Over the last three decades, Sri Lanka has risen to international prominence as a key area for ex... more Over the last three decades, Sri Lanka has risen to international prominence as a key area for exploring past forager adaptations. Much of this discussion has focused on the lowland rainforests of the Wet Zone of the island, and their preservation of the earliest fossils of our species, bone tools, and microlithic technologies in the region ca. 45,000 years ago. It has been recognized that the northern and southern coasts of Sri Lanka represent crucial locales for studying human occupation and adaptation through the Pleistocene and Holocene. Here, we revisit the important shell midden site of Mini-athiliya (dating to ca. 4,000 cal. years BP), on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, which has yielded human remains alongside microlithic stone tools and animal remains. We present a comparative analysis of body size variation of the human remains belonging to the HMA 6 adult skeleton from Mini-athiliya with a wider database of foragers to investigate local adaptations. We also apply stable ...
Few human burials from Sri Lankan archaeological contexts have been described. Here we report on ... more Few human burials from Sri Lankan archaeological contexts have been described. Here we report on the analysis of two early Holocene skeletons, FH8, a young adult female skeleton excavated from Fa Hien-lena and dated to 10,640-10,139 cal BP, and BK1, a middle adult male skeleton excavated at Kuragala and dated to 7,170-6,950 cal BP. The skeletons are both highly fragmentary, which poses challenges for their thorough analysis. However, this paper describes the archaeological context, mortuary treatment and archaeothanatology of the burials, post-mortem taphonomy of human remains, the osteobiography of both individuals, and some general observations on their morphology relative to one another and a broader range of late Pleistocene and Holocene foragers. The results demonstrate common elements of funerary treatment between these two burials, such as interment on the left side with right hands placed near or over the face. The FH8 individual died at a young age and shows some signs of ...
Research on the prehistory of Sri Lanka and the name of Siran Deraniyagala are entwined in a last... more Research on the prehistory of Sri Lanka and the name of Siran Deraniyagala are entwined in a lasting legacy. Harvard-trained prehistorian and former Director-General of the Department of Archaeology of the Government of Sri Lanka, Deraniyagala was the founder of modern Sri Lankan prehistoric archaeology and has been responsible for significant discoveries, while setting the direction and emphases in the study of prehistory for the island and the region. Siran Upendra Deraniyagala was born in 1942 to a prominent family of scholars with his father being the famous naturalist Dr. Paulus Edward Pieris (P.E.P) Deraniyagala and his paternal grandfather the famous historian Sir Paul E. Pieris. Having joined the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon as the first Assistant Commissioner of the Excavation Branch and eventually in the position of Director-General, Siran Deraniyagala guided the archaeological scene of Sri Lanka with problem oriented archaeological research. His research methodology an...
The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association ... more The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we generated a de novo genome assembly of the black rat, 67 ancient black rat mitogenomes and 36 ancient nuclear genomes from sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result ...
The site of Batadomba-lena in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka, yields osseous technologies in associati... more The site of Batadomba-lena in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka, yields osseous technologies in association with Homo sapiens back to c.36,000 cal years BP. Alongside isolated finds from the nearby site of Fa Hien-lena, these bone tools are the earliest of their kind in South Asia and can contribute to discussions of the adaptive context of osseous technology during Late Pleistocene human dispersals beyond Africa. Here we describe 204 bone points recovered from the Batadomba-lena rockshelter during excavations conducted in the 1980s and 2000s. Contextual analysis, alongside detailed stratigraphic and chronological information, indicates that Homo sapiens in Sri Lanka were using osseous technologies as part of a dedicated rainforest subsistence strategy by at least 36,000 cal years BP. Future work on the Sri Lankan material should acknowledge the importance of placing bone toolkits within their wider environmental and social context.
ABSTRACT Here we conduct the first direct metric examination of two early regional manifestations... more ABSTRACT Here we conduct the first direct metric examination of two early regional manifestations of microlithic industries – the Howiesons Poort of southern Africa (c. 65–60 ka) and the Microlithic industry of South Asia (c. 38–12 ka). Inter-regional comparative analysis of microlithic industries is rare, but can contribute much to our understanding of technological systems in the past. Metric and qualitative variables were recorded on cores, debitage, and tools from Rose Cottage Cave and Umhlatuzana, South Africa, and Batadomba-lena, Sri Lanka, with the aim of conducting a first-stage technological assessment of the degree of technological homogeneity and diversity within these rich microlithic assemblages. The lithic methodology employed here uses the full range of lithic by-products, as opposed to an approach based on tool typology alone. Preliminary analyses reveal areas of significant variation in inter-regional technological strategies. These include differences in blade production and blank selection, variation in microlith typology and morphology, disparate quartz reduction processes designed to produce similar tool types, varying degrees of utilisation of bipolar technology, and the existence of distinct reduction trajectories within sites. The examination of the diversity of microlithic assemblages through the use of detailed technological attribute analyses demonstrates a useful alternative methodology for the way we examine behavioural variability, and is a first step towards a thorough assessment of the place of microliths in models of human dispersals.
