Prehistory of Sri Lanka

Prehistory  of Sri Lanka 

This lesson  deals with the Prehistory of Sri Lanka since human habitation and cover the  

•  Palaeolithic 
• Mesolithic 
• early Iron ages   until the ancient history of Sri Lanka.  
•  
  
    

       We can see evidence of palaeolithic people in Sri Lanka from about 300,000 B.P. and possibly even as early as 500,000 B.P. There is strong evidence of prehistoric settlements in Sri Lanka by about 125,000 B.P. Evidence of a transition between the Mesolithic and the Iron Age in scant. 

Palaeolithic period 

         Finding at Iranamadu indicate that there were Palaeolithic people in Sri Lanka as early as 3000,000 B.P. There is definite evidence of settlements by Prehistoric people in Sri Lanlka by about  125,000 B.P. These people made tools of quartz and chert which are assignable to the Middle Palaeolithic period. 

Mesolithic Period 


The island appears to have been colonized by the Balangoda man prior to 34,000 B.P. They have been identified as agroup of Mesolithic hunter gatherers who lived in caves. Pahiyangala cave has yeilded the earliest evidence of automatically modrn humans in South Asia. 


 Iron Age 


A large settlement appears to have been 900 B.C. at the site of Anuradhapure where signs of an iron age culture have been found. The size of the settlement was about 15 hectares at that date, but it expanded to 50ha , to toun size within a couple of centuries.