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Shipwrecks and Their Stories: The Ancient Wreck at Godawaya

Rasika Muthucumarana

Maritime Archaeologist

Maritime Archaeology unit – Central cultural fund – Galle – Sri Lanka

A journey ends with terrifying suddenness, sending a majestic seagoing vessel to the ocean

floor, ending the life of sailors and passengers. The wreck is now a home to sea creatures,

corals and sponges. Years later, detectives in the form of maritime archaeologist locate the

wreck and start to piece together tiny bits of information, like a forensic scientist who attempts

to work out the cause of death, to unearth the story of that forgotten hulk sitting alone in its

watery grave. This story is a small part of a larger one which consists of many – the cement

between the bricks that make the whole tapestry of our history. But, what if there is a wreck

without a story, or a wreck without any clue or evidence to trace its name, date of build or

when it sank? For the archaeologist, this is the beginning of a whole new episode, imaginary

and real, the latter requiring interpretation of small clues – intense detective work.

The maritime archaeologist’s task takes on a greater challenge as the wreck ages. The

physical evidence that identifies the wreck hides under the sand and, in time, it becomes a

sealed tomb. Now, begins the work of the undersea detectives whose job is to discover by

digging beneath the sand in a hostile environment, working around the edges to bring to light,

slowly and painfully, the story of the ship. This story is a time capsule. It contains within it,

details of contemporary society, and sometimes information about critical events that allow us

to peer into the past and gain insights into contemporary society.

Shipwrecks invariably attract a great deal of international attention and fame because of these

stories which are, at times, heroic and adventurous, and always tragic. For a diver, knowing

the story of the wreck, creates a whole new experience involving time and space rather than

just viewing a pile steel or wood beneath the waves.

In 2008 a team of maritime archaeologists from Galle found an isolated wreck, actually a

mound surrounded by hundreds of potshards on the sea bed near the Godawaya coast, a small

fishing village situated between Ambalantota and Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka. The site

was deep and undisturbed. The team located the site following an alert from by two local

conch divers from Godawaya area who found the site. When the team reached a dark and cold

seabed at 32 meters we faced coral mounds and sea plants on a sandy sea bed. On this dive

we were using 15 liter single air cylinders and at 32 meters depth our maximum allowable

bottom time was only 20 minutes. Any longer than this, and the divers would have to go through

decompression procedures and there was a risk of running out of air.

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This find was a treasure trove for a maritime archaeologist. The potshards and other artefacts

found at the site can be traced up to 2nd century BCE, which make this site the oldest shipwreck

found in the Asian Pacific region. While there have been reports of several shipwrecks in and

around the Indian Ocean countries during the last two decades, these wrecks were dated

between the 9th century CE and to the early 20th century CE. Thus, there is a paucity of

information about early shipwrecks so the Godawaya wreck-site has provided much needed

import to the maritime archaeology of this region.

My first visit to Godawaya was in 1998, as an undergraduate who participated in the

archaeological excavation at the temple premises, conducted by the Archaeological

Department of Sri Lanka and the German government. After a series of explorations and

excavations starting in 1994 at Godawaya, some significant structural remains such as a

temple, what may have been a harbour and an important inscription were unearthed (Roth,

1998).

Two inscriptions found from this temple was first examined and reported by E.R. Ayortone in

the early 20th century. Later in 1930 professor Senarath Paranavitana published his findings on

estampages found in this area (Paranavithana,1983). The small and unclear inscription (No. 1)

and the well-known inscription No. 2 were carved on a natural rock north of the Stupa.

The inscription No. 2 clearly describes a seaport situated at Godawaya. It consists of two lines,

and the letters, which have been clearly incised and regular in formation. These writings can be

clearly identified with the first or second century CE (Paranavithana, 1983). The inscription

describes the collection of customs duties called Godapavatha collected at this port. The text of

the inscription No. 2 reads:

1. Siddham Godapavata patanahi Su(ka) su(ri)yi

2. Raja Gamani Abaya viharata dini

“Success! The customs duties of the port of Godapavata, King Gamani Abaya granted to the

vihara (temple)”

The name Godapavatha, Gota pabbata or Godawaya refers to a kind of mound with a rounded

shape, composed of rock (Gota – short and round / Pabbata – Rock). The small stupa built on a

rocky elevation south of the temple is clearly visible from the sea and may have been used as a

landmark. Most probably the name Godapawatha could have been a name attributed to those

early seafarers.

