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The Archaeologist Dressed in White: In Memory of Siran Deraniyagala
Get PDFAn appreciation of Siran Deraniyagala
The Lifeways of Early Kantharodai, Sri Lanka
Get PDFIn the 1st millennium BCE Sri Lanka was central to the wide-spanning trading networks in the Western Indian Ocean region. Population agglomerations grew on the coast and further inland, where Anuradhapura emerged as the major central place. Parallel agglomerations formed in the south in Tissamaharama and in the north on Jaffna Peninsula in Kantharodai. The site of Kantharodai on the northern tip of Sri Lanka is the largest known early historic mound site on the Jaffna Peninsula, thought to represent the ancient centre of the region. The Early Historic occupation of Kantharodai began ca. 400-100 BCE. In our study we focus on the older historic occupation phase at Kantharodai, represented by a rich midden deposit of domestic refuse that offer insights into the environmental conditions faced by early occupants of the site and their modes of subsistence. We provide a glimpse into the subsistence strategies of the earliest settled population in Kantharodai who augmented a diet based on domesticated livestock through multiple wild species from forests, swamps, mangroves and marine habitats. Based on the faunal evidence from early Kantharodai, this complex socio-economic structure appears to have been in operation, confirming proposed models of mixed economies in operation in the Early Historic period of the region
The Evolution of Microliths at Batadomba-lena, Sri Lanka
No full textUnresolved questions about the nature and coherence of microlithic production in Sri Lanka underlay many discussions about the microlith tradition in this region as well as the origins of those technologies and norms. Previous studies have not examined whether there were changes over time in the form of the microliths themselves, and in this paper, we conduct a geometric morphometric (GM) assessment of the shape differences over time at the Batadomba-lena site in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka, excavated by Deraniyagala and Perera. We show that there were complex shifts in microlith shapes, with diversification of forms over time. This finding challenges conventional typological depictions of sameness within microliths and introduces a new approach to studying the evolution of microlith form
Aux origines du tourisme lent : le sensualisme du XVIIIe siècle et les réorientations du regard du voyageur
Get PDFLa place croissante des descriptions , souvent dénommées "tableaux" dans les récits de voyage du XVIIIe siècle, interroge. Au midi du siècle, cet essor fait pour une part écho à une demande de connaissances objectives que le succès de l\u27Encyclopédie a indéniablement confortée. Ces connaissances attendues du voyage sont en fait d\u27ordres très divers : connaissances relevant de l\u27histoire naturelle (faune, flore, roches etc) mais aussi des moeurs et de l\u27histoire des pays visités. L\u27impact des grandes sommes des Lumières (de l\u27Histoire naturelle de Buffon à l\u27Encyclopédie et à l\u27Esprit des lois de Montesquieu) est manifeste. Mais dans une autre gamme de récits de voyage, plus tardive dans le siècle, il faut également prendre en compte les auto-mises en scène d\u27un narrateur voyageur de plus en plus attaché à noter ses sensations, ses rêveries, ses sentiments et ses remémorations. Le rythme même du récit de voyage se trouve alors fortement affecté et nécessairement ralenti : les étapes du voyage ne tiennent pas tant à des repères géographiques qu\u27à la succession de paysages mentaux différents. Les Rêveries du promeneur solitaire de Jean-Jacques Rousseau s\u27avèrent alors particulièrement suggestives et les polygraphes de la fin du XVIIIe siècle (Louis Sébastien Mercier et Rétif de la Bretonne), dans le récit de leurs déambulations parisiennes, développeront particulièrement ce type d\u27écriture
Maritime Trade Pattern and Early Urbanism in the Jaffna Peninsula of Northern Sri Lanka
No full textSri Lanka has played a key role in maritime trade on a global scale since Early Historic times to the colonial period. Archaeological evidence from harbors and ports of the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka indicate very early trade connections with China to the east, Rome and Arabia to the west, and with India to the north. Ceramics and other artifacts associated with diverse cultures discovered from excavations and surveys in the Jaffna peninsula show that Jaffna has played a prominent role in Indian Ocean trade. Early urbanism and the emergence of trade related settlements in the Jaffna peninsula with the city of Kantharodai as a focal point had begun in the 6th century BCE. International trade and commerce of the Indian Ocean region had a direct impact on the development of urbanism in Kantharodai in the Jaffna peninsula, while the ports and trade network in the hinterland provide useful insights into the nature of economic activities and urbanism in the region. Finds from several key ports in the Jaffna peninsula and particularly the port on the island of Kayts indicate international trade. The city of Kantharodai as a focus for change, the city as the focus of power and domination, and the city as an organizing principle or creator of efficient space use are aspects explored in this paper
Siran Deraniyagala’s Contribution to Maritime Archaeology in Sri Lanka
Get PDFThis appreciation of Siran Deraniyagala traces certain steps taken, which promoted and established maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka. He made the Archaeological Impact Assessment (AIA) of a project for Galle Harbour possible by expanding the mandate of the Archaeology Department to cover the territorial sea, thus providing the Department with oversight and statutory control over this vast area. He made it possible for the Department to conduct such surveys even when it lacked specialists in its own cadre and freed the Department from having recourse to supplementary votes for non-budgeted activities by making the project proponents bear the cost of AIAs. The significant impact Deraniyagala had on Maritime Archaeology of Sri Lanka is described and gratefully acknowledged
In the Field with Siran and a Memorable Visit to Beli-Lena: For all the Wrong Reasons
Get PDFAn appreciation of Siran Deraniyagala
The Pioneer who Ushered a New Era in Sri Lankan Archaeology: Siran Upendra Deraniyagala
Get PDFIn this appreciation written in Sinhala, the practical, team-oriented, detailed, organized and intuitive approach of Siran Deraniyagla’s archaeological excavations and surveys is described. Stories from the field and rare images are presented herein, demonstrating how Deraniyagala led by example