Even though Sri Lankan ancient metallurgists had produced leaded bronze icons and other artefacts containing lead probably from circa 4th ÔÇô 5th Century AD onwards, strikingly lead is totally absent in the protohistoric context metal artefacts of Sri Lanka, where we see only copper and iron artifacts implying lead may have not been known to the country during those periods. (Thantilage 2008 (b): 200-210). To date there is no known lead source within the island. Hence the existence of lead and leaded bronze artefacts produced during the ancient times within the county compels us to think that lead was obtained most probably through the foreign trade that existed during that period. The advance methods of scientific analysis such as stable lead isotope ratio analysis have opened the opportunities to address this type of question.

Arjuna Thantilage
Senior Lecturer, Coordinator, Laboratory for Cultural Material Analysis (LCMA),
Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

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