Vol. 28. No.

1
Rouletting and
Chattering
Decoration on Ancient and Present-Day Pottery In India
VIMALA BEGLEY
A
s the Periplus of Lite Er-
ythraeall S ea and other
Classical accounts tell 11 s ,
there was a thriving sea tntde he-
tween the ports of the Hed Sea and
sot1th lndict during the 1st centmy
A. D. Unfortunatel y we know \'erv
little about when . this trad<' fir;t
began or who the earlier traders
might have been. since writte11
records dealing with pre-Jmperi<t l
Homan times a.re few and vague .
For the re<;oustruction of the trade
patterns of' the late Hellenist ic pe-
riod we must therefi)re hun to the
available archaeological evidence.
My recent research indicates that
the decorati on on the distinctive'
Indian ceramic type called Hou-
lclted ware may have been in -
flu enced by Uc llc nistic potter y
techniques , perhaps introduced
into India as early as the end of the
2nd century B. C. This hypothesis
has fcu-reaehing implications for the
unde rstanding of the formative
phase of the overseas con tact be-
tween south India ar'icl the wes t.
While the problem of the dating of
the Indian Rouletted ware was dis-
cussed by me e lsewhere (1983). this
paper deals more close ly with the
question of how Houl e ttecl ware
was made, vvhc r c it might have
been produced, and what were its
possible sources of influence ii01n
the Mediterranean world. In addi-
tion to archaeological this
paper also studies contemporary
practices of pottery-making in an
Indian village, since these furnish
close parallels to the techniques
used in aneie ut India.
1
Bijnaur pottery for sale at tlte fair i11 Luckll(nv. 111 lite foreground are
ered bowls of lustrous black polteru with rouletted decoratio11.
Rouletting versus
Chattering
T
he Indian Roul etted ware is
named after its deconltion,
which, no doubt, is its most
distinctive feature . Indian schohu-s
borrowed the term roul etting fJom
Classical archaeology wher e it is
widely used to descrilw the process
of making inde nted concentric or
spiral linear patterns on pottery, hy
means of a small toothed wheel
Galled a roulette. The patterns arc
produced by the coutu1uo11S rolling
motion of the roulette when it is
he ld against the r evol ving clay
vessel, and typically are arranged in
nanow bands consisting of one or
more rows of evenly and closely
space d small inde nte d m<lrks .
Even among Classical archaeolo-
gists, however, the term rouletting
is sometu11es inappropriately used
to refer to quite a different process
that is more accurately called chat-
tering (Peets 1963). Chatte r e d
designs are also nnanged in concen-
* Major Rouletted ware sites
Modern cities
Lucknow * Ayodhya
Allahabad * Rajghat
Ga,.ga R
Tamluk *
* Nasik
Nevasa Sisupalgarh *
* *
* * *
*
BAY OF BENGAL
**
* .
Pondteherry
*
* Arikamedu
*
0...__2_. 00 __ km
ARABIAN SEA
2
India and Sri Lanka.
t ri c or spiral bands rnade of tiny
wedge-shaped indentations, and
are produced by the continuous
flicking motion of a tool with one or
more long thin points, when it is
held against the surface of the clav
vessel rotating on tlw
wheel. Both techniques were used
in Classical times, as W<IS pointed
out by B. A. Sparkes and L. Thl-
cott in thei r description or the pot-
t e r y from the A then ian Agora
(1970:30- 3 L). The spirals on Greek
pottery were most li kely made by
the process of chattering, while on
Roman wares typically a roulette
was nsed.
In India, Rouletted wa re was
first ide ntified in I 945 duri ng Sir
Mortimer \Vheeler's excavations at
Atikamcdu (see Fig. 2). a unique
site situated on the southeastern
coast that e ngaged in extensive re-
* Kantarodai
*
*
J, *
3
Dish of Ro11letted ware (Type 1 at
Arikamedu) with two band.s of rou-
letted or chattered decoration, dating
.from ca. 2nd to 1st century B.C.
(After Wheeler, Ghosh a11d Deva
1946, Fif!,. 12:1a)
gional comnwrcc, <lnd also traded
with the lV!cditcrranean world, ap-
parently during both lhc late I Icl-
lcnistic and Roman period!>
(Wheeler 19.'51; 1954). But, since
neither pottery workshops nor
potters' tools were uncarth<d in the
limited area of these and latcr exca-
vations, very little is known about
the local pottery industry. Since the
lime of excavations at Arikamedu
similar "rouletted" pottery
been found at tHtmcrous other sites
in 1ndia and Sri Lanka, and all of
this has been designated Hou-
lclled ware, irrespective of the
technique of decoration.
