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Ms Joanne Shoebridge
(email at j.e.shoebridge@durham.ac.uk)
Research Topic
Arikamedu Type 1, Arikamedu Type 10 and the reconstruction of networks of Indian Ocean trade.
Abstract
The aim of this thesis is the reconstruction of Early Historic networks of communication in South Asia and beyond using image analysis techniques. These techniques (which are specifically developed for this research) are applied to the ceramics Arikamedu Type 1 (often called Rouletted Ware) and Arikamedu Type 10. The secondary aim of this thesis is to identify stylistic variances across the chronological and geographical boundaries of this research.
Previous investigations have focused on the physical aspect of the ceramics to provenance the type, this has included thin section analysis conducted by Krishnan & Coningham 1997) and chemical analysis by Ford et al. (2005), but unfortunately the provenance could not be confirmed. Therefore this current research focuses on the images on the types by developing its own method of analysis in order to extract data from these features. On interpretation, this data will demonstrate the spatial and chronological variances within Arikamedu Type 1 and Arikamedu Type 10 and allow the proposal of networks of contact in the Indian Ocean during the Early Historic period