Rouletted ware
Topic: Economy of Early India: Agriculture, Trade, Guilds, Coinage · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Rouletted ware is a fine, thin pottery, usually grey or black. It is decorated with rows of tiny notches made by a toothed wheel, called a "roulette", turned on the pot. It is found at Arikamedu and other sites on India's east coast, and also in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. It dates from c. 2nd century BCE to the early centuries CE. It was once thought to be Roman, but it is now generally seen as Indian-made. Because it is found at so many ports, it helps trace sea trade around the Bay of Bengal.
Example
At Arikamedu, near Puducherry, rouletted ware was dug up together with Roman amphorae (wine jars) and Arretine ware. This shows that the site was a busy trading port.
Don't confuse with
- Arretine ware: a red, glossy pottery made in Italy and also found at Arikamedu. It came from Rome, while rouletted ware was a local fine ware.
- NBPW (Northern Black Polished Ware): a glossy black luxury ware of the Ganga plains, from an earlier period.
Related concepts
- Trade routes
- Uttarapatha
- Dakshinapatha
- Indian Ocean trade
- Hippalus
- Indo-Roman trade
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
- Pliny's Natural History
- Ptolemy's Geography
- Muziris