In the present paper, it wi ll be
argued that the dccor<ltion on some
of the Roulctttd ware at Arikamcdu
was most probably produced by the
process of chattering (Figs. -!, 5),
and that fine chattered or rouletted
wares could have heen produced
by any skilled local potter, once the
basic technique was understood. It
will also be argued that Hlthough
such technology was probably in-
troduced liom the Classical world,
Arikamedu must have been one of
the major c('ntcrs for tlw produc-
tion and distribution of Rouletted
ware. These arguments will he sup-
ported by evidence from the site,
as well as fiom my recent observa-
tions of similar ceramic tedmiques
used hy a conlemporary potter in
the north Indian village or Bijnaur.
Rouletting or Chattering
at Arikamedu
A
t Arikamcdu "rouletting''
occurs on sirnpk f(>Otless
dishes with inturncd ri ms
(Wheeler's Type 1; Fig. 3), but sim-
ilar dishes without "rouletting" also
exist at the siiP (\Vheelcr's Types 2
and 3). In the early levels, " rou-
letted" d ishes are of fine variety,
but in later levels both the
and the quali ty of decoration dete-
riOtate and become coarse. In both
cases, however, the decoration is
always on the inner surfac<' of the
flat base. The patterns consist of
one to three' bands of concentric
circles, each band containing three
to ten rows of closely placed inden-
tations which look like tiny dots,
strokes, wedges, triangles, or other
shapes.
Vclt. 28. Xo. I
4
Varieties of decoration. most probably c:lwttered. on Rouletted ware at J\ri-
kamedu. Experime11ts show I hat the {!..OII{!..ill{!.. effect , as seen 0 11 these ex-
amples, mau !race been due to the wet11ess of the clay tche11 tire decoration
was undertaken. ( Photograph after Wheeler eta/. 1&46. pl. XXVA)
5
Varieties of decoration, 11/0SI probably challered. 011 jl11e Rouletted u;an' at
Arikamedu. Numbers 4. and 7 show wedw:-shaped dots occtrsionally tunrin,g
into grooved lines. Similar irregularit!J occ11rred when the potter in Bijmwr
tried to make sneral rotc,<; of concentric circles ccmsistill{!.. of tiny dots. using
tl fragmentary comb as a chattering tool. ( Photograph a.ftl'r " ' heeler et a/.
1946, pl. XXVB)
6
Fragments of a Rouletted ware disl1 from the French excar;ations, now tJre-
served in the Pomlicherry ,\ Juseum. The fra{!..ments. put togdher by the ex-
cavators, are of the fine toith IJiack surface all(/ show two bands of
decoration, m.ost proba!Jiu made hy the process of clwllerill{!..
.t9
Most scholars arc agreed that the
technique of " rouletting" was im-
ported fiorn so111c as yet unidenti-
fied source in the
region, but no precise place for the
original manufacture of Houlctted
ware was ever determined. This in-
terpretation is based on the appar-
ently sudden introduction of this
tech.nique into the Indian context.
Krishna Deva, who described the
Arikamedu Rouletted \o\l'are from
Wheeler's excavation, felt that the
coarse va1ietv was made locallv, but
was not eert.'lin about the of
production for the fine variety
(Wheeler, Ghosh, and Deva 1946).
Wheeler consiclcrcd that fine Rou-
letted ware was derived fiom Arrc-
tine ware-which he found <lt the
site-since he believed that trade
between Arikamcdu and tlw west
was essentiall y a Homan enterprise
dating fiom the time of Augustus
on. J. y(. Casal, who in his excava-
tions discovered evidence for ear-
lier trade, pointed out similarities
between Roul etted ware and ear-
lier black wares in the Medit<' tTa-
ncan (1949:37). lie furtlwr noted
that the fabric of fine Rouletted
ware (Fig. 6) was different from
that of earlier local wares at the
site. But no precise place of pro-
duction, in the west or in south
india, was suggested. Some lndian
archaeologists have confused the
issue by sometimes referring to the
fine variety as " Homan .. and the
coarse variety as an Indian copy.
Since the fine variety occurs llrsl,
and is central to the quest ion of
origin, it will be the focus of our
discussion on the source of the
technique of "rouletting" and the
production of Hou lettc>cl warC'.
