Arikamedu

A site on the Madras coast of southern India near Pondicherry excavated by Mortimer Wheeler. It was an important trading post of the Romans after the mid-first century BC, though black-and-red ware found there began well before the period of Roman contact. A town with warehouses in an industrial quarter was built. Black-and-red Iron Age wares associated with Arretine ware of the 1st century AD, Mediterranean amphorae, and imperial Roman coins were found by Wheeler. Other excavations have found Roman pottery, beads, intaglios, lamps, and glass which indicate continuous occupation. Graffiti on pottery indicates the presence of Indian traders.

Site on the Madras coast of southern India, excavated by Mortimer Wheeler. A native Iron Age settlement with Black and Red wares, it yielded evidence of abundant trading contact with the Romans from the mid-1st century bc onwards, attested by finds of Arretine ware, Mediterranean amphorae and Roman coins. During this period it grew into a sizeable town with warehouses and an industrial quarter, and it was clearly an important trading outpost for the Romans.