Jean Deloche: Ancient Fortifications of the Tamil Country as Recorded in Eighteenth-Century French Plans. (Collection Indologie.) viii, 139 pp. Pondicherry: Institut Français de Pondichéry and École française d'Extrême-Orient, 2013. Rs. 700. ISBN 978 81 8470 193 7.

Abstract

gravestone engraved with an ornate Kufic inscription containing a date equivalent to 8 January 949 CE. David James considers the possibility that this could have been shipped to Sri Lanka by the then caliph of Baghdad. The last chapters here concentrate on the faunal and botanical remains uncovered in the excavations. Various specialists identify the animal species that inhabited Mantai and its environs; not surprisingly, they conclude that the food economy was dominated by the aquatic component. Human remains are mostly confined to burials, though the method of interment remains obscure. A synopsis of these finds is offered by the three principal authors of the volume, who recommend that there is little evidence of human occupation at Mantai prior to the first or second century CE. The final part of the volume is devoted to the educational programme at Mantai, which involved Sri Lankan students being instructed by scholarly experts in surveying and architecture, drawing pottery, and conservation and material science. It is to be deeply regretted that this most worthwhile component of the project was brought to an abrupt and tragic end. The 12-page bibliography and thorough index that follow should satisfy most readers. So too the attached CD with catalogues of the Chinese ceramics and of the beads, accompanied by more than 2,000 colour photographs.