"Houletting" certainly must have
been introduced from the Classical
wodtl, since it was widely
therl' and Arikamedu is known to
have traded with the west. But
Houletted ware, as we know it at
Arikamedu, could not have been
imported from any known source in
the lediterrancan region, lor il is
quite different from Hellenistic and
earl y Homan wa r es in Fabric ,
shapes, and scheme of decoration.
Even if we consider only the deco-
ration for the moment. the diffct-
ences are quite apparent. On
Mediterranean pot te r y, " roule t-
ting" is usually one part of the dec-
50
7
In village of Bijtwur, about 18 k!lometers .from tlw 110rtlt
l ndwn czty of Lucknow, a potter slt ape.<; a vessel oj /)/(lck pottery on a !wild-
rotated wheel.
oration, whi le at Arikamed11 it is
the o'ltly decoration. Flllthermore,
on Mediterranean pottery the
bands are narrower than at Arika-
medu, where between five to ten
rows in a bcmd is the norm. Finaliy,
at Artkamedu the shapes of Lhe in-
dentations are frequently difl:e re11l
from those on Classical wares. Such
differences can also be demon-
shated in vessel shapes, fabric, and
Slll{'ilce heatmcnt. \ ,Ve must, there-
fore, consider local proc.Juction as a
more viable alternative.
Before proceeding fi.1 rther, let us
first consider the time-frame in
which -and the source from
where-the new techni<JUC of dec-
oration could have arrived. If the
fil'st occurrence of Houletted wcue
at Arikamedu was in the 2nd- 1st
century B.C. , as the inte rnal evi-
dence now seems to indicate, the
source of inOuence must be pottery
of the pre-Roman, that is, pre-Au-
gustan period. One possible source
is the Eastem Sigillata A ware (with
an earlier black glaze variety as
wel l) to which my atte ntion was
chawn by Professors Henrv Rob-
inson and Kathleen Slane. 1t seems
probable that this ceramic. manu-
factured in Syria, was exported to
other places arou11d the end of the
2nd, or early i_n the 1st century
B. C. Since this is approxim<ltely
the time period to wh.ich the ecu-
licst occurre nce of luclian 1\ouletted
ware can be dated , H would he
tempting to conclude tl1at Easte rn
SigiJlata A may be tht source of in-
spiration for the manufacture of
Houlettcd ware. But since not
much is known about the earlv
trade at A1ikamedu this hypothesi-s
needs further investigation. At
present, it is difficult even to deter-
mine whether some actual potte ry
was brought to Arikamedu, or
whether it was merelv the trans-
mission of t echnolo.gy via the
traders.
Contemporary Ceramic
Traditions
A
n important questi on is:
even if the techniques of
roul etti ng or chattering was
introduced from outside, could the
local potters have produced what is
known as the fine Rouletted ware?
To ascettain this, we must examine
the other of the wcue
in the context of Indian ceramic
traditions of that time. Other tl1<m
the pronounced "beaked" 1im pro-
ftlc, the most distinctive features of
the pottery-such as the simple
footless dish shape, the fine
the reduced ring, and the lustrous
black surface-exist in var ious
gray-black wares of the second half
of the lst millennium B. C. in
northern and southern India. Even
fine r examples of the highl y lus-
hous type of dish arc repre;ented
in the earlier Northern Black Pol-
ished ware. The nuclem area
the N01thern Black Polished ware
was the Gangetic valley, bt1t it had
reached the coast north of Arika-
medu by the 2nd century 13. C., for
this was a period of rapid transmis-
sion of ideas and technology in Lhe
Indian subcontinent. The refore
the making of a dish of
gray wcue, and the dil:Tusion of its
technol ogy, was not in early
historical India, only " rouletting"
was.
If only the technique of decora-
tion arrived fiom tl1e west, and in
the pre-Roman period, the chances
are that it was initially the method
of chattering. A close examination
of the she;ds from Arikamedu
shows that tl1is may have been the
C<lsc, for some of the chcu-acteristics
of the decoration- such as the
wedge shapes of the indentations,
the occasional d1ange of indented
marks into grooved lines, and the
irregularity i.n spacing-are more
likel y to have occurTed as a result of
a flicking motion rathe r than the
continuous of a roul ette.
In addition, it also appears that
some of tl1e tools used for chat-
te ring must have had multipl e
points, similar to those used for
making multiple concentric
grooved circles. Fmthermore, ex-
periments made with a metal pin
show that a single tool could make a
variety of indentations, depending
upon when the decoration is under-
taken. The gouging effect, quite
striking on some Arikamedu
shcrcls, occurs when the vessel is
quite wet, that is, the decoration is
made at the time the vessel is
formed on the wheel (Figs. 4, 5).