When the excavation team dug a new trench under the rock with the main inscription

mentioned above, they found another well-preserved three-line inscription (No.3), one meter

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below the old one. It also describes some of the donations to the temple. The text of the

Inscription No. 3 reads:

1. Siddhama /* raja Gamani Abayaha rajika ahalaya bathika mithaye thini(ha kari)haka…

2. Arabapaya Godapavata viharata (dini) ethahi (Javaha)ka vihakalanakara(ka)

3. Kethahithinikarihaka bumi dine (symbols) nakaraka chethahata dine (symbols)

According to Dr. Piyathissa Senanayaka, who inspected the inscription at the site, following is a

general meaning of the text.

“Success! Ahalaya bathikamithaya, the Queen of the King Gamini Abaya granted three

Karisaka (twenty-two acres) of land to the Arabapaya Godapavata vihara (Temple). At the

same time another three Karisaka (twenty-two acres) of land from the paddy field of the

Jawahakavilaka city to the Stupa”

The earliest archaeological evidence from Godawaya traces the history of this region from the

Mesolithic period onward. The Mesolithic site is situated on the eastern bank of the river, west

to the temple. The hillock and a few projected boulders might have served as shelter for

prehistoric people.

During the last two decades many explorations and excavations took place in and around the

Godavaya temple. From an excavation that took place near the fishing village, part of an old

maritime structure was found (Weissharr, H.J. / Wijeyapala, W. / Roth, H. (ed.) 2001). It

appears to be part of a jetty or a bridge built with stone pillars, which are very similar to the

stone pillars seen in the shrine room of the old temple. Looking south from the temple, the

river flows to the sea to the right and the Godawaya fishing village is to the left. Both of these

may have been parts of the ancient seaport. This may not be surprising as the bay of

Godawaya with its beach with the stone pillars and fishing village is the safest landing place

along the coastline of this area. The river mouth and the wide sluggish river also provides

suitable access for transportation. Cargo from the vessels may have been transferred inland

using boats and barges. The Walawe River flows through ancient settlements and monastic

sites such as Ridiyagama, Mahanavulu Pura and the Ramba monastic complex. There are

records of coins, mainly thousands of Indo-Roman, from private lands and paddy fields near

the riverbanks (Bopearachchi,O. 1996).

In 2003 an old stone anchor was found in the sea near the Godawaya fishing village. It was a

granite triangle with a hole in the middle, resembling the stone anchors excavated from Galle

harbour. These types of stone anchors are thought to have been used during the pre-colonial

period, especially with indo-Arabian and Chinese vessels (www.mausrilanka.lk).

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In the following year two local well-experienced conch divers, Sunil and Peminda who live

near the Godavaya temple, found another valuable item. These men make a living by

collecting conches and fish for aquariums. Unlike most local divers, these two are well-trained.

On one of their regular deep shell dives they found the area rich with potshards and a small

stone object which bore a resemblance to a small bench. They brought it with them and

marked the location on their GPS. The bench was handed over to the excavation project and

was stored at the Tissamaharama storeroom at the Department of Archaeology. But the

incidenct and bench were forgotten over time.

In April 2008, first and the second phases of the UNESCO regional field school program for

maritime archaeology was held in Galle. When the program ended, it was recognised by the

organisers that there was a need to find a shipwreck with an Asian origin for training during

the next field school session. In October 2008 we started an exploration with funds from the

UNESCO Bangkok office to find some new sites for future fieldwork. Under the instructions of

Dr. Mohan Abeyratne (Deputy Director General – Central Cultural fund) a team of maritime

archaeologists and conservators set off for the South Coast. Our main targets were the

wrecks around the Great Basses reef and the possible wreck site near Godawaya.

After exploring the Great Basses we came to Godawaya. During exploration at Great Basses,

before diving at Godawaya we had an opportunity to analyse the artefacts from Godawaya

area. We examined the stone bench and anchor and interviewed the two conch divers from

whom we gleaned as much information as possible. According to them, the site was at a

depth of 30 meters and three kilometres from the shore. The presence of potsherds and

artefacts like the stone bench indicated a strong likelihood of a shipwreck which warranted

further investigation.

