New excavations reveal the life of the man-on-the-street in 3rd Century BC :

Citadel of the commoner

This new exploration project fulfils the vacuum of arhceological knowledge of the role played by communities outside the city of Anuradhapura, which Prishantha claims represents the first multi-disciplinary attempt to model the development of an Early Historic city in South Asia, and differs significantly from the majority of Early Historic excavations and research projects in Sri Lanka which focused on either urban forms or monastic sites
 

by Aditha Dissanayake

"You must be crazy" is the response you tend to meet with when announcing an intention to visit the North these days. But for the courageous, willing to overlook the backdrop of simmering warfare, the North-Central region of the country continues to offer astonishing rewards.

Explosions. News of air raids. Warnings saying not to go, do not deter them.

Two weeks after the incident at Kabbethigollawa, in spite of being warned to stay away from the A9, Prof. Robin Coningham from the University of Durham, UK and Dr. Prishantha Gunawardhana, Head of the Department of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya, with their team of archaeologists were in Anuradhapura, in search of the ever elusive past; to dig deep, this time, not into the controversies and tableax surrounding kings, queens and their kinsmen but to discover how you and I, the proletariat, would have lived had we been born in 3rd Century BC.

Working in collaboration with several foreign universities, the project aims to fill the vacuum when it comes to knowing the life and times of the ordinary man on the street, when Anuradhapura was the capital of the country.

In archaeology jargon, the "sample universe" is a 50km circle centred within the Citadel of Anuradhapura and includes rocky outcrops, ridges, streams, rivers, grasslands and paddyfields. Ten archaeologists walking in a line parallel to the Malwatu Oya have already identified possible settlements and roads that linked the city with the coast.

Grateful to the villagers living along the river, Prishantha says "They gave us their fullest cooperation, allowed us to dig their gardens and often showed us places we did not know of, leading us to discover valuable artifacts".

Dismissing the accusation that foreigners cause more harm than good when they come to third world countries on archaeological expeditions (i.e the abandoned excavation site in Kirinda- a legacy from a group of German archaeologists) as a false statement Prishantha says there is no clause in the Act on Archaeology which says foreign assistance should not be sought when conducting archaeological surveys.

"Moreover there is tremendous benefit to us when we collaborate with foreign universities". He adds. " The students get the chance to get exposed to new technology. The staff is given the opportunity to study in prestigious foreign universities, their articles are published in international journals, in short the development of the staff is tremendous due to this liaison with British and Indian universities".

He also sees this as the best way out when it comes to finding the much needed capital necessary to fund the excavations. "This is the only way out for us, living in a developing country, with meagre funds for excavation projects. This is the only way we can keep abreast with the rest of the world".

Even though the work of archaeologists was once described by a famous Sri Lankan writer as talking about a man's wife, the wife's family, his brother, his children etc by looking at the imprint of his foot on the sand it's hard not to believe Prishantha when he shows a bead, a piece of pottery and says the lives of those who lived within a 50Km radius of the Citadel of Anuradhapura were similar to the simple life of the villagers of today.

"They laboured hard to eke out a living making pots and metal equipment which they transported to the city of Anuradhapura to be purchased by the affluent" says Prishantha.

The findings so far include the recording of one potter's village, four villages of blacksmiths, burial sites, stone bridges etc, while other hinterland activities discovered by the archaeologists include hunting, brickmaking, logging and fishing.

In spite of the present situation, Dr. P and his team are planning to return to their excavations in the near future. Rejoicing in the artifacts discovered so far, he is glad he and his team ignored the naysayers and ventured on this mission; the sights discovered are balm to every archaeologist's soul.

****

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Anuradhapura is one of Asia's major archaeological and pilgrimage centres. The walled core of the city, measured 100 hectares was surrounded by a 25 square kilometre spread of monasteries.

The Sri Lankan capital for 1500 years, its kings constructed 100m high brick stupas and three vast reservoirs. Although located in the centre of the island, the city attracted pilgrims from across South and East Asia and also functioned as a hub for Indian Ocean trades as indicated by evidence of Greco-Roman glass, metalwork, early islamic glass and glazed ceramics etc.

The city and the hinterland are generally believed to have been abandoned at the end of the first millennium AD due to pressure from the expansionist kingdoms of South India.