On the othe r hand, tbe rows of al-
most round tiny dots are more
likely to have heen made after the
vessel had p<lrtially dried.
The above observations apply
only to some of the sherds, for a
vast majority are too f'ragmen tary
for satisfactory examimttion. Thus,
the still unanswered question is
whether any of the pottery is rou-
letted, and whe ther the Homan
roul ette was ever introduced at Ar-
ikamedu. The use of the roulette,
no doubt, would have made the
task of decoration easier and the
Vol. 28. No. 1
patterns more regular in appear-
ance. There arc only a few shercls
at Arikameclu that, because of Lhe
regularity and evenness of the i.n-
deotations, may he regarded as
nmletted, but whether this was the
case musl be determined by fur-
ther experimentation, and observa-
tion or contemporary methods or
similar decoration.
Rouletting and
Chattering in Bijna-ur
T
he difference between rou-
letting and chattering w.as
recentlv de n1onstrated lor
me quite unknowingly by a potter
in Lh< vil lage of Bijnaur near
Lucknow, where one simple tech-
nique of making fine lustrous black
pottery with rouletting is cluTcntlv
being practiced (Figs. 1, 8). ln ad-
dition to roul e tiing, the Bijnaur
pottery production provides impor-
tant insight into other aspects or
technology which may be relevant
to Arikame du. lt is therefore
worthwhjJe to <.ligress and describe
the process and its discove ry in
some detail.
Ul)On a visit to Lucknow in Oc-
tober 1984, 1 happened to see in a
home a small black jar which had
two striking similarities to the Ari-
kamedu H.oul etted ware. The First
was its black lustrous and
the second was its decoration
which included a band of
consisting of evenly spaced strokes.
1 therefore decitlec.J to locate its
source of production. After
several inquiries, I discovered
at the fair of G<mgasnana, held once
a year around Nove mbe r, a small
amount <)f decorated black potte ry
is sold along v.tith the predominant
red wares. Fmther ilH!Uiries in the
noighb01ing villages tevealed the
name of one potter, who was even-
tually traced to the village of Bij-
naur, SOme 18 kilome ters \>VCSt of
Lucknow by road.
At Bijnaur, I found that the re
were several fcunilies of the tradi-
tional Hindu potte r caste, the
kumbha:rs, who -.verc making utili-
tarian vessels in reel wares; how-
ever, there wa$ one Muslim fami ly
who made gray ware, l.ocally known
as black pottery because of its sur-
face color, that was decorated with
rouletted, stamped, incised. and
8
and of hlack poUery .from
tlte village <d' Bijnaur. Tfte lt eight -
ened luster is due to atl applica.tio11
o.f 1/Wslanl oil he.fom firing. The
potteru has a variety of decoratiu11,
i11cludin{!. a lxmd of roulelli11g on the
lid.
9
Dishes of Bijll(wr black pottery, with
rouletted and stamped decoratio11 ,
11wde on request. The tools used .for
decoratirm are a brass nmlcll e with
a detachable woode11 ftandle, a11d
seve ra I te r racotta sf(lln)Js.
10
Bowl ofType 10 at Arika.medufouHd
in various fabric.s, with stamped
decoratio11 between grooved lines
and grooved circles 011 the base,
dating from ca. I st centu ru B.C. to
2nd ce11tury A.D. (After Wheeler et
al. 1946, fig. 17:10h)
51
chiselled designs. Due to limita-
tions of time, it was not possible to
pursue the search in other villages
around Lucknow, especiall y vil-
lages to the cas t which are also
known for pottery making. There-
fore, it is quite possible that tbere
may he other potters wl1o 111ake
similar wares, residing in the vi l-
lages around Lucknow.
The potter observed <lllO inter-
viewed was Abdul Hasin whose fa-
ther, Maulvi lmam Ali, u,ncle,
llasan Al i , arc also practi c ing
potters. The e ntire fi:unilv is in-
volved in the process of 'pottery
making during the work season.
The male members of the
prepare the clay and work on
wheel, while the women assist by
carryin g the pots for drying ,
stacking them, preparing the slip,
e tc. The f(:un ilv lives in a modest
house made ;i mud brick walls and
a thatched roof. The open yard in
front of the house is tbe work area
tor all activities related to potte1y
production, including firing.
