Funday Times

Gaveshaka visits the latest gallery in the Colombo Museum
All about the Pre-historic era
The latest gallery in the Colombo National Museum, opened recently, deals with the Pre-history of Sri Lanka. A number of panels describing the evolution of man and the different stages of the Pre-historic age are displayed. These are well illustrated and convey a lot of information.

From the origins of man and the beginnings of his evolution up to the beginning of the time when hunting began, is known as the Pre-historic era. Man spent 80% of his evolutionary period in the Pre-historic age. There are several noticeable factors of the way of life of the Pre-historic man. Among these are: the use of stone tools, bone tools, hunting, gathering of food and living in caves. According to archaeological research, the Pre-historic age of Sri Lanka ranges from around 250,000 years prior to the present era until 1000 B C (Before Christ).

Several sites and stages have been identified as those belonging to the Pre-historic Sri Lanka. Researchers have listed these out as follows:

Man in Sri Lanka during the Pre-historic period lived adapting to the changing climatic conditions and the geological atmosphere.
The archaeological surveys have so far revealed several stages of the Pre-historic era. The Paleolithic ( 'Puraa shila yugaya' in Sinhala) period is the first. This in turn is divided into three - lower, middle and upper. Then comes the Mesolithic ('Madya shila yugay' ) age followed by the Neolithic ('Nava shila yugaya') age.

In the Lower Paleolithic period ('pahala puraa shila yugaya') man commenced activities with the use of stone implements. Started over 2.5 million years ago, it has extended over a period of 250,000 years. The earliest evidence of the primitive men in the Indian sub-continent was at the foothills of the Himalayas in modern Pakistan. The date has been determined as that of about two million years before the present day.

It has been ascertained that primitives of South India and Sri Lanka had begun to use stone implements about the same period of time. The era goes back to a period of 500,000 to 1,000,000 years. During the period between 1,000,000 and 800,000 years, India and Sri Lanka were one land mass and the two were separated only about 7,000 years ago.

Researchers have still not been able to find reliable evidence with regard to the Lower Paleolithic period of Sri Lanka. However, fossilized remains of animals and stone implements have been found from the wet strata of gem pits known as "Ratnapura beds". Stone implements have also been discovered from the sandy ground of the south west and northern parts of Sri Lanka. Mihihagalkanda is one such site.

Certain evidence has been found about the Middle Paleolithic period with the Iranamadu formations and environs of sea stone beds which have been dated to a period between 125,000 and 80,000 years before the present day. Artifacts from Ratnapura beds too belong to this era.

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