Revisiting Rouletted Ware and Arikamedu Type 10:
Towards a spatial and temporal reconstruction of Indian Ocean networks in the Early Historic

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is the reconstruction of Early Historic networks in South Asia and beyond. The methodology engaged focusses on image analysis techniques being applied to two South Asian ceramics, Arikamedu Type 1 (also referred to as Rouletted Ware) and Arikamedu Type 10. The secondary aim of this thesis is to identify and investigate stylistic variances across these ceramics within the spatial and temporal boundaries of this research.

The two ceramics in this study were initially recorded at Arikamedu, South India in the excavations led by Sir Mortimer Wheeler (Wheeler et al. 1946). The majority of the previous research has focused on the physical aspects of the ceramics in an attempt to provenance the types, for example thin section analysis by Krishnan & Coningham (1997) and chemical analysis by Ford et al. (2005), however, confirmation of the provenance has not been achieved.

This thesis focuses on the decorative features of the ceramics for analysis and interpretation. The data extracted will, on interpretation, aim to demonstrate the spatial and temporal variances within Rouletted Ware and Arikamedu Type 10, and allow the proposal of networks in the Indian Ocean and beyond, during the South Asian Early Historic period.