Although the family makes a va-
Jiety of vessels. the standard shapes
in black pottery are bowls and jars,
and their lids. The vessels arc not
considered to be for dallv use but
arc supposed to be for
special items in a household, <mel
sell at the fair for the verv modest
sum of a rupee or less (ca. US$.08).
The clay used for preparing this
blac.:k pottery is diffe rent from that
used by other potters f<>r ordinary
wares. Abdul I-lasin indicated that
his farnily has the privilege of ob-
taining fine gray clay from the
neighboring tank (irrigation rese r-
voir), which is part of a Muslim
dargah (shrine) complex main-
tained by .\lluhamrnad Malik Omar
Sharif Sayyid. This exclusive right
see111s to Ge causing some tension in
the village, but he believes that this
source or c lay is esse ntial for
making the pottery produced
by his family.
The potte ry is thrown on a
simple hand-rotated wheel (Fig. 7)
and most of the decoration is added
at the time the vessel is shaped,
that i.s, when the vessel is sti11 quite
wet. The most valuable tool f(n
dc<;oration is a roulette (manka)
made of brass with a detachable
wooden handle; the fcunily owned
1:\:vo of these. The roulette is held to
52
the wall of the vessel firmly, whi le
it is revolving on tbe wheel, making
a band of regularly spaced small
strokes. The standard design con-
sists of one band of rouletting on
the outer sudi.lce of the vessel, just
below the rim, or on the lid. In ap-
pearance, the roul etting is very
similar to that on earl y Homan
wares.
Other decoration, consisting of
impressed and incised designs, is
added immediately after the vessel
is re moved f rom the wheel. The
impressed designs are made 'vvith
stamps, terracotta cylinders about 4
centime ters long with a motif on
one e nd that are made by the
potters the msel ves . The motifs
consist of a leaf, a rosette, a star,
and a wheel. The pattern is formed
by placing the same stamp at more
or less regular inte rvals on the
outer wall of the vessel. Connecting
these stamped impressions are in-
cised lines made with a pointed
wooden t ool which looks like a
stylus. F inally, afte r partial drying,
cut and chisel work is done with a
knife.
Surface treatment is undertaken
after the vessd has dried in the
open air to leather-hard condition.
The vessel is dipped in a bucket of
wate r, which also conta ins finely
ground clays obtained from three
different sources, two of which are
local and one from as far away as
the city of Allahabad. After t he
wash' is applied the vessel e merges
light brov.'Il in color and is le t to dry
some more. The slip turns black
upon firing. The pottery is neithe r
polished nor burnished, but before
firing mustard oil is applied very
gently with a piece of doth to both
surfaces of the vessel; this , on
firing, js considered to produce the
lustrous finish. It was not possible
to obse rve the firing proceclu re.
According to the potter, the vessels
are fired in an open bonfire made
with drie d cowdung cakes and
wood. The fini shed product, how-
ever, is a pot with a w1iform dark
gray body, black lustrous surface,
and decoration consisting of a va-
riety of designs, inclucling roul et-
ting (Fig. 8).
Since the shapes df the vessels
and their decorated surface were
quite different from that of ancient
The gouging effect, quite
striking on some
Arikamedu sherds, occurs
when the vessel is
quite wet"
11
Fragnumtary dish of gray ware from
the French excavations at Arikameclu
(Witeeler"s Type 61), now f)reseroed
in the Po11dicherry Museum. The
di.shdates fimn ca. 1st century B. C.
a.11d is decorated with grocned con-
centric circles, whiclt more
than half the stu:face of the base.
Grooved conce1tlric circles occur on
several other tupes of pot-tery at Ari-
kamedu and may have been inspin?d
by bands of grooved circles on
Helleni.stic-ROIIW/1 pottery.
12
Dish of gray ware (Type 6a at Ari-
kamedu) decorated with concentric
grooved circles covering more titan
half the surface of the base, dating
from cc1. 1st cent11ry B. C. (After
Wheeler et al. 1946. fig. 15:6a)
Expeditio11
Houletted ware, I asked the potter
to make a dish shape and decorate
its inner surface. Furthermore, I
asked if he could make several rows
of concentr i c c ir c l es, con-
sisting of closely placed dots. Con-
sequently, tvvo small dishes (tash-
taris) were quickly thrown on the
wheel with two types of decoration.
