Belanbandi Palassa
Belanbandi Palassa is one of the most important Mesolithic sites in
Sri Lanka and has yielded a valuable collection of human skeletal remains
popularly know as Balangoda Man. The site,
discovered by Arthur Delgoda of Morahala, was excavated over several
seasons in the late 1950’s and early
1960’s by P.E.P. Deraniyagala, yielding thirteen flexed human burials
and a large collection of faunal remains and stone artefacts that provided
the foundation for comparative assessment of ethnic origins (Kennedy,
1965; Deraniyagala, S.U.,1992). Subsequent excavation in 1971 attempted
to clarify the stratigraphic and chronological context of the site; radiocarbon
measurement yielded a date of ca. 2,070 years BP, considered to be too
young and contaminated, and a thermo-luminescence measurement on fired
quartz crystal directly associated with one of the burials gave a date
of 6,500 ± 700 years BP, although again the date was considered
young (Deraniyagala and Kennedy, 1972; Deraniyagala, S.U., 1992).
Belanbandi Palassa, which does not appear on any survey maps is located
right bank of the Uda Walawe river, above the bed of the Bellan-bandi
stream in the Uda Walawa National Park in Ratnapura district. It is approached
by following game tracks and temporary streams once one has crossed the
Pusale Ara, a northern tributary of the Uda Walawe River. The site lies
beside a nameless tributary of the Pusale that disappears during the
dry season. The locality is about 5.6 km west of Seenukgala, and 1.6
km southwest of Ulgala hill and another hill Pansadara is 3.1 km to the
northeast.
Created : March 22, 2009
Updated :
March 22, 2009
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