See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/343524239

Detection of submerged harbour using GEBCO and MBES data, in the offshore
region of ancient port city Poompuhar, South India

Article  in  Current Science · August 2020

DOI: 10.18520/cs/v119/i3/526-534

CITATION READS

1 781

5 authors, including:

SM. Ramasamy J. Saravanavel

Bharathidasan University Bharathidasan University
266 PUBLICATIONS   1,160 CITATIONS    74 PUBLICATIONS   191 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Palanivel Kathiresan C. J. Kumanan

Bharathidasan University Bharathidasan University
103 PUBLICATIONS   107 CITATIONS    99 PUBLICATIONS   292 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Volcanoes of Western Victoria View project

B.Tech Project View project

All content following this page was uploaded by SM. Ramasamy on 08 August 2020.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Detection of submerged harbour using

GEBCO and MBES data, in the offshore
region of ancient port city Poompuhar,
South India
SM. Ramasamy1,*, J. Saravanavel1, K. Palanivel1, C. J. Kumanan1 and
D. Rajasekhar2
1
Department of Remote Sensing, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli 620 023, India
2
National Institute of Ocean Technology, Velacherry–Tambaram Main Road, Pallikaranai, Chennai 600 100, India

ing to the Tamil Sangam literature (300 BC–AD 300), this

Similar to several ancient coastal/port cities of the
world, the Indian subcontinent too had a number of flourishing port city of Poompuhar, having trade links
them. The Poompuhar is one such port city estab- with several far-flung countries, was established around
lished at the mouth of river Cauvery by the Chola 2000 years ago by the Chola Dynasty (D, Figure 1) at the
dynasty 2000 years ago according to the literature and mouth of River Cauvery along the east coast of Tamil
history. However, while later archaeological studies Nadu, India12,13. However, around AD 1000 it seems to
indicate its spread 20 km along the coast and up to have suddenly vanished from the maritime history of the
8 km inside the Bay of Bengal sea, the recent studies world.
indicated its initial establishment over one of the Exhaustive narrations on Poompuhar have been made
Cauvery’s oldest deltas of 11,000–15,000-year-old at in the Sangam literature – Purananuru, Agananuru,
30 km inside sea and the later shift to the present loca- Natrinai, Cilappathikaram, Manimaghalai and Pattinap-
tion. Now, the GEBCO-2019 and MBES based present
palai13–15. According to Pattinappalai, Poompuhar was a
study revealed the presence of a harbour and related
structures in the above delta, resembling 6000–2000- well-planned city with buildings of divergent architec-
year-old harbours of the world and the knowledge of ture, reflecting different culture and civilization; social
the people in construction technology and marine en- clusters of nativity and also hybrid culture due to inter-
vironment. continental trade links. Detailed archaeological explora-
tions have been carried out on both land and sea16–19,
which revealed that Poompuhar has extended 20 km from
Keywords: Ancient port city, offshore region, seabed
Kadaikadu in the north to Tarangambadi in the south
topography, submerged harbour.
along the coast and 3–4 km in the landward side in the
west (Figure 1).
ALL over the world, there are many ancient coastal cities
In the seaward side, Poompuhar has extended up to
with palatial establishments related to the past kingdoms,
8–25 m water depth and 8 km from the present coast in
civilizations and maritime histories. Significant among
the Bay of Bengal. The scattered remains found during
them, to cite a few, are Baiae, Italy1; Pavlopetri, Egypt2;
these explorations were wharves in Melaiyur, Buddha
Pisa, Tuscany, Italy3; Thonis–Heracleion, Egypt4; Alex-
Vihara in Melapperumpallam, wharf in Keezhaiyur, water
andria, Egypt5,6; Atlit-Yam, Israel7; Phanagoria, Russia8
outlet in Vanagiri, brick structures parallel to the coast,
and Shicheng, China9. These cities, established during
cairn circles, terracotta wells, Yavanar Irukkai (resi-
1000–8000 years BP, have been the vacation homes for
dences of foreigners), settlements of the business com-
the rich and the ancient harbours, and some were well
munity and urn burials in the present-day land region16–19;
planned with buildings and roads and also webbed with
whereas Suryakundam, Somakundam and U-shaped
wharves, etc. Owing to the over 7500 km long coastline
structure were located at a depth of 8–25 m in the sea
both in its east and west, the Indian subcontinent too was
(Figure 1 d)16–20.
bestowed with a number of ancient ports and coastal
Except these, no major structures or remains of Poom-
cities. Among these, 4000–5000-years-old Dwarka10 on
puhar have been located so far either on land or in the
the west coast and 2000-years-old Poompuhar11 on the
Bay of Bengal. Recent studies carried out using the ocean
east coast of India have remained the leading coastal
bathymetry data derived from GEBCO (General Bathy-
cities of mythological and maritime importance. Accord-
metric Chart of the Oceans) data and the past sea levels
have indicated that the shoreline of 20,000 years BP was
*For correspondence. (e-mail: smrsamy@gmail.com) 25–30 km east of the present-day Poompuhar coast
526 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020
 RESEARCH ARTICLES