In the first cas.e, the dish was deco-
rated with bands of roul e tting
interspersed with impressed medal-
lions, using the roul ette and stamps
he al ready had as tools (Fig. 9). On
the other dish, a band of four rows
of concentric tiny wedged dots was
made by the continuous flicking
motion of a fiagmentary comb held
against the inner surface of the dish
rotating on the wheel. The impor-
tant factor appeared to be the dex-
terity wi th which the comb was
he ld, for occasionall y the dots be-
came tiny wedges interconnected
with groove d lines. Such irregu-
larity can be seen on some sherds
at Arikamedu as well. It is there-
fore quite possibl e that a similar
tool for cbattel'i ng may have been
used by potters in ancient times.
In addition to possible methods
of decoration, the Bijnaur
which is s till uninflue nced b y
mode rn technologies, demonstrates
a simple technique of produci ng
luster. It would be important to in-
vestigate whether oiling vvas also
used as a me thod of heightening
luster on Houletted ware and other
ancie nt potte ries, such as the
Northern Black Polished ware.
Arikamedu as a
Production Center for
Rouletted Ware
F
rom the discussion in the
preceding secti ons, if we
draw the conclusion that
the pote ntial for manufacturing
Houletted ware existed in ancient
south lndi<\, Arikamedu would ap-
pear to be the most likel y center for
its production and distribution.
The re are two main reasons for
suggesting this. The first conce rns
the spatial d istri bution of the ce-
ramic type. Houlctted ware is now
known to have bad a very wide dis-
tribution all along the eastern coast
- including northwest Sri Lanka-
as far north as the Gangetic delta.
Vol. 28, No. 1
Inland, it reached settle ments in
the drainage area of the major
ri ve rs e mptying into the Bay of
Bengal. It seems to occur in larger
quantities, however, at sites close
to the coast and in the southeastern
parts of the peninsula; at sites fiH-
ther removed fiom these areas-
such as Nasik and levasa in the
western Deccan, and Hajghat and
Ayodhya in the Gange tic valley-
only a few sberds are reported.
ln spite of the fact that thP. ,,h!>o-
lute contemporaneity of all these
sites cannot be established at
present, it seems that the major
t:luust of the Houlettecl ware trade
was coastal, and in the soutl1e<\stern
regions of the peninsula. Therefore,
if the pottery was pr()duced in
India, its earliest production center
(or centers) must have been along
the southcasten1 coast, or in close
proximity to the coastal sites. In ad-
dition, the place must have been a
center of bade. AJ"ikamedu is
such a site.
Secondly, of all the Houle ttecl
ware associated sites, Arikamedu is
the only one which has evidence for
sustained hade with the west, liom
wbere the technique of chattering,
or rouletting as the case may he,
must have been introduced. In ad-
dition to actual imports, such as
amphorae, Arretine ware, and glass
bowls, evide nce for this t rade is
also found in Houle ttcd ware and
other new ceramic types evolved
during the 1st century B. C. and the
1st century A.D. These were most
probab ly made locall y, judging
fiom tl1e fabric, but were almost
certainly influenced by Hellenistic-
Roman potte ry. We must therefore
view the question of the earli est
production of Houl etted ware in
conjunction with these otl1er types
also, for it seems that the impact of
trade was felt on the local ceramic
industry as a whole.
Of t hese other ceramic types,
perhaps the most relevant for our
purposes are the ones that are dec-
orated. One of the earliest-dating
&om early 1st centtu-y B. C. on-is
Wheeler's Type 10, a bowl with im
pressed decoration which is found
in various fabrics at the site (Fig.
10). The decoration is on the outer
smface, below the rim. It consists
of stamped motifs of birds, peacock,
13
Two fragments of vessel bases of
gray ware with hlack lustrOIIS sur-
face, front Arikamedu. The decora-
tion COIIsists of groor,ed circles
around a central 'knob,' pe1https ill-
spired by vessels of the Hellenistic-
Roman world. The sherds are from
French collections. IIOW in the Pon-
dicherry M11sewn.
14
Bowl of red ware. Type 18 at Arika-
medu. that imitates Arretine ware
shapes and occurs at the same time
as Arretine imports at the site. (After
Wheeler et a!. 1946, fif!.. 18:18)
15
Fragmentary di.<;lt of gray ware with
black lust1ous sw:face (Wheeler's
Ty7Je 141) from French excavations
at Arikamedu, 110w in the Plmdi-
cherry Museum. The dish is deco-
rated witlt a row of nicks between
grooved lines at the rim, and a
stamped leaf pattern around groooed
circles on the base. The dish occurs
at the same time as imported Arre-
tine ware and may have been in-
spired by pottery of the Roman
world, both in sha11e and in decom-
tion.
