Balangoda Man

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Balangoda man was anatomically modern human who first appeared in Sri Lanka about 34,000 BP.

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[edit] Origin

There is evidence of Paleolithic (Homo Erectus) people in Sri Lanka about 300,000 BP and possibly even as early as 500,000 BP. There is strong evidence of prehistoric settlements in Sri Lanka by about 125,000 BP.[1]

Anthropologically modern human remains have been found which have been dated back to the subsequent culture of the second Stone age period - which appears to have endured until about 1000 BCE in Sri Lanka with the transition to Iron working. This mesolithic culture was known as the Balangoda Culture.

The height of adult Balangoda people is estimated at 174 cm for males and 166 cm for females. The bones are robust, with thick skull-bones, prominent brow-ridges, depressed noses, heavy jaws and short necks. S. U. Deraniyagala, Former Director-General of Sri Lankan Archaeology, says that such geometric microliths have traditionally been considered the hallmark of the Mesolithic period as first defined in Europe. The earliest dates for the geometric microlithic tradition in Europe are around 12,000 BP. Hence it came as a surprise when such tools were found as early as 31,000 BP at Batadombalena and even at other sites such as the two coastal sites in Bundala[2] and at Belilena.

[edit] Agriculture

The Balangoda people appear to have been responsible for creating Horton Plains, in the central hills, by burning the trees in order to catch game. However, discovery of oats and barley on the plains dating to about 15,000 BCE suggests that they also may have engaged in agriculture.[3]

The skeletal remains of dogs from Nilgala cave and from Bellanbandi Palassa, dating from the Mesolithic era, about 4500 BCE, suggest that Balangoda People may have kept domestic dogs for driving game. The Sinhala Hound is similar in appearance to the Kadar Dog, the New Guinea Dog and the Dingo. It has been suggested that these could all derive from a common domestic stock. It is also possible that they may have domesticated jungle fowl, pig, water buffalo and some form of bos (possibly the ancestor of the Sri Lankan neat cattle which became extinct in the 1940s).[4]

[edit] List of prehistoric caves and locations

[edit] References

  1. ^ Deraniyagala, Siran U. "Pre- and Protohistoric settlement in Sri Lanka". XIII U. I. S. P. P. Congress Proceedings- Forli, 8 – 14 September 1996. International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences. http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/dera1.html. Retrieved 09-08-2008. 
  2. ^ http://www.srilankaecotourism.com/bundala_national_park.htm
  3. ^ Pichumani, K; T S Subramanian, S U Deraniyagala (05 - 18 June 2004). "Prehistoric basis for the rise of civilisation in Sri Lanka and southern India". Frontline 21 (12). http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/prehistory.htm. Retrieved 09-08-2008. 
  4. ^ Deraniyagala, Siran (1992). The Prehistory of Sri Lanka. Colombo: Department of Archaeological Survey. pp. 454. ISBN 955 9159 00 3. 

[edit] Sources

  • Kenneth A. R. Kennedy, "Fa Hien Cave", in Encyclopedia of Anthropology ed. H. James Birx (2006, SAGE Publications; ISBN 0-7619-3029-9)
  • Kenneth A. R. Kennedy and Siran U. Deraniyagala, Fossil remains of 28,000-year old hominids from Sri Lanka, Current Anthropology, Vol. 30, No. 3. (Jun., 1989), pp. 394-399.
  • Kenneth A. R. Kennedy, T. Disotell, W. J. Roertgen, J. Chiment and J. Sherry, Biological anthropology of upper Pleistocene hominids from Sri Lanka: Batadomba Lena and Beli Lena caves, Ancient Ceylon 6: 165-265.
  • Kenneth A. R. Kennedy, Siran U. Deraniyagala, W. J. Roertgen, J. Chiment and T. Disotell, Upper Pleistocene fossil hominids from Sri Lanka, American Journal of Physical Anthropology, 72: 441-461, 1987.
  • Annual Review of Anthropology: 1980 By Siege, Bernard J. Siegel - Page 403 & 416
  • [1] Propaedia: outline of knowledge and guide to the Britannica.--[2]-[11] Micropaedia: ready reference and index.--[12]-[30] Macropaedia: knowledge in depth.

[edit] External links


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