Spearheaded by Kerala Council for Historical Research, Pattanam, located 8 km away from Kodungallur is an excavation hub. The excavation project, first held from 2007 to 2015, soon required international collaboration as artefacts unearthed revealed that the port town was engaged in trade with at least 40 places. Dating back to circa 500 BC, the site has provided a view of life in the Iron Age.
Artefacts, both regional and foreign, have been found, thought to have their origins in the Indo-Mediterranean and South-East Asian regions. Skeletal remains of people from Europe, South and West Asia, earthenware, Amphora sherds, rouletted wares, turquoise glazed pottery, Brahmi scripts, Chinese porcelain, terracotta objects, coins used in the Chera period, stone and glass beads, a six metre-long wooden canoe, all underline the presence of an urban settlement that once existed here.
The in-situ museum exhibits artefacts retrieved from the archaeological site along with tools and photographs explaining the excavation process to visitors. Even debated as the real Muziris, Pattanam is now a prominent Early Historic site on the Malabar Coast.
