The splendid cultural and historical background of Thangassery harbour often makes it a pride land mark of Kollam.
The recent discovery of Chinese coins from the coast, during dredging, again points towards a yet-to-be-revealed part of an untold tale.
Research scientist and archaeologist of the University of Kerala, P Rajendran, who had been exploring this area for the past four decades, told Express about a few of his magnificent findings from the coast.
“Since 1974, at the initial days of my career, I started exploring the shores of Thangassery. Travel accounts of traders to Thangassery from China, Europe and Arab had mentioned about the coast.
“But now, we are getting more material evidence,” said Rajendran, who did his post graduation and PhD in Archaeology from the Deccan College of Pune University.
When the news on Chinese coins and artefacts spread, Rajendran showed two exquisite testaments of lower Paleolithic period which he found along Thangassery coast.
“The chopping tools which I found dates back to over 1.5 lakh years to one million. They are prehistoric cultural remains,” Rajendran said.
“This is the first such recovery of tools, from below the sea level, in India”, he claims.
He discounts the chance of these tools coming from other main lands to the shore since their edges are too sharp.
“This substantiates the fact that they were left here as such by the users”.
Rajendran pointed out the uniqueness of a coin in his collection.
“It was a shocking sight for me to see this coin with Chinese script on one side and Arabic scriptures on its back. It is absolutely a rare discovery. This might be the remnants of a rare trading system exclusively between the Arabs and the Chinese,” Rajendran said.
The previous experiences of finding a white celadon ware in 1991 and red ceramic supports the claim of Chinese settlement there long back.
He said a trained eye would detect more historic material. Rajendran is planning to move ahead to explore more wonders from his “favourite coast” in his home town.