Kuragala in
Balangoda is the oldest archaeological site found so far in the
Intermediate Zone of the country and as such the Department of
Archaeology has taken all steps to protect the site , Director General
of Archaeology Dr Senarath Dissanayake said.
Addressing a media conference held at
the Government Information Department today (04) Dr. Dissanayake made a
request to the public not to create religious issues based on Kuragala
Site protection activities.
He further said that according to the
radio-carbon dating done by the US institute using sophisticated
technologies, the Kuragala site had five layers of human habitations
from 16,000 to 6,000 years before the present age (BPA). "This is the
oldest date for a site inhabited. This seconds the previous first which
was found at Bellanbendipelessa. The Bellanbendipelessa was dated 13,000
years BPA", he added.
The Department of Archaeology has
conducted extensive excavations in the Kuragala site from April to
December last year. The caves at the Kuragala site had been used as a
Buddhist monastery during the period between 3rd Century BC to First
Century AD, Dr Dissanayake said. Some of the caves had been inhabited by
the humans in the pre-historic period.
During the excavations, the
archaeologists had found stone tools, fossilized bone fragments and a
complete human skeleton which was later sent to the University of Oxford
for DNA and other testing, Dr Dissanayake said, adding that the
skeleton would be returned to Sri Lanka once the scientific testing is
over.
The other most striking discovery from
the site was the evidence that humans lived in the Kuragala caves had
close links with coastal areas. Among the items found were sea shells,
shells of clams living in the sea, indicating that the humans who lived
there during the prehistoric times had consumed them.
The Department of Archaeology would
conduct further excavations this year too to study the settlement
patterns of the prehistoric man, Dr. Dissanayake said and called upon
the public not to create religious issues based on these activities.
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