Fa-Hien Lena provides evidence for bone-tipped arrows and brilliant symbolic displays 48,000 year... more Fa-Hien Lena provides evidence for bone-tipped arrows and brilliant symbolic displays 48,000 years ago in tropical Sri Lanka.
Defining the distinctive capacities of Homo sapiens relative to other hominins is a major focus f... more Defining the distinctive capacities of Homo sapiens relative to other hominins is a major focus for human evolutionary studies. It has been argued that the procurement of small, difficult-to-catch, agile prey is a hallmark of complex behavior unique to our species; however, most research in this regard has been limited to the last 20,000 years in Europe and the Levant. Here, we present detailed faunal assemblage and taphonomic data from Fa-Hien Lena Cave in Sri Lanka that demonstrates specialized, sophisticated hunting of semi-arboreal and arboreal monkey and squirrel populations from ca. 45,000 years ago, in a tropical rainforest environment. Facilitated by complex osseous and microlithic technologies, we argue these data highlight that the early capture of small, elusive mammals was part of the plastic behavior of Homo sapiens that allowed it to rapidly colonize a series of extreme environments that were apparently untouched by its hominin relatives.
In the 1st millennium BCE Sri Lanka was central to the wide-spanning trading networks in the West... more In 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 d...
Unresolved questions about the nature and coherence of microlithic production in Sri Lanka underl... more Unresolved 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.
Research on the prehistory of Sri Lanka and the name of Siran Deraniyagala are entwined in a last... more Research on the prehistory of Sri Lanka and the name of Siran Deraniyagala are entwined in a lasting legacy. Harvard-trained prehistorian and former Director-General of the Department of Archaeology of the Government of Sri Lanka, Deraniyagala was the founder of modern Sri Lankan prehistoric archaeology and has been responsible for significant discoveries, while setting the direction and emphases in the study of prehistory for the island and the region. Siran Upendra Deraniyagala was born in 1942 to a prominent family of scholars with his father being the famous naturalist Dr. Paulus Edward Pieris (P.E.P) Deraniyagala and his paternal grandfather the famous historian Sir Paul E. Pieris. Having joined the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon as the first Assistant Commissioner of the Excavation Branch and eventually in the position of Director-General, Siran Deraniyagala guided the archaeological scene of Sri Lanka with problem oriented archaeological research. His research methodology and outstanding knowledge of survey and stratigraphic practice and excavation set the stage for subsequent professionalism in field archaeology in the country.
Batadomba-lena, a rockshelter in the rainforest of southwestern Sri Lanka, has yielded some of th... more Batadomba-lena, a rockshelter in the rainforest of southwestern Sri Lanka, has yielded some of the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in South Asia. H. sapiens foragers were present at Batadomba-lena from ca. 36,000 cal BP to the terminal Pleistocene and Holocene. Human occupation was sporadic before the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Batadomba-lena's Late Pleistocene inhabitants foraged for a broad spectrum of plant and mainly arboreal animal resources (monkeys, squirrels and abundant rainforest snails), derived from a landscape that retained equatorial rainforest cover through periods of pronounced regional aridity during the LGM. Juxtaposed hearths, palaeofloors with habitation debris, postholes, excavated pits, and animal and plant remains, including abundant Canarium nutshells, reflect intensive habitation of the rockshelter in times of monsoon intensification and biome reorganisation after ca. 16,000 cal BP. This period corresponds with further broadening of the economic spectrum, evidenced though increased contribution of squirrels, freshwater snails and Canarium nuts in the diet of the rockshelter occupants. Microliths are more abundant and morphologically diverse in the earliest, pre-LGM layer and decline markedly during intensified rockshelter use on the wane of the LGM. We propose that changing toolkits and subsistence base reflect changing foraging practices, from shorter-lived visits of highly mobile foraging bands in the period before the LGM, to intensified use of Batadomba-lena and intense foraging for diverse resources around the site during and, especially, following the LGM. Traces of ochre, marine shell beads and other objects from an 80 km-distant shore, and, possibly burials reflect symbolic practices from the outset of human presence at the rockshelter. Evidence for differentiated use of space (individual hearths, possible habitation structures) is present in LGM and terminal Pleistocene layers. The record of Batadomba-lena demonstrates that Late Pleistocene pathways to (aspects of) behavioural 'modernity' (composite tools, practice of symbolism and ritual, broad spectrum economy) were diverse and ecologically contingent.