Figure 1. Study area and background details of Poompuhar, Tamil Nadu, India. a, b, Key maps. c, Land region of Poompuhar shown
over IRS LISS IV FCC satellite imagery. d, Off-shore region shown over the bathymetry contours and digital elevation model (DEM)
derived from GEBCO-2019 data (modified after Ramasamy et al. 2017). (P) old courses of River Cauvery: (1) Melaiyur wharf, (2) Buddha
Vihara, (3) Keezhaiyur wharf, (4) Vanagiri water outlet, (5) Surya kundam, (6) Somakundam, (7) U-shaped structure. A–C, submerged
lobate deltas of River Cauvery where the ancient port city Poompuhar I, II and III might have been located respectively; D, Present loca-
tion of Poompuhar: Past shorelines during (8) 20,000 years BP at 125 m depth, (9) 15,000 years BP at 110 m depth, (10) 11,000 years BP at
50 m depth, (11) 9000 years BP at 25 m depth, (12) 8000 years BP at 20 m depth and (13) 7000 years BP at 5 m depth. E, Area studied using
GEBCO-2019-based bathymetry data. F, Area studied using multibeam echo sounder (MBES)-based bathymetry data.

(8, Figure 1 d)21. River Cauvery flowed over this land and studied. The IRS FCC data were used to study the west-
developed two major lobate deltas (A and B, Figure 1 d) ern land part of the Poompuhar region (Figure 1 c). The
25–30 km from the present coast. Over the oldest delta A, GEBCO 2019 data which provided seabed elevations
Poompuhar-I might have been established around with a spatial resolution of 500 m × 500 m were down-
11,000–15,000 years BP. Later, it would have shifted in loaded from its website (https://www.gebco.net), and
four phases to the present location at the mouth of the DEM and seabed topographic contours of 5 m intervals
Cauvery (D, Figure 1 d) due to continuous sea-level rise were generated using ArcGIS (Figure 1 d). From this, the
from 120 to 5 m below msl during 20,000–7000 years BP, study block of 1200 sq. km (40 × 30 km)/4800 pixels,
as observed from the past shorelines (8–13, Figure 1 d) covering the present coast in the west and delta-A in the
between these periods21,22. In continuation with these east was selected (E, Figure 1), for a regional perspective
observations, the present study was carried out to explore of the seabed topography.
the possibilities of submerged structures, if any, between (ii) In step 2, the high-resolution MBES data were stu-
the present coast and delta-A using GEBCO digital eleva- died for an area of 300 sq km in delta-A/Poompuhar-I
tion model (DEM) and the digitally processed multi-beam region (F, Figure 1) to explore submerged structures, if
echo sounder (MBES) data (Figure 1). This article de- any. The MBES data that provide seabed elevations,
scribes the detection of a few structures related to Poom- acquired by the National Institute of Ocean Technology,
puhar at the depth of 70–80 m under the sea in the delta Chennai, with a scan-line interval of 400 m in the N–S
A region. direction were collected. They were rasterized to 115,200
pixels of size 50 m × 50 m for the study area of
300 sq. km. Then the elevations were noted down for
Methodology each pixel, and DEM and seabed topographic contours of
1 m interval were generated for the delta-A region using
The methodology involved four sequential steps. ArcGIS (Figure 2). From the MBES–DEM data and
(i) In the first step, the IRS LISS-IV FCC (Indian the contours, four anomalies indicating the probable
Remote Sensing Satellite – Linear Self Scanning System – seabed structures in the delta-A region were located
False Colour Composite) and the GEBCO data were (Figure 2).
CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020 527
RESEARCH ARTICLES

