A Report on the Archaeology of the Lunugamvehera National Park, Sri Lanka

Abstract

This report is a survey of the archaeological sites found within the Lunugamvehera National Park in southern Sri Lanka.  The Lunugamvehera National Park (now Yala Block VI) is a designated protected area under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance of Sri Lanka and  listed as a National Park in 1995 to protect the catchment area of the Lunugamvehera Reservoir, which was completed in 1985. The topography of Lunugamvehera is of a gently rolling terrain with several large rock outcrops and small rainfed streams and tanks. Scattered on the rock outcrops are several archaeological monuments of ancient Buddhist monasteries indicating early settlements. Human settlements in the area continued till the 1980s when the population was resettled due to the construction of the reservoir. This survey is based on multiple field visits and contain verified sites as well as potential sites ranging from early historical monastic sites to abandoned 20th century settlements. The report documents ten verified archaeological sites, three potential archaeological sites and thirty five unverified archaeological sites and features. The archaeology of the park has not been studied scientifically and this report hopes to encourage further scientific investigation into the archaeology of the park.