Zeitschrift für Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen , 2010
Two megalithic cist graves were exposed at Kalotuwawa (Sri Lanka). The cists showed traces of hea... more Two megalithic cist graves were exposed at Kalotuwawa (Sri Lanka). The cists showed traces of heavy burning and were fi lled with ashes, charcoal and a few calcinated human bones. Potsherds in the pits belonged to grave goods. The vessels were of Black-and-Red Ware and common Red/Brown Ware. Radiocarbon samples give a date of 135 ± 51 B. C.
Over the last three decades, Sri Lanka has risen to international prominence as a key area for ex... more Over the last three decades, Sri Lanka has risen to international prominence as a key area for exploring past forager adaptations. Much of this discussion has focused on the lowland rainforests of the Wet Zone of the island, and their preservation of the earliest fossils of our species, bone tools, and microlithic technologies in the region ca. 45,000 years ago. It has been recognized that the northern and southern coasts of Sri Lanka represent crucial locales for studying human occupation and adaptation through the Pleistocene and Holocene. Here, we revisit the important shell midden site of Mini-athiliya (dating to ca. 4,000 cal. years BP), on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, which has yielded human remains alongside microlithic stone tools and animal remains. We present a comparative analysis of body size variation of the human remains belonging to the HMA 6 adult skeleton from Mini-athiliya with a wider database of foragers to investigate local adaptations. We also apply stable ...
Few human burials from Sri Lankan archaeological contexts have been described. Here we report on ... more Few human burials from Sri Lankan archaeological contexts have been described. Here we report on the analysis of two early Holocene skeletons, FH8, a young adult female skeleton excavated from Fa Hien-lena and dated to 10,640-10,139 cal BP, and BK1, a middle adult male skeleton excavated at Kuragala and dated to 7,170-6,950 cal BP. The skeletons are both highly fragmentary, which poses challenges for their thorough analysis. However, this paper describes the archaeological context, mortuary treatment and archaeothanatology of the burials, post-mortem taphonomy of human remains, the osteobiography of both individuals, and some general observations on their morphology relative to one another and a broader range of late Pleistocene and Holocene foragers. The results demonstrate common elements of funerary treatment between these two burials, such as interment on the left side with right hands placed near or over the face. The FH8 individual died at a young age and shows some signs of ...
Research on the prehistory of Sri Lanka and the name of Siran Deraniyagala are entwined in a last... more Research on the prehistory of Sri Lanka and the name of Siran Deraniyagala are entwined in a lasting legacy. Harvard-trained prehistorian and former Director-General of the Department of Archaeology of the Government of Sri Lanka, Deraniyagala was the founder of modern Sri Lankan prehistoric archaeology and has been responsible for significant discoveries, while setting the direction and emphases in the study of prehistory for the island and the region. Siran Upendra Deraniyagala was born in 1942 to a prominent family of scholars with his father being the famous naturalist Dr. Paulus Edward Pieris (P.E.P) Deraniyagala and his paternal grandfather the famous historian Sir Paul E. Pieris. Having joined the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon as the first Assistant Commissioner of the Excavation Branch and eventually in the position of Director-General, Siran Deraniyagala guided the archaeological scene of Sri Lanka with problem oriented archaeological research. His research methodology an...
The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association ... more The distribution of the black rat (Rattus rattus) has been heavily influenced by its association with humans. The dispersal history of this non-native commensal rodent across Europe, however, remains poorly understood, and different introductions may have occurred during the Roman and medieval periods. Here, in order to reconstruct the population history of European black rats, we generated a de novo genome assembly of the black rat, 67 ancient black rat mitogenomes and 36 ancient nuclear genomes from sites spanning the 1st-17th centuries CE in Europe and North Africa. Analyses of mitochondrial DNA confirm that black rats were introduced into the Mediterranean and Europe from Southwest Asia. Genomic analyses of the ancient rats reveal a population turnover in temperate Europe between the 6th and 10th centuries CE, coincident with an archaeologically attested decline in the black rat population. The near disappearance and re-emergence of black rats in Europe may have been the result ...