Figure 2. MBES data image. Showing the anomalies (1–4) amidst the seabed contours of delta-A
region, 25–30 km inside the Bay of Bengal.

(iii) In step 3, the raster GIS-based seabed topography available with ArcGIS (Figure 2). Similarly, to prepare
of the delta-A region (F, Figure 1) derived from MBES the shaded relief images from MBES–DEM data, the
data having 115,200 pixels was subjected to various digi- ArcGIS 3D analyst module was used which flashed a
tal image processing techniques after linearly stretching light source from two different elevations and azimuths
the elevation data of these pixels from 0 to 255 using the over the DEM. This in turn generated shadows in the
algorithm for stretching the satellite multispectral remote DEM depending upon the elevation of the seabed topo-
sensing data23. The image processing techniques used graphy, which exaggerated the relief of the seabed aiding
were convolution high-pass filtering 7 × 7, Sobel edge better interpretation of features (Figure 4 c).
detection and texture-based entropy filtering (Figure 3 c– Finally all these observed from step-1 to 4 were inte-
e) of the ENVI image processing software23. These grated together to elucidate the anomalies and identify
processed images revealed anomalies in four locations whether they reflect any structures related to Poompuhar-
(1–4, Figure 3 a and b) in the seabed, coinciding with 1 in the delta-A region.
those detected in the MBES contours shown in Figure 2.
(iv) In step 4, the anomalies detected from the MBES–
DEM data/contours and the digitally processed outputs Observations
were further studied individually in detail by analysing
the contour patterns (Figures 4 b and 5 b, e, h), shaded re- GEBCO data and delta-C/Poompuhar-III
lief images (Figure 4 c) and colour-coded DEM (Figure
4 d). The topographic profiles were also drawn across The GEBCO-2019-based seabed topography of the region
these anomalies to study their morphologies with special and DEM generated from there reveal one more sub-
reference to the relief variations (Figures 4 e, f, h and 5 d, merged delta of River Cauvery (C, Figure 1 d) at 30 m
g and j). In colour coding, various shades of colours were below msl, in addition to the already inferred delta-B at
assigned to different elevations of DEM using the options 30–60 m and delta-A at 55–80 m below msl21 (Figure 1).
528 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020
 RESEARCH ARTICLES

Figure 3. Colour-coded DEM and digitally processed images of MBES data. a, Colour-coded MBES–DEM of seabed
topography of delta-A region: P, Continental shelf; Q, Continental slope; 1–4, Anomalies seen in seabed topography in
colour-coded MBES–DEM data. b, Enlarged colour-coded MBES–DEM data of seabed topography showing the anoma-
lies 1–4. c, Convolution high-pass filtered 7 × 7 image. d, Sobel edge detector image. e, Texture-based entropy-filtered
image.

