New light on the maritime archaeology of Porbandar, Saurashtra Coast, Gujarat

Abstract

Onshore explorations around Porbandar on the Saurashtra coast, Gujarat, India brought to light new evidence on ancient settlements dating back to the late Harappan period. The ancient site known as Kotada is situated on the western side of the Porbandar creek in an agriculture land. A large number of pottery scattered over a vast area have been noticed. Important shapes of the pottery are bowls, jars and dish. The pots were made of fine levigated clay and well fired. Explorations along the creek area brought to light the remains of four ancient jetties, which suggest that this was an ancient port town. These jetties are made of dressed limestone blocks. A comparative study of the above finding with other archaeological sites of Gujarat has been presented in the present paper.