The site of Batadomba-lena in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka, yields osseous technologies in associati... more The site of Batadomba-lena in the Wet Zone of Sri Lanka, yields osseous technologies in association with Homo sapiens back to c.36,000 cal years BP. Alongside isolated finds from the nearby site of Fa Hien-lena, these bone tools are the earliest of their kind in South Asia and can contribute to discussions of the adaptive context of osseous technology during Late Pleistocene human dispersals beyond Africa. Here we describe 204 bone points recovered from the Batadomba-lena rockshelter during excavations conducted in the 1980s and 2000s. Contextual analysis, alongside detailed stratigraphic and chronological information, indicates that Homo sapiens in Sri Lanka were using osseous technologies as part of a dedicated rainforest subsistence strategy by at least 36,000 cal years BP. Future work on the Sri Lankan material should acknowledge the importance of placing bone toolkits within their wider environmental and social context.
ABSTRACT Here we conduct the first direct metric examination of two early regional manifestations... more ABSTRACT Here we conduct the first direct metric examination of two early regional manifestations of microlithic industries – the Howiesons Poort of southern Africa (c. 65–60 ka) and the Microlithic industry of South Asia (c. 38–12 ka). Inter-regional comparative analysis of microlithic industries is rare, but can contribute much to our understanding of technological systems in the past. Metric and qualitative variables were recorded on cores, debitage, and tools from Rose Cottage Cave and Umhlatuzana, South Africa, and Batadomba-lena, Sri Lanka, with the aim of conducting a first-stage technological assessment of the degree of technological homogeneity and diversity within these rich microlithic assemblages. The lithic methodology employed here uses the full range of lithic by-products, as opposed to an approach based on tool typology alone. Preliminary analyses reveal areas of significant variation in inter-regional technological strategies. These include differences in blade production and blank selection, variation in microlith typology and morphology, disparate quartz reduction processes designed to produce similar tool types, varying degrees of utilisation of bipolar technology, and the existence of distinct reduction trajectories within sites. The examination of the diversity of microlithic assemblages through the use of detailed technological attribute analyses demonstrates a useful alternative methodology for the way we examine behavioural variability, and is a first step towards a thorough assessment of the place of microliths in models of human dispersals.
Fa-Hien Lena provides evidence for bone-tipped arrows and brilliant symbolic displays 48,000 year... more Fa-Hien Lena provides evidence for bone-tipped arrows and brilliant symbolic displays 48,000 years ago in tropical Sri Lanka.
Defining the distinctive capacities of Homo sapiens relative to other hominins is a major focus f... more Defining the distinctive capacities of Homo sapiens relative to other hominins is a major focus for human evolutionary studies. It has been argued that the procurement of small, difficult-to-catch, agile prey is a hallmark of complex behavior unique to our species; however, most research in this regard has been limited to the last 20,000 years in Europe and the Levant. Here, we present detailed faunal assemblage and taphonomic data from Fa-Hien Lena Cave in Sri Lanka that demonstrates specialized, sophisticated hunting of semi-arboreal and arboreal monkey and squirrel populations from ca. 45,000 years ago, in a tropical rainforest environment. Facilitated by complex osseous and microlithic technologies, we argue these data highlight that the early capture of small, elusive mammals was part of the plastic behavior of Homo sapiens that allowed it to rapidly colonize a series of extreme environments that were apparently untouched by its hominin relatives.
In the 1st millennium BCE Sri Lanka was central to the wide-spanning trading networks in the West... more In 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 d...
Unresolved questions about the nature and coherence of microlithic production in Sri Lanka underl... more Unresolved 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.
Research on the prehistory of Sri Lanka and the name of Siran Deraniyagala are entwined in a last... more Research on the prehistory of Sri Lanka and the name of Siran Deraniyagala are entwined in a lasting legacy. Harvard-trained prehistorian and former Director-General of the Department of Archaeology of the Government of Sri Lanka, Deraniyagala was the founder of modern Sri Lankan prehistoric archaeology and has been responsible for significant discoveries, while setting the direction and emphases in the study of prehistory for the island and the region. Siran Upendra Deraniyagala was born in 1942 to a prominent family of scholars with his father being the famous naturalist Dr. Paulus Edward Pieris (P.E.P) Deraniyagala and his paternal grandfather the famous historian Sir Paul E. Pieris. Having joined the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon as the first Assistant Commissioner of the Excavation Branch and eventually in the position of Director-General, Siran Deraniyagala guided the archaeological scene of Sri Lanka with problem oriented archaeological research. His research methodology and outstanding knowledge of survey and stratigraphic practice and excavation set the stage for subsequent professionalism in field archaeology in the country.