Earlier studies have observed that Poompuhar-I and II slope (P and Q, Figure 3). Despite noise in the data in
might have been established in delta-A and B respecti- the form of N–S parallel lines caused due to scanning
vely21. In the context of the present inference, Poompuhar of the echo sounder, the MBES–DEM data and the
III might have been established/reassembled in delta-C, contours show discrete anomalies in four locations in the
when delta-B was submerged due to the rise in sea level. delta-A region (1–4, Figures 2, 3 a and 4 a). Among
Features like Suryakundam, Somakundam and U-shaped these, anomaly no. 1 was observed to show contours with
structures earlier reported to be scattered are now seen to grid pattern, anomaly no. 2 was seen to be a NW–SE-
fall in the delta-C region (Figure 1 d), which indicates oriented, wavy elevated feature, anomaly no. 3 showed
that this might have been the third location of the reset- E–W sharp linear elevated feature and anomaly no. 4
tled/reassembled Poompuhar-III. In addition, the regional displayed a wavy NW–SE feature with positive relief
GEBCO–DEM and the contours have shown two sub- (Figure 2).
parallel and curvilinear ridges in the northeast–southwest These anomalies (1–4, Figure 2) were explicitly seen in
to east–west directions (5 and 6, Figure 6). various digitally processed data (Figure 3 c–e). These
anomalies were further studied in detail individually to
decipher whether they were related to any structures of
MBES data and other seabed structures the submerged ancient port city of Poompuhar.

The enlarged colour-coded MBES DEM data and Anomaly no. 1: Amidst the otherwise corrugated con-
contours generated on the seabed topography of the tours (Figures 2 and 4 b), there observed grided contours
delta-A region show flat topography of the continental with squarish, north–south rectangular and trapezohe-
shelf and low easterly gradient of the continental dronic shapes of varying dimensions in the shaded relief

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020 529

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Figure 4. Anomaly no 1. a, Key map: colour-coded MBES–DEM data of seabed topography of delta-A area in the off-
shore region of Poompuhar. 1–4. b, Anomalous contour pattern of anomaly no. 1. c, Shaded relief image of anomaly no. 1.
d, Colour-coded MBES–DEM data of anomaly 1. e, North–south structure deduced from a–d. f–h, Topographic profiles
C1–C3 drawn across the north–south structure shown in e: (5–8) north–south-oriented linear depressions; (9–11) interven-
ing elevated flat topography, (12) east–west depressions and (13) northwest–southeast depressions.

map (Figure 4 c) and colour-coded DEM (Figure 4 d) of north–south depressions (12 and 13, Figure 4 e). While
MBES data. The overall assembly of these grids stands these depressions were 180–250 m wide and 4–7 m deep,
out as an anomaly amidst the corrugated contours and the intervening flats were 500–2000 m wide and 5–12
hence is marked as anomaly no. 1 (1, Figure 2 and 4 b). high (Figure 4 f–h). All these features indicate that the
Anomaly no. 1 had a length of 11 km in north–south anomaly no. 1 may be a man-made structure.
direction and breadth of 2 km in the east–west direction
(Figure 4 e). The topographic profiles drawn in the east– Anomaly no 2: This is a northwest–southeast-oriented,
west direction across anomaly no. 1 (C1–C3, Figure 4 e), 6 km long and 350–500-m wide feature showing well-
show that these grids are bounded by north–south- defined near-linear contours in the MBES data (Figure 5 b)
oriented, sub-parallel, narrow depressions (5–8, Figure and in the MBES colour-coded DEM (Figure 5 c). Fur-
4 e) and the intervening wider, flat-topped, elevated topo- ther, the topographic profile drawn along P1 shows its
graphy (9–11, Figure 4 e). East–west and northwest– elevation as 2–3 m above the general seabed level (Figure
southeast aligned depressions were found linking these 5 d). Thus, it does not appear to be a natural feature and

530 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020

 RESEARCH ARTICLES

Figure 5. Anomaly nos 2–4. a, Key map: colour-coded MBES–DEM data of seabed topography of delta-A in the off-
shore region of a Poompuhar (1–4; see Figure 2). b, Anomaly no. 2 shown by contours. c, Colour-coded MBES–DEM and
the north–south profile line (P1). d, Topographic elevation of anomaly no. 2. e, East–west contour anomaly no. 3.
f, Colour-coded MBES–DEM and the north–south profile line (P2). g, Topographic elevation of anomaly no. 3. h, Ano-
maly no. 4 amidst the contours. i, Colour-coded MBES–DEM data north–south profile line (P3). j, North–south topo-
graphic elevation of anomaly no. 4.