53
or fish placed between two bands of
grooved lines. The technique of
stamping was commonly used in
the west, as well as the arrrange-
ment of stamped motifs between
grooved lines. The method of dcco
ration on Type 10 seems to have
been inspired from such decora-
tions, but the <U"e distinctive
and must have been the work of
local potters. An important point to
remember is that "'rouletting" and
stamping do not occur on t;h e same
vessels at A1i kamcclu, as they do on
Mediterranean potter y, although
both techniques seem to have ar-
rived from the Classical world.
Grooved concentri c cirdes, on
the iDner swface of flat dishes, is
yet another type of decoration that
may have been inspired by western
pottery traditions. At Arikamedu,
such d eco ration appears on
Wheeler' s Type 3a and Type 6a; t:l1e
rnost e laborate example is Type 6a
where grooved concentric circles
cover more th<ou1 half the of
the base (Figs. 11, 12). But of
greatest interest are two fragmen-
tary bases of bowls with grooved
ciJcles around a central ' 'knob",
known as Knobbed ware at other
Indian sites (Fig. 13). In the Clas-
sical world, such bases appear on
molded vessels that are considered
to be copies of me tal prototypes.
Another distinctive scheme of
decoration can be observed on
wheeler's Type 141 (Fig. 15), a
small dish of gray ware with lus-
trous black smface which occurs at
the same time as Arretine w<ue and
its copies (including Wheele r's
Type 18; see Fig. 14). The dish has
a flaring rim and a ring-foot base.
The feattues are new at the site and
almost certainly were copied from
Roman wares, just as Type 18 was .
The decoration is on the inner sur-
face of the dish and consists of a
row of indente d 'nicks' be tween
groove d lines at the rirn, and a
stamped leaf motif around grooved
circles on the base (Figs. 16, 17).
Like the shape, the decoration also
seems to have been influenced by
pottery of the Homan period. The
' nicks' at the rim may have been
meant to look like rouletting on
Roman wares, but were inde nted
with a thin tool and not made with
a roulette.
54
16
Dish of gray ware with lustrous
!Jlack swf{/(:e: Twe /..J I at Arika-
nwdlt. It has a flarinf!. rim and"
base ami is clecorateclu;ilh
a rotc of nicks at the tim and a
stamped leaf motif arot uul groor.;ecl
circles on the base. Both the shOJie
a11d decoration see111 to 7Je inj711e11t.X' d
IJy pottery of tlw Honw11 world. Tlte
dish occurs at the sm11e time as
Arretine imports. (r\ft('l' \\'heeler
et al. 19-16. fig. 3():1-11 )
From thes<.' and other su<:h <.'x-
arnples, we may infe r that Arika-
mcdu must have had a d ynamic:
lo<:al pottery industry that was <L<;-
similating new idtas and tech-
nology, and that Houlettecl ware
mav have evohcd here. The differ-
between Houlcttcd ware and
these other new types is in thC' ir
rclative popularity. Sherds of Hou-
lctted ware arc fitr mmc abundant
than any of lhcs<' other types: f(>r
example. over finrr hundred shcrds
of Rouletted ware were seen b\ me
in the preserwd Arikamedu coll c<:-
tions, but less than forty of Type
J4 l. In add ilion, Houlctted ware is
d istr ibuted ovt r a very large geo-
graphical area, whi le the other
t)1JCS are either confined to Arika-
mcdu, or appear in small quantit)
at a fe,v oth er si t es. Roul c tt c.'d
ware, the re fore, must ha\'e hc<'n
produced at Arikunwdu on a large
s<:ale both fo r domest ic usc and
l nade. It is quilt possible that it was
manufactured at other centers as
well, where it could ha\'e surYived
for an even longer period of time.
1 everthe lcss, the evidence so
indicates that Houlcttcd ware prob-
ably e volved as <'t disti nct ive <:C-
ramic type 6rst at Arikamedu, fionr
where it was exported and perhaps
copied at other places in the wide
area of Hs di stribution.
It now seems <:crtain that trade
in Rouletted ware was in the bands
of me rchants of southeastern r ndia,

17
Fragment of a dish. probably of
Type 141 but witltortt the black slip.
The clecomlio11 of a stamped
leaf motif around (!.roor.;ed circles.
The fragment is Jlreserr.;ed iH the
Pondiclwrry .\lusel//11, and is from
French excaca/io11s at Arika111edu.
operating both along the coast as
wcl1 as on the island of Sri Lanka.
