B S Harishankar’s ‘Pattanam: Constructs, Contexts and Interventions’ questions KCHR’s alleged attempts to connect myths and history in the excavations at Pattanam near Kodungallur. The book also traces the involvement of Euro-American scholars at the site of the dig while keeping aside the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and Indian universities. In his book, Harishankar says how foreign scholars have never been associated with other Indian archaeological excavations. It questions the relevance of Pattanam for them and goes on to say how the Ministry of Home Affairs cancelled the licences of 20 NGOs in Kerala - including the KCHR - under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act 2010. The author argues if KCHR digs any site with Euro-American collaboration, it cannot be designated a city. “There are certain precursors to urbanism in early historic India and it is evident from archaeological remains,” Harishankar says in his book. “They include immense size, internal planning, public architecture, settlement hierarchies, enclosing walls, script, craft specialisation, long-distance trade, subsistence strategies and population growth. Has KCHR put forward any of these pieces of evidences to substantiate its claims of Pattanam being an urban site/township/port city or civilisation?” The book also mentions how KCHR recently presented ‘a fake argument’ about Pattanam being an archaeological mound. “Numerous archaeological sites in western India have provided evidence like ramparts, which were mud embankments to prevent flood. But no such evidence has been found at Pattanam. The fake claim was to stress Pattanam was an archaeological site,” it says. Harisankar goes on to explain how the site at Pattanam in lower Periyar has coastal alluvium with sand and clay, lacking laterite formation or thick soil. Hence, it was not preferred as an Iron Age settlement. The book also says how monsoon rain and heavy floods over the centuries tampered with the cultural stratigraphy, making it unfit for any excavation.

Contents
1.Pattanam
2.Monsoons, Floods and Cultural Remains
3.Mudbank Phenomenon
4.Submergence of Ports
5.Trivial Straatigraphy
6.Manufacturing an Archaeological Mound
7.Antiquities Shifted
8.Archaeological Reports Shrouded
9.Iconography Under Wraps
10.Carbon Datng-Contradictions
11.Spices Board Examines Plant Remains
12.Urban Presumptions
13.Structural Remains Obscured
14.Faux Contentiions
15.Identifying a Wharf and a Canoe
16.Specious Metallurgy
17.Ambiguous Claims
18.Flawed Arguments
19.Geneza Papers Truncated
20.National Museum Hoax
21.Spice Route Imbroglio
22.Colonial Hegemony
23.Academic Censure
24.At Crossroads
25.Marketing Strategies
26.Zealous Propaganda
27.ASI Orders Probe
28.The Right to Control the Past