hence must be a man-made, ridge-like feature (P1, Figure Figure 5 i and j) show that it is a north northwest–south
5 c and d). southeast elevated feature of 3–4 m. The morphology and
the geo-position of anomaly no. 4 indicate that this also
Anomaly no 3: Anomaly no. 3 appears to be an east– may not be natural feature.
west elevated feature of 4 km length, as seen from the
linear contours in the seabed (3, Figure 5 e) and MBES–
DEM data (5, Figure 5 f ). The N–S profile drawn across Discussion and conclusion
it (P2, Figure 5 f ) shows its elevation as 1.5–2.0 m
(Figure 5 g). Since it was an isolated feature, anomaly no. In the context of the morphology explained under Ano-
3 also may not be a natural structure. maly no-1 (anomalous contours) above it can be surmised
that these depressions may be man-made canals/
Anomaly no. 4: The anomalous NW–SE contours shown waterways and the flat-topped topography may be of
by the MBES data in the midst of well-defined package lands for habitation. These lead to the surmise that the
of sub-parallel N–S MBES contours (4, Figures 2 and anomaly no. 1 may be an ancient harbour of Poompuhar
5 h) and the MBES–DEM data (Figure 5 i), and the topo- 11 km long in the north–south direction and 1–2 km wide in
graphic profile drawn in the north–south direction (P3, the east–west direction. The wider canals might have

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020 531

RESEARCH ARTICLES

Figure 6. GEBCO–DEM: (1–4) Harbour and related manmade structure, (5 and 6) submarine ridges,
(7) northerly moving littoral currents, (8) sediments dumped by the currents, (9) deflected component of
the littoral currents, and (10) waves and tides.

been dug for the movement of bigger vessels and the nar- trending submarine ridge south of the harbour (5, Figure
row ones for smaller vessels and boats. The east–west and 6). The littoral currents of the east coast of India move
northwest–southeast depressions might have been dug for from south to north during nine months (February to Octo-
providing inter-connectivity between the long north–south ber) and towards southerly during the remaining three
canals, the turning of vessels and for the distribution, un- months in a year24,25. These currents when obstructed by
loading and loading of merchandise. The geo-position of any natural or man-made projections, will dump the sands
the said feature on the western wave and tide shadow to the south of such projections and the deflected compo-
slope of the delta-A region (10, Figure 6) further con- nents of the currents will hit the coast/structures located
firms that it must have been a harbour. to the north of it and cause erosion, as observed in several
The north northwest–south southeast aligned anomaly parts along the east coast of India25,26. The dynamics of
no. 2 is a ridge with 2–3 m elevation. Its shapeless pattern the littoral current pattern in the past might have
shows that it is not a natural feature like ancient beach been similar. The violent and northerly-moving littoral
ridges or any other geomorphic features of land–ocean currents on obstruction by the above ridge might have
interactive dynamics. So, it may be a man-made seawall dumped the sediments to the south of the ridge, and the
built to protect the harbour from waves and storm surges deflected components might have caused erosion of the
(10, Figure 6). Anomaly no. 3 is again an east–west harbour (Figure 6). So, the ancient people might have
aligned ridge of 1.5–2.0 m height from the delta topogra- built the east–west seawall (3, Figure 6) to the southeast
phy. This is located to the south of the seawall (anomaly of the harbour to protect it from erosion. A study on the
no. 2, Figure 6) and southeast of the harbour (anomaly tectonics of the Cauvery delta showed several east–west
no. 3, Figure 6). Further, there was a near east–west trending faults acting as pathways for the creeks27,28.

