The highlands of Lanka has clear evidence of an ancient
protohistorical Social order. The Horton Plains has evidence of
Agriculture dating back to 17,000 years BP (Before Present). Further
down the slopes clay canoe burial sites holds the cremated remains of
individuals. which have been excavated and carbon dated back to over
1500 BC, by Prof Raj Somadeva of the Post Graduate Institute of
Archaeology (PGIAr).
In 2010 I had visited excavation sites at
Ranchamadama near Embilipitiya and
Haldummulla.
When the non profit organization
archaeology.lk
facilitated an active participation in an actual dig, from 2011
September 2nd to 5th, it was clearly an opportunity I should not miss.
Commander N. G. A. Fernando (Sri Lanka Navy retired) agreed to join this short
course to learn how to do a Scientific archaeological excavation.
Being the end of the school holidays there were no available
reservations on the night train and we decided to travel overnight by the
Colombo-Badulla Luxury Bus. The seats in this private coach could only
be reserved and paid for via a Dialog mobile, which may have been the
reason seats were still available.
Leaving from the Pettah Bus Stand at 11 PM we reached Haldummulla at
3:30 AM after a smooth journey. We had booked in a small hotel called
"Green Curry" and had informed them of our early arrival. When we were
shown our rooms we were also informed of the lack of water after a 2
month drought. This resulted in a late start in the morning, till they
managed to get some water into the tank from a reserve. We luckily had
sufficient water for the rest of our stay although there was always
the worry of water cutting out at the middle of a shower. We kept a 5
liter bottle of water for emergency use.
Most of the tea land in this area had been abandoned after being
distributed to villages in small lots. The full excavation team of
about a dozen was invited to a nearby residence for a nice lunch. They
would not accept any contribution and considered it an honour that we
came to their home. This great Lankan hospitality was given to us each
day by different families. Chatting with them we found that each of
these families were an mix of ethnic and religious affiliations, that
was also reflected by the images in their residences. Clearly a true
Lankan identity.
On the first day after instruction on the excavation and data
recording process, we watched work being started on the primary burial
site. All that was visible at first was the faint reddish outline of
the top of the clay conoe on the gravel estate road. The first days
careful digging did not expose any artifacts.
That evening we walked over to see a settlement on a top of a nearby
hill. The site was being used as a modern cemetery. The ground had
much evidence of ancient artifacts. We picked up a few pieces of
broken pottery (potsherds). Prof Raj Somadeva identified a small piece
of quartz as a Microlith, a tool made of clear quartz used in the
protohistorical period. Microliths have been found as items placed in
burials, some of which date back 30,000 years.
The next day we continued our instruction, as we watched the burial
being dug deeper. That evening we visited a second burial site nearby,
the scientific usefulness of which had been sadly lost. It had been
previously dug by local villages expecting to find treasure, after
reading reports of last years excavations. I requested Raj Somadeva
permission to excavate a part of that grave to find out what had been
done to it.
So on the third day we put our instruction to to practical use by
starting to dig our own grave. We soon found lots of potsherds and
burnt charcoal which were probably the human remains in that burial. It
had clearly been just dugout and refilled when they found nothing of
commercial value. At the primary site they exposed the top layer of
crushed pots in which the remains had been cremated. It appears that
the Skeletal remains from a grave had been brought to these burials
to be cremated in these pots.
That afternoon we walked past last years excavation site.
Dated to over 1500 BC, it is the oldest Canoe burial in
Lanka. After that excavation Prof Raj Somadeva, had refilled the site and
the PGIAr had provided funds to the local authorities to protect the
site, and maybe make it a tourist attraction. However nothing of the
expected work had been done. That invaluable site was rapidly
getting destroyed beyond any hope of recovery, rather than being
showcased for both local and foreign tourists.
We next visited two ancient settlement homes which had been uncovered
by Prof Raj Somadeva during the previous two weeks of excavation. It was
down hill from the burial sites and had been identified by the
multitude of potsherds that had been found on the surface. Lot more
had been found during the excavation and had been collected to be
reburied at the site when it is closed.
On the 4th day we continued digging our burial, to try reach down to the
depth to which it had been previously dug by villages. We did not
reach that depth. In the primary excavation the pottery was carefully
recorded and removed. The cremated remains was collected for carbon
dating. A slow and delicate operation.
That afternoon we visited an ancient tank, which had a more primitive
construction and probably older than tanks found in the ruined cities
of Lanka like Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa. This was the last day of
our Eye opener on Archaeology excavation.
We decided to do some sight seeing and visited the Bambarakanda Falls
which was almost without water because of the long drought. The flow
was seen to even stop for few seconds, although not long enough to see
the falls disappear. It was too late to walk to the base of the falls.
The next day we visited a site of early iron smelting, which had
recently been located by Prof Raj Somadeva a few kilometer south of
Haldummulla. We first visited the Soragune Devalya which had been
originally built in the 1st century BC during the era of King
Valagamba. It was currently being restored by the Archaeological Dept.
The devalya had sold some of it's land, the forests of which were
being cleared for rubber plantation. Evidence of iron smelting had
been found on one of the lands, which was at 300 meters above sea level,
down from 1000 meters of Haldummulla. There were lots of slugh left
over from the smelting process, and potsherds. The most interesting
were clay pipes with residual iron hardened within them. Probably
indication of wind blown furnaces like those found some years ago at
Samanalawewa, which is only about 12 km west of this site.
Returning back to check out of our Hotel, we were in for a different
kind of surprise. The hotel did not accept credit cards. There are no
major retail stores which accepted them either. The Bank of Ceylon and
Peoples Bank Branches could not even give a Cash advance. There is no
ATM. The nearest ATM is 15 km away in Haputale. Back in 1870 the
Oriental Bank Corporation Branch at Haldummulla issued currency
notes. The only other cities to do so were Colombo, Kandy, Galle,
Jaffna, NuwaraEliya and Badulla. However with many of the tea
plantations no-longer active, Haldummulla is now financially
unconnected to the modern world. Don't get stuck without cash to pay
your Hotel Bill. Plastic is of no use.
It had been a fabulous trip to Haldummulla where we were able to
reconnect with our past, and if you don't take your laptop with
Internet dongle you can also disconnect from the modern world as well.
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| Faint outline of ancient clay canoe burial site on estate road. |
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| Prof Raj Somadeva explains the excavation, while neighbourhood kids watch. |
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| Prof Raj Somadeva at excavated clay canoe with layer of cremation pots. |
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| Digging our own grave. |
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| The excavated foundation of an ancient settlement. |
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| Part of Clay pipe with residual iron hardened within it. |