Pattanam archaeological site: Ancient DNA research confirms West Eurasian genetic imprints

Researchers at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad and Birbal Sahni Institute of PalaeoSciences, Lucknow have confirmed West Eurasian genetic imprints in the human skeletal remains found at Pattanam in Kerala.

The archaeological site at Pattanam, near Kochi, is believed to be part of the ancient port city of Muziris. Historians consider that Pattanam has played an instrumental role in trade and cultural exchanges between India and the Middle East, North Africa and the Mediterranean regions. The impression stems from the classical Greco-Roman records as well as Tamil and Sanskrit sources.

A statement from the CSIR-CCMB on Friday said that “recent and more conclusive archaeological evidences from Pattanam, and their ancient DNA analyses led by Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj of CCMB and Dr PJ Cherian, PAMA Institute for the Advancement of Transdisciplinary Archaeological Sciences, Ernakulam, strengthen the belief,” The study is published in the journal Genes.

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“The unique imprint of West Eurasian and Mediterranean signatures found in the samples exemplify a continuous inflow of traders and multicultural mixing in ancient South India,” said Dr Thangaraj, Chief Scientist at CSIR-CCMB and currently Director, DBT-Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics.

Pattanam has been a site of immense archaeological and historical importance for several years and excavations over the years unconcealed human bones, storage jars, a gold ornament, glass and stone beads, utilitarian objects made of stone, copper and iron, pottery, early Chera era 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 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 Cherian.

Researchers used the DNA from human skeletons to pinpoint the genetic ancestry of people found in the region.

“We have analysed the mitochondrial DNA of 12 ancient skeletal samples and found that samples show the presence of both South Asian and West Eurasian-specific lineages,” said Dr Niraj Rai, the study's co-corresponding author, and a senior scientist at the DST-Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow.

The harsh climatic conditions of India are not always favourable to ancient DNA research, says Dr Thangaraj.

“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.”

Dr Vinay Kumar Nandicoori, Director, CCMB said the findings are “the first genetic data generated, so far, to infer the origin and genetic makeup related to Pattanam.”