Ancient DNA research confirms West Eurasian genetic imprints in Pattanam

Historians consider the city of Pattanam to have played an instrumental role in trade and cultural exchanges between India and the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean regions.

Hyderabad: Ancient DNA researchers from Hyderabad and other parts of the country have for the first time generated genetic data to infer the origin and genetic makeup of skeletal remains found at Pattanam Archaeological Site at Ernakulum in Kerala.

Using the DNA from the human skeletal remains, scientists pinpointed the genetic ancestry of the people found in the region at Pattanam, indicating that it has remained a thriving urban centre from 2nd century BC to the 10th century AD, and part of the ancient port city of the Muziris.

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Historians consider the city of Pattanam to have played an instrumental role in trade and cultural exchanges between India and the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean regions. The recent and more conclusive archaeological evidences from Pattanam and their ancient DNA analyses led by Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj, Chief Scientist at Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and Director, CDFD with other senior researchers, strengthen the belief, which is now published in the journal, Genes.

“Most of the excavated skeletal remains from the Pattanam site were in a very fragile state due to the tropical, humid, and acidic soil conditions. However, we have adopted the best practices in the field of ancient DNA and successfully analysed the samples. The unique imprint of West Eurasian and Mediterranean signatures found in these samples exemplify a continuous inflow of traders and multicultural mixing in ancient South India”, says Dr. Kumarasamy Thangaraj.

Scientists used the DNA from the skeletons to pinpoint the genetic ancestry of the people found in the region. Dr Niraj Rai, co-corresponding author of the paper, and Senior Scientist, DST-Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow said, “We have analysed the mitochondrial DNA of 12 ancient skeletal samples. We found that these samples show the presence of both South Asian and West Eurasian-specific lineages”.

The findings reinforce the early historical occupation of culturally, religiously, and ethnically diverse groups at the Pattanam Archaeological Site said Dr. Vinay Kumar Nandicoori, Director, CCMB.

At the Pattanam Archaeological Site, scientists and archaeologists have found human bones, storage jars, a gold ornament, glass beads, stone beads, utilitarian objects made of stone, copper and iron, pottery, early Chera coins, brick wall, brick platform, ring well, wharf with bollards, and a six-meter-long wooden canoe parallel to the wharf structure about 2.5 m below surface level.

“These structures indicate a vast ‘urban’ settlement. The excavations suggest that the site was first occupied by the indigenous “Megalithic” (Iron Age) people, followed by the Roman contact in the Early Historic Period. It appears that the site was continuously occupied at least from the 2nd century BC to the 10th century AD,” said Dr. PJ Cherian, from PAMA Institute for the Advancement of Transdisciplinary Archaeological Sciences,Ernakulam District of Kerala.