532 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020

 RESEARCH ARTICLES

However, in this case, since anomaly no. 3 occurred as a sources antiques et données archéologiques. Rev. Archéol.
single and isolated feature (3, Figure 6), the probability Narbonn., 2016, 44, 321–338.
4. Goddio, F., Topography and Excavation of Heracleion-Thonis and
of a fault is less and further, it has an elevation of 2 m. East Canopus (1996–2006): Underwater Archaeology in the
Hence, it is a seawall constructed by ancient people to Canopic Region in Egypt, Institute of Archaeology, University of
protect the harbour from erosion (1, Figure 6). The geo- Oxford, UK, 2007, p. 137.
graphical location of the harbour from the regional geo- 5. Goddio, F., The BP exhibition Sunken Cities: Egypt’s lost worlds
dynamic perspective also confirms this, since it is found at the British Museum. Arts Asia, 2016, 46(6), 148–156.
6. Flaux, C., El-Assal, M., Marriner, N., Morhange, C., Rouchy, J.
between the two near easterly ridges, one in the south and M., Soulié-Märsche, I. and Torab, M., Environmental changes in
the other in the north (5 and 6 respectively, Figure 6). the Maryut lagoon (northwestern Nile delta) during the last ∼2000
Anomaly no. 4 is a wavy north–northwest to south– years. J. Archaeol. Sci., 2012, 39(12), 3493–3504.
southeast-oriented ridge with a height of 2–3 m. Since it 7. Galili, E., Rosen, B., Zviely, D., Silberstein, N. A. and
connects delta-A and delta-B between which some Finkielsztejn, G., The evolution of Akko harbor and its Mediterra-
nean maritime trade links. J. Island Coast Archaeol., 2010, 5(2),
depressions are present, it might have been an earthen 191–211.
bridge constructed by the ancient people (4, Figure 6) ei- 8. Fouache, E., Kelterbaum, D., Brückner, H., Lericolais, G., Poro-
ther for regular movement or for shifting towards delta- tov, A. and Dikarev, V., The Late Holocene evolution of the Black
B/Poomphuar-II when the sea level was rising and Poom- Sea – a critical view on the so-called Phanagorian regression.
puhar-I had started submerging in the east due to rise in Quaternary Int., 2012, 266, 162–174.
9. Schottenhammer, A., The ‘China Seas’ in world history: a general
sea level. outline of the role of Chinese and East Asian maritime space from
Thus the study reveals that the four anomalies detected its origins to c. 1800. J. Mar. Island Cult., 2012, 1(2), 63–86.
from MBES–DEM data/contours must be related to the 10. Rao, S. R., Excavation of the legendary city of Dwarka in the
ancient harbour and associated structures. These might Arabian Sea. J. Mari. Archaeol., 1990, 1, 59–98.
have been constructed by the ancient people around 11. Rao, S. R., Rao, T. C., Gaur, A. S., Sila Tripati, Sundaresh and
Gudigar, P., Underwater Explorations off Poompuhar 1993.
11,000–15,000 years ago, as these are located in delta-A J. Mari. Archaeol., 1993, 5–6, 7–22.
which falls in between the shorelines of the above period 12. Pillay, K. K., History of Tamil Nadu: her People and Culture,
(Figure 1)21,22,29,30. However, an important question Tamil Nadu Textbook Society, 1977.
before us is whether ancient people had the knowledge 13. Nilakanta Sastri, K. A., The Cholas, Madras University Historical
and technology to construct such establishments. A num- Series No. 9, 1935, 1, 36–73.
14. Ramachandran, C. E., Ahananuru in its Historical Setting, Univer-
ber of harbours with similar pattern and layout have been sity of Madras Publications, Madras, 1974, p. 149.
