surviving shore temple. Excavations carried out by ASI in 2005 also revealed the remains of two structural temples, found near the shore temple. ”These findings provide prima facie evidence about what was earlier regarded as merely folklore,” says Vora.

Folklore and legends in fact, have the potential to provide many clues which help in underwater archaeology, a field whose scope, incidentally, is not merely limited to the sea, but extends beneath all water bodies.

”Our country has thousands of lakes and other water bodies. For centuries, people have been living near them. For instance, it is believed that Neolithic man lived around the lakes in the Himalayas. Excavations under these lakes can yield evidence which can give clues about how these people lived. Also, there are countless water tanks inside ancient temples, which are rich exploring grounds for offerings given by devotees, which can help reconstruct religious practices of earlier times,” says Tripathi.

In addition, there are thousands of shipwrecks lying in Indian waters. Although no systematic study has been made of the number of shipwrecks in India, the dream of every underwater archaeologist in India, says Tripathi, is to locate a Bronze Age ship, which can provide vital clues to maritime activity during the Harappan period.

With so much of heritage lying underwater, there is a demand for trained underwater archaeologists. ASI plans to have at least 100 such specialist archaeologists within the next five years. Adds Vora, ”Since industrial expansion is taking a toll on coastal areas, marine archaeological excavations have to be done fast in order to salvage antiquities before they are destroyed forever.”

Clearly, for those who would like to dip into the past, a vast expanse of the country’s sunken cultural heritage still lies waiting to be explored.

引用元：http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Deep_Focus/Silent_secrets_of_the_sea/articleshow/2351376.cms