The seabed near the site is composed of coralline rocky formations whereas a wide area is

covered with thick grained coralline sand towards north-eastern part of the site. The maximum

height of the reef on the north-western part is approximately 1.5 m. There is no vegetation

growth evident at this site, however, at a few places gorgonian growth was in evidence near a

pinkish layer of marine rocks. Under some mounds, which initially appeared to be a reef, we

found some timber sections. Those very fragile wooden parts were covered with a thick layer of

corals and plants. Between and around two large mounds there were lots of potsherds. These

were scattered over about a 100 square meter area. Other than the potsherds, we found some

complete and near complete jars. Some of these jars were huge and encrusted and embedded

with corals. This was a clear sign that the site was undisturbed. But it was not easy to

understand the site formation, and we were not able to identify any parts of the ship’s

construction.

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Many ships have been wrecked around Sri Lanka but Godawaya is a very unique shipwreck

and no parallel has been reported in publications. It will undeniably help us to understand the

seafarers and their boatbuilding traditions and to fill-in the gaps of our knowledge during ancient

times regarding early historic trade. However, to answer the questions posed from such wreck

sites, we need to seek the origins of the wreck and gain insights about what happened to it over

the last 2,000 years of lying on the seabed.

Although we didn’t do a large scale systematic excavation, we did some exploratory studies

from which a site plan was derived and artefacts were brought up and studied. Most of the

potshards were identified as black and red ware (BRW), a particular type of clay-ware unique

to the South Asian region. These pots were made black inside due to a special kiln technique

used at the time where the pots were filled with rice husk and placed in a kiln upside down.

Starving the pot of oxygen made them half-burn and conferred the black colour. This

technique goes back to the 13th century BCE. According to the comparative typological

evaluation (with the typologies of the early scientific excavations in Sri Lanka and India) the

shapes and the types found at the Godawaya site, the wreck has been tentatively dated at

between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE. Also the symbols carved on the stone

bench belonged to the same era. Many shipwrecks have the potshards as cooking ware but

the high density of the potsherds at this site indicated that this vessel carried pottery as a

cargo. Further, six glazed blue bun-shaped ingots at site 2 were retrieved for further analysis.

These were widely used in the pottery industry. The stone bench was identified as a quern

and thought to be was used for the preparation of food or medicine onboard. This assumption

was discarded when we found another three similar objects in 2010. These items may also be

the part of a trading commodity.

Relative dating and Carbon 14 dating from the wood samples shows the site is approximately

1900 years old, which means it belongs to the era in which the inscription was written. There

are several questions that remain unanswered: what kind of vessel was it? What was its

destination and from where it was sailing? How did it sink and how was it preserved for so

long? Until we find answers to these questions we need plausible stories to fill the gaps.

The main mound containing the wooden remains can be the best way to find answers. The

surface observation indicates that a large part of the wreck is buried in the sediment and the

extension of the site can only be determined after a more complete investigation. The mound

is covered with coral and vegetation and the remains are concreted and vulnerable and

difficult determine and so far no wooden structure has been positively identified. The bulk of

what appeared to be the structure is scattered approximately 10 m in length and about 3.5 m

in width. Observations underwater however, initially indicated that this appeared to be

bunches of wooden logs. Closer examination by scraping of some of the material revealed

that it did not look like wood but rather be some kind of metal. It is more like the wooden parts

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are covered over by some unidentified materials. These may be remains of the cargo resting

on the wooden hull.

The wreck was probably a coastal trader that sailed around the country. It may have been

making for the Godawaya port aiming to travel further inland towards settlements along the

river. One possibility is that cargo was loaded from Godawaya and the vessel may have been

heading for the east side or the far south to the Magampura settlements or this vessel may

have been involved in international trade. It may have traveling to the east coast of India or

coming from India, or leaving for South-East Asia or a vessel of foreign origin. To find these

answers we need to inspect the hull remains through the remaining wooden parts. This part

needs a detailed investigation not only underwater but also by taking a few samples for

analysis. By gaining insights about the shape and size of the hull planking and fastening will

provide details about the construction methods and its origins and reveal information about

the ships used during ancient trade.

If we compare this site with other underwater archaeological sites found so far in Sri Lanka,

this is a site of high significance. The wreck of this period is a lone example from this part of

the world. Our conclusions are still work-in-progress, so dating and cargo are still under

investigation as this is an initial attempt and the story of this wreck is still being written and

may change as more data comes to light – this is the story of maritime archaeology.