located around the world, viz. Phoenician city, Tuni- 15. Pillai, R. S., Cilappatikaram, Tamil University Publications,
sia31,32, ancient harbour of Neapoli33–35; ancient harbour Thanjavur, 1989, p. 150.
Pisa, Italy3,36; Nan-Madol offshore ancient city37; river- 16. Vora, K. H., A note on geophysical explorations for marine arc-
mouth harbours such as Nahariya, Tel Achziv; Tel Akko haeology off Tamil Nadu coast, India. Int. J. Naut. Archaeol.,
1987, 16(2), 159–164.
of Israel coast1,38,39; Magnus Portus, Alexandria5,40; an- 17. NIO, Marine archaeological explorations in Poompuhar waters.
cient harbours of King Louis IX (Aigues-Mortes, Rhone National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, Technical Report no.
Delta, France)41 and the Harappan port at Lothal42,43. NIO/SP/13/95&97, 1995, 1997.
Among these, the Harappan port and the Nan-madol off- 18. Athiyaman, N., Two wharves at Poompuhar: a technical study.
shore ancient city and its gridded land parcels bounded by Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Marine
Archaeology, Thane, India, 1999, pp. 8–10.
waterways37 typically resemble the present harbour identi- 19. Jayakumar, S., Gaur, A. S., Chandramohan, P. and Jena, B. K.,
fied as anomaly no. 1 in the delta-A region. All of them in Submergence of Poompuhar – study based on underwater explora-
general belong to 2000–6000 years BP. Thus, this technolo- tions and coastal processes. In Proceeding Volume of Third Indian
gy might have been transferred from Poompuhar to other National Conference on Harbour and Ocean Engineering
parts of the world. This, requires further studies using (INCHOE-2004), National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa,
India, 2004, vol. 2, pp. 820–832.
advanced tools like single beam and MBES data, under- 20. Hancock, G., Underworld: The Flooded Kingdoms of the Ice Age,
water profiler survey, underwater optical and sonar photo- Penguin Books, London, 2002, vol. 112, p. 741.
graphy, and their processing. 21. Ramasamy, S. M., Saravanavel, J., Kumanan, C. J. and Gunaseka-
ran, S., Coordinates and chronology of the ancient port city of
Poompuhar, South India. Curr. Sci., 2017, 112(6), 1112–1115.
1. Morhange, C. et al., Geoarchaeological evolution of Tel Akko’s 22. Fleming, K., Johnston, P., Zwartz, D., Yokoyama, Y., Lambeck,
ancient harbour (Israel). J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep., 2016, 7, 71– K. and Chappell, J., Refining the eustatic sea-level curve since the
81. Last Glacial Maximum using far-and intermediate-field sites.
2. Henderson, J. C., Gallou, C., Flemming, N. C. and Spondylis, E., EPLS, 1998, 163(1–4), 327–342.
The Pavlopetri Underwater Archaeology Project: investigating an 23. Lillesand, T., Kiefer, R. W. and Chipman, J., Remote Sensing and
ancient submerged town. In Underwater Archaeology and the Image Interpretation, John Wiley, New York, 2015.
Submerged Prehistory of Europe, Oxbow Books, Oxford, Eng- 24. Sambasiva Rao, M., Morphology and evolution of modern
land, 2011, pp. 207–218. Cauvery delta, Tamil Nadu, India. Trans Inst Indian Geogr., 1982,
3. Allinne, C., Morhange, C., Pasquinucci, M. and Roumieux, C., 4, 68–78.
Géoarchéologie des ports de Pise «Stazione Ferroviaria San Ros- 25. Ramasamy, S. M., Remote sensing and active tectonics of South
sore» et de Portus Pisanus. Dynamiques géomorphologiques, India. Int. J. Remote Sensing, 2006, 27(20), 4397–4431.

CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020 533

RESEARCH ARTICLES
26. Ramasamy, S. M., Holocene tectonics revealed by Tamil Nadu (Pisa, Central Italy) from the story of a Roman riverine harbour.
deltas, India. J. Geol. Soc. India, 2006, 67(5), 641. Holocene, 2006, 16(6), 863–876.
27. Elliott, C. I., Joyce, E. B., Bishop, I., Ramasamy, S. M. and 37. McCoy, M. D., Alderson, H. A., Hemi, R., Cheng, H. and
Kumanan, C. J., Lineaments of southeastern India and their rela- Edwards, R. L., Earliest direct evidence of monument building at
tionship to drainage pattern and groundwater flow. In Proceeding the archaeological site of Nan Madol (Pohnpei, Micronesia) identi-
Volume on International Association of Hydrogeologists, Univer- fied using 230Th/U coral dating and geochemical sourcing of mega-
sity of Melbourne, Melbourne, 1998, pp. 131–135. lithic architectural stone. Quaternary Res., 2016, 86(3), 295–303.
28. Ramasamy, S. M., Kumanan, C. J., Saravanavel, J. and Selvaku- 38. Giaime, M., Morhange, C., Marriner, N., López‐Cadavid, G. I. and
mar, R., Geosystem responses to 26 December 2004 tsunami and Artzy, M., Geoarchaeological investigations at Akko, Israel: new
mitigation strategies for Cuddalore–Nagapattinam coast, Tamil insights into landscape changes and related anchorage locations
Nadu. India. J. Geol. Soc. India, 2006, 68(6), 967. since the Bronze Age. Geoarchaeology, 2018, 33(6), 641–660.
29. Rana, S. S., Nigam, R. and Panchang, R., Relict benthic foramini- 39. Anthony, E. J., Shore Processes and their Palaeoenvironmental
fera in surface sediments off central east coast of India as indica- Applications, Elsevier, 2008.
tor of sea level changes. Indian J. Marine Sci., 2007, 36, 355– 40. Goddio, F. and Yoyotte, J., The Portus Magnus of Alexandria. In
360. Egypt’s Sunken Treasures (ed. Goddio, F.), Prestel, London, UK,
30. Loveson, V. J. and Nigam, R., Reconstruction of Late Pleistocene 2008, 2nd edn.
and Holocene sea level curve for the east coast of India. J. Geol. 41. Rey, T., Faucherre, N., Virmoux, C. and Galano, L., Paleoenvi-
Soc. India, 2019, 93(5), 507–514. ronmental reconstruction of the ancient harbors of King Louis IX
31. Chelbi, F., Paskoff, R. and Trousset, P., La baie d’Utique et son (Aigues-Mortes, Rhone Delta, France). J. Archaeol. Sci. Rep.,
évolution depuis l’Antiquité: une réévaluation géoarchéologique. 2016, 9, 505–513.
Antiq. Africaines, 1995, 31(1), 7–51. 42. Leshnik, L. S. and Junghans, K. H., The Harappan ‘port’ at
32. Delile, H. et al., The geoarchaeology of Utica, Tunisia: the paleo- Lothal: Another View 1. Am. Anthropol., 1968, 70(5), 911–922.
geography of the Mejerda Delta and hypotheses concerning the 43. Rao, S. R., Lothal, A Harappan Port Town, Vol. II, Memoirs of
location of the ancient harbor. Geoarchaeology, 2015, 30(4), 291– the Archaeol. Surv. of India, New Delhi, 1985.
306.
33. Giampaola, D. et al., La scoperta del porto di Neapolis: dalla rico-
struzione topografica allo scavo e al recupero dei relitti. Archeol. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. We thank the ICPS Division, Department
Marittima Mediterr., 2006, 2, 48–91. of Science and Technology, Government of India, for providing funds
34. Carsana, V., Febbraro, S., Giampaola, D., Guastaferro, C., Irollo, through a project ‘digital reconstruction of ancient port city Poompuhar’,
G. and Ruello, M. R., Evoluzione del paesaggio costiero tra Par- under which the present study was carried out.
thenopee Neapolis. Méditerranée. Rev. Géogr. Médit. J. Meditary.
Geogr., 2009, 112, 14–22.
35. Di Donato, V. et al., Development and decline of the ancient har- Received 21 November 2019; revised accepted 18 May 2020
bor of Neapolis. Geoarchaeology, 2018, 33(5), 542–557.
36. Benvenuti, M., Mariotti-Lippi, M., Pallecchi, P. and Sagri, M.,
Late-Holocene catastrophic floods in the terminal Arno River doi: 10.18520/cs/v119/i3/526-534

534 CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 119, NO. 3, 10 AUGUST 2020

View publication stats