New Archaeological sites in the Gulf of Cambay, India

Abstract

India, with a coastline of over 7,500 km, is known to have engaged in maritime trade from the second half of the first millennium BC. Geophysical surveys conducted off the coast of Bombay, Laccadives, Tranquebar, Kutch, Cambay, Kaveripattinam and Visakapatnam have recorded shipwrecks, submerged cities, ports and channels. It is highly probable that the shelf off the Andhra, Kerala, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu coasts, if properly surveyed, will yield not only vestiges of prehistoric man and his tools but also submerged river channels and ports. A preliminary survey of the Gulf of Cambay with side-scan sonar soundings and a sub-bottom profiler revealed unnatural features. Further exploration through dredging brought to light artefacts that bore testimony to human activity.