We still do not know whcth<'r the
trade to the Mediterranean r<gion
was direct, or was carried on in<li-
rectly through other traders oper-
ating in the Indian Ocean, nor can
we demonstrate wh ether the
routing was via the Persian Gulf or
the Red Sen during the early for-
nH\tivc pe riod. But what is ap-
pare nt liatn the ceramic evidence is
that sea contact existed between
the southeastcrn coast of J ndiu and
the- west liom the close of the 2nd
century B.C. on. vVe can also as-
sume that this contact influenced
the ceramic industrv at Ar ikamcdu,
and that such infiL;ence continued
into the accelerated bade of Impe-
rial Roman times. '2.\
Bibliogn11>hy
Begley. Vimalu
1983
"Arikanwdu
der<'d ... Aowriccut
journal of ,\ rduwo/ogy
87(-1):-161 - 1'11.
Casnl. J. \l.
19-t9
Foui111'S de \ 'imm
pat llilltl t\l'ikaIWi llt.
Pal'is: lmprfuwriP Na-
tionalc.
Casal.). \ 1. , and C.
Casal
19.56
Site urbaiu ('( frm
de
Poudichery. Pari:
utth'trsilai rt, dt
France.
Dacmbcrg, C., E.
Saglio und E. Potlic
1896
Dictimwire dl'v aulicJui/1!;
et Homailll''> 1L
Pa1is: Hadwth-.
Peets, 0. II .
J9C:53
.. A :"\ lis
nomer." J\uwricml J\u-
liCJuily 29(1 ): 113- 11-1.
Spar kes. B. A .. and L.
Ta.lcott
1970
Black aud Ploi11 Potle ry.
The Atheuiau 1\{!.0rtt
12(1). Priuc:<tou: Till'
American Sc:htKJI of Clas-
sic.:al Studi''' at \tlwn:..
Whcclc. R. F.. :\1.
1951
.. Roman Conl.lt'l
India, Pakislau and Af-
ghanistan." l tl 1\ spects of
Arcluwology ill 13ritoilt
nud ll!-ytmd. cd. W E.
Crillli'S, 354- 81.
London: II. \V. Edwank

Home /Jeyoud the lmpe
rial I nmtiers. London:
lkll.
1976
My ,\rcluwnlogical Mis
sfou to lutlifl oud Pnki-
slau. Londou: Thamc.:s
and ll ud \Oil.
Wheclc R. E. :\1.. A.
and K.;shnu
Ocvn
19.J(i
"Arik:unedu: i\n lndo-
Hwtlil tt on
Lhe Coast of (ndia."
Allcieullmlia 2: 17-12.5.
Vimalu Begley is a He-
\ \\OCiate of Llw
Soul h 1\\ia Section of
Tlw l ' niHrsitv
l
1
ui\ tr,il\ of i>ennsvl-
vania.
tntinittJ.( hc!{an witlt t ltc;
Archacologiml Surny of'
India at Lot hal. a sit\: of'
the fndus Vnlk y Civiliza-
tion. After lwr
Ph. D. li01n llw l
1
11ivtr
'ih of hania in
lOOs, sbe A"bt.mt
Pmlc>sor Lhert' li:w tlm.c
vcars, <lS wtll ;t.' A"i'tanl
Curator in tlw South
Asi;l Sec.:Uon a l t h< U ni-
vcrsity l)uri ttJ.(
1967- 61> she sttn'tvtd
carlv historieal in
Soulh l ndia on .1 fC:IIo\\ -
ship from the
ln,titntE> of Indian
Studies. A rt:.idcnt of
Iowa City sinw HXY>. ,he
has also been a visiting
lecturer at Lht U tliversi t v
of' Iowa and tht l ' nivtr-
,ity of Calilornia.
B(rkclc\. In l970. ,Ja<
two l mn
in Sri Lanka. In rt
t'<'nl tht
of Arikamcdu :t\ a lixus.
slw has been rl'<'X:Itn
ining t he cetarnie tvi-
d<aH ..'<.. ro ancient Ht>lnau
sta lmde with South
India-ill 19&1. "ith
fiom tlw \ nwr
Ph.ilosophital St)
c.:i<t:v. In the fall of J 986,
she cxpec.:ts to t'OIItillnt
this research in India Ott
H grunt frotn l lt l' S11til h
'onian l nslittt tion. She
has also organiztd an ill
ternational Coll<><luium
on Home and India li1r
the Decemlwr IS\Cj
meeting of tlu: An.:hato
institute of
America in San Antonio.