Batadomba-lena, a rockshelter in the rainforest of southwestern Sri Lanka, has yielded some of th... more Batadomba-lena, a rockshelter in the rainforest of southwestern Sri Lanka, has yielded some of the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in South Asia. H. sapiens foragers were present at Batadomba-lena from ca. 36,000 cal BP to the terminal Pleistocene and Holocene. Human occupation was sporadic before the global Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Batadomba-lena's Late Pleistocene inhabitants foraged for a broad spectrum of plant and mainly arboreal animal resources (monkeys, squirrels and abundant rainforest snails), derived from a landscape that retained equatorial rainforest cover through periods of pronounced regional aridity during the LGM. Juxtaposed hearths, palaeofloors with habitation debris, postholes, excavated pits, and animal and plant remains, including abundant Canarium nutshells, reflect intensive habitation of the rockshelter in times of monsoon intensification and biome reorganisation after ca. 16,000 cal BP. This period corresponds with further broadening of the economic spectrum, evidenced though increased contribution of squirrels, freshwater snails and Canarium nuts in the diet of the rockshelter occupants. Microliths are more abundant and morphologically diverse in the earliest, pre-LGM layer and decline markedly during intensified rockshelter use on the wane of the LGM. We propose that changing toolkits and subsistence base reflect changing foraging practices, from shorter-lived visits of highly mobile foraging bands in the period before the LGM, to intensified use of Batadomba-lena and intense foraging for diverse resources around the site during and, especially, following the LGM. Traces of ochre, marine shell beads and other objects from an 80 km-distant shore, and, possibly burials reflect symbolic practices from the outset of human presence at the rockshelter. Evidence for differentiated use of space (individual hearths, possible habitation structures) is present in LGM and terminal Pleistocene layers. The record of Batadomba-lena demonstrates that Late Pleistocene pathways to (aspects of) behavioural 'modernity' (composite tools, practice of symbolism and ritual, broad spectrum economy) were diverse and ecologically contingent.
Zeitschrift für Archäologie Außereuropäischer Kulturen , 2010
Two megalithic cist graves were exposed at Kalotuwawa (Sri Lanka). The cists showed traces of hea... more Two megalithic cist graves were exposed at Kalotuwawa (Sri Lanka). The cists showed traces of heavy burning and were fi lled with ashes, charcoal and a few calcinated human bones. Potsherds in the pits belonged to grave goods. The vessels were of Black-and-Red Ware and common Red/Brown Ware. Radiocarbon samples give a date of 135 ± 51 B. C.
Guest Editorial introducing the Volume felicitating the achievements of Dr. Siran Deraniyagala in... more Guest Editorial introducing the Volume felicitating the achievements of Dr. Siran Deraniyagala in Ancient Lanka (2022): Siran Deraniyagala Commemoration Volume.
Canadian Association for Biological Anthropology, 2022
The Galle Fort, a World Heritage site located on a peninsula jutting out of the southwestern coas... more The Galle Fort, a World Heritage site located on a peninsula jutting out of the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka was first fortified on the land front by the Portuguese in the 1500s. The Dutch captured it in 1640 and built extensive fortifications upon existing ramparts, bastions and on the sea fronts, making it one of the largest Dutch Forts in South Asia. It was later taken over by the British. The objectives of the archaeological project undertaken in 2019-2020 were to distinguish the original structural plans and phases of the constructional features, as a precursor to conservation, and to recover archaeological evidence of the activities and subsistence pattern during the late Historic period of intense European colonial intervention. We report the bioarchaeological remains recovered from the transported backfill of sandy clay and rubble excavated from the space between the two retaining walls of the ramparts. These remains are associated with bastions and landmarks such as the Star Bastion, Sun Bastion, Moon Bastion, Lighthouse and Black Fort. Within this mixed backfill, highly fragmented human and animal remains commingled with artifacts from numerous cultural phases were recovered. The faunal assemblage included bones and teeth of domesticated animals such as pigs (Sus domesticus), goats (Capra hircus), cows (Bos indicus), water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), chickens (Gallus domesticus) and dogs (Canis familiaris). Bones of large fish, bivalves, cowries and conch shells were also identified. Fragmented human skeletal and dental remains were also prominently present within this backfill. Pending further detailed analysis, preliminary observations revealed cut marks on both animal and human bones recovered from the Galle Fort ramparts. These bioarchaeological finds and observations offer insights into colonial era activities and subsistence within this administrative, military and economic coastal hub, while corroborating historical records that refer to the violence and disruption faced by the colonized.
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Papers by H. Nimal Perera