Further excavations of the submerged city of Dwarka

Abstract

Since 1983 the Marine Archaeology Unit of the National Institute of Oceanography is engaged in the offshore exploration and excavation of the legendary city of Dwaraka in the coastal waters of Dwarka in Gujarat. Brief accounts of the findings of the underwater search for the lost city have appeared in Progress and Prospects of Marine Archaeology in India, 1987, Marine Archaeology of Indian Ocean Countries, 1988, 40 years of Research - A CSIR Overview, 1988 and Journal of Marine Archaeology, 1990. The present paper deals with the more significant results of further excavations in 1988 and 1989 and discussed archaeological and literary evidence for the identification of the port city of Dwaraka of the protohistoric period. It also draws attention to the scientific data available from the underwater excavations in the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Kutch.