Sri Lanka Archaeology

The location of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean opened her many opportunities to interact with foreign trade links at the historical time. Archaeologists have established a knowledge regarding the ancient trade links that Sri Lanka had with the out side world by mostly studying the visually identifiable foreign made archaeological objects such as coins, ceramics, beads etc. in addition to using information from the written sources. It is evident all such foreign made archaeological objects discovered so by archaeologists were finished objects most probably exchanged for local trading goods.

The life size gilded Tara image exhibited at the British Museum (acc. no. OA-1820-6-12-14, see photograph 5) which had been found in 1800s somewhere...

A rich collection of Buddha images belonging to the Kandyan period (17th– 18th Century AD) possessing characteristic visual features and made of different media have been found from the different parts of the country. Among them a significant number of images are made using the metal. This paper intends to study the metallurgy of the Kandyan period Buddha images which in turn gives some light to the metal technology of that period. In addition this paper tries to study metallurgy of the studied icons in relation to their visual features (visual styles)

Extended Abstracts of papers should be in twelve point, Times New Roman/FM Abhaya, A4 page format, 30 mm left margin and 25 mm other margins, one and half line spacing and not exceeding 1000 words and include Title, Author/s, Institutional Affiliation/s if any, Postal Address, Tel., email address and five keywords. Sinhala abstracts should also include title and keywords in English. Extended Abstracts should be sent only by email to rasslconference11@gmail.com They should be in the prescribed format, which is downloadable from RASSL website. Extended Abstracts and Full papers should be submitted as Soft Copies only in MS Word Format.

During the period of Cōḷa occupation in the early eleventh century, it is likely that the two Relics, namely the Tooth Relic and the Bowl Relic were permanently kept in the Uttaramūla Vihāra of the Abhayagiri Monastery. Perhaps during the Anuradhapura Period, the Relics were more respected and were not considered as objects, to legitimize kingship as suggested by some scholars. As a result, they were removed by the monks from the Temple of Tooth Relic only when there was no security. Perhaps during the early part of Anuradhapura Period when there was a threat, the Relics which were kept near the palace were taken to Abhayagiri Vihāra. During the latter part of Anuradhapura Period, the Relics appear to have been kept permanently at Uttaramūla of the Abhayagiri Vihāra, protected by hired guards.

This is one of the well-preserved inscriptions in Sri Lanka. Reign - After the death of Vijayabahu Period - 12th century A.D. Script - Grantha Tamil and Sinhala Language - Tamil Mixed...

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The great Chronicles Mahavamsha and Sandesa kavviya (messenger poems) had not mentioned about the activities of the ancient harbor at Ambalangoda. Thisara Sandesaya (1344-1359 AD) (Gunawardane, 2001 p. 1), Parevi Sandesaya (After 1415 AD) have described the coastal areas of the Southern province near Ambalangoda in their poems. Kalutota, Maggona, Beruwala, Aluthgama, Kosgoda, Bentota, Welitota (Balapitiya), Madampamodara, Totagamuwa, Rathgama mentioned in Thisara and Parevi sandesyas (Jayatilake, 2002 pp. 97, 101, 102, 103, 104, 107, 108, 109, 113; Gunawardane, 2001 pp. 101, 103, 107, 108, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116). However, one notable thing is the name “Ambalangoda” has not mentioned in this Sandesas.

A recent archaeological survey carried out in the mountainous landscape of the area around Illukkumbura in Balangoda of the intermediate climatic zone in Sri Lanka has revealed information pertaining to the interaction held with the surrounding environment by the Holocene hunter-gatherer/foragers.

The archaeological project titled 'Hunters in Transition' initiated in the year 2009 focuses the Holocene adaptations of the prehistoric hunter-gatherers occupied in the deep mountainous hinterland in Sri Lanka.

The second phase of the archaeological investigations in the prehistoric cave of Alugalge in Balangoda has been initiated in the late February 2017.     This cave...

The second season of the hunters in Transition project was initiated between 22nd July and 4th September 2016. Two excavations have been carried out...