References Archaeological (Amendment) Act 1998, No. 24, Section 3 and 15A-15D, Government of Sri Lanka, Colombo. Bopearachchi, O., and Wickremesinghe, R., 1999. An Ancient Civilisation Re-visited: Numismatic and Archaeological Evidence on Inland and Maritime Trade, Colombo. Clarke, A. C., 1964b. The Treasure of the Great Reef (New York 1964) Devendra, S., Abeyratne, M., and Silva, S., 2006. Maritime Archaeology in a Developing Nation: The Case of Sri Lanka. In V. P. Lyndel (Ed.), Finishing the Interrupted Voyage: Papers of the UNESCO Asia Pacific Workshop on the 2001 Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage, Leicester: 34-49. Flecker, M., 2001. A ninth-century AD Arab or Indian shipwreck in Indonesia: first evidence for direct trade with China. World Archaeology, Vol. 32 (3): Gaur, A. S., Sundaresh., and Vora, K.H., 2005. Archaeology of Bet Dwarka Island: An Excavation Report. Aryan Books International, New Delhi. Geiger, W., 1912. The Mahavamsa or the Great Chronicle of Ceylon XXXV: 123-128), Reprinted in London 1980 and New Delhi 1983. Green, J., and Devendra, S., (Eds.) 1993. Maritime Archaeology in Sri Lanka: The Galle Harbour Project 1992. Archaeological Department of Sri Lanka, Central Cultural Fund, Western Australian Maritime Museum and Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology. Colombo.

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Jayatilaka., and De Silva, Nerina., 1998. Ambalangoda Shipwreck: Report on a Preliminary Investigation. Unpublished report to the Director General, Dept. of Archaeology. Manders, M. R., Chandraratne, W. M., Dayananda, A. M. A., Muthucumarana, R., Weerasena, K. B. C., and Weerasingha, K. D. P., 2004. The physical protection of a 17th century VOC shipwreck in Sri Lanka. Current Science, Vol. 86 (9): 1251-1255. Muthukumaran, R., 2009. Godawaya: an ancient port city (2nd Century CE) and the recent discovery of the unknown wooden wreck, Part-I. Australian Institute of Maritime Archaeology, Newsletter, Vol. 28 (3): 21-26. Paranavithana, S., 1970. Inscriptions of Ceylon, Vol. I. Containing cave inscriptions from 3rd century BC to 1st century AD and other inscriptions in the early Brahmi script, Colombo. Paranavithana, S. 1983. Inscriptions of Ceylon, Vol.11 (1), Containing Rock and other Inscriptions from the Reign of Kutakanna Abhaya (41 BC-19 BC) to Bhatiya II (140-164 AD), Archaeological Survey of Ceylon, Colombo, Moratuwa. Roth, H., Kessler, O., Recker, U., and Wijeyapala, W., 2001. The Gadawaya Harbour Site. Report on the excavations 1994-97. In H. J. Weisshar, H. Roth, and W. Wijepala, (Eds.), Ancient Ruhuna, A Sri Lanka-German Archaeological Project in the Southern Province, Vol. l, Verlag Philipp Von Zabern, Mainz Am Rhein: 291-326.

Somadeva, R., 2006. Urban origins in Southern Sri Lanka. Published by African and comparative Archaeology, Department of Archaeology and ancient History Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. Seneviratne, S., 2007. Redefining the Role of Maritime Archaeology in Sri Lanka: Problems, Prospect and Paradigm Shift. In A. Tripathi (Ed.), India and the Eastern Seas, Publisher, Delhi: 193-202. The National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency Act, No. 17, of 1981. The Merchant Shipping Act, No. 52 of 1971, Section 239.

Websites:

Maritime Archaeology Unit web site: www.mausrilanka.lk

Maritime Lanka Website: www.hum.uva.nl/galle

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Figure 1: Location of the Godawaya temple, river mouth

Figure 2: Two mail inscriptions from the temple

Figure 3: stone anchor from Godwaya

Figure 4: Stone bench from the site

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Figure 5: Large storage jar at the site

Figure 6: The main mound; possible shipwreck

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Figure 7: collection of 1st century artifacts from the Godawaya site

Figure 8: Team members of the maritime archaeology unit and the UNESCO