History Gr-10 Topic: 02. Ancient Settlements

2.1. Settlements in Pre-historic Era

v The history of human existence in Sri' Lanka is divided into three stages what are they?

1.      The pre-historic era

2.      The proto-historic era

3.      The early historic era

v What is pre-historic era in Sri Lanka?

The period which was before the past, that is described in the literary sources in commonly named as "the pre-historic era". Another name for this era is "the stone age".

v How did the beginning of the "expansion of settlements in Sri Lanka" take place?

·         Sri Lanka became a human habitation one hundred and twenty five thousand years ago.

·         The Homo Sapiens, who are called the modern man, migrated to this country across the Indian Ocean. From then on, they spread themselves in various parts of the country and adapted themselves to different environmental conditions in those areas. Their main dependency method was hunting and roaming to gather food.

2.1.1. The Expansion of settlements in Different Climatic Zones

v What are the 8main environmental zones where the community which belonged to the Stone Age had lived?

1.      Lowland arid zone

2.      Lowland semi-arid zone

3.      Lowland dry zone

4.      Lowland intermediate dry zone

5.      Mountainous dry intermediate zone

6.      Lowland intermediate wet zone

7.      Wet mountainous zone

8.      Wet highland mountainous zone

2.1.2. Time Period

v What is the time period of the stone age?

·         Stone Age had existed continuously from before 125,000 years up to 1800 B.C.

·         Some evidence of the stone age has been discovered from the gravel layer belonging to the, Iranarnadu formation located in the depth of 45 feet, form the surface level of the earth, in the area called Pathirajawela in Hambantota district. It is scientifically analysed and proven by "optically stimulated luminescence method”.

v What are the pre-historic settlement areas in Sri Lanka, confirmed with evidence through optically stimulated luminescence?

Ø  lranamadu Formation                   125,000 yrs

Ø  Bundala Wellegangoda                  80,000 yrs

Ø  Pahiyangala                                   38,000 yrs

Ø  Kuruwia Batadombalena               28,000 yrs

Ø  Kitulgala Belilena                          15,000 yrs

Ø  Bellajibendipelassa                        12,000 yrs

Ø  Attanagoda Alulena                      10,350 yrs

Ø  Maniyamgama                                 7,900 yrs

Ø  Sigiriya Pothana                             5,800 yrs

Ø  Sigirya Aligala                                 5,500 yrs

Ø  Uda Malala                                      5,330 yrs

Ø  Vlathota                                           3,800 yrs

Ø  H nagahapugala                               3,370 yrs

2.1.3. Key Features of Settlements

v What were the key features of pre-historic settlements?

·         Availability of water.

·         The abundance of natural resources needed for food.

·         Availability of various types of stones for their tools.

·         To live in open areas in dry season.

·         To live in natural caves during rainy seasons.

v What are the pre-historic outdoor camps and cave habitations found in Sri Lanka?

·         Minihagalkada, Bundala, Pathirajawela (Outdoor camps in the coastal areas)

·         Pahiyangala, Batadombalena, Kithulgala, Belilena (Low land wet zone caves)

·         Pothana and Aligala in Sigiriya (Low land wet zone caves)

·         Bellanbendipelassa (outdoor camp in low land dry zone)

·         Bandarawela, Horton plains (Outdoor hunting places in hillside areas)

2.1.4. Life Style

v What sort of a life style was there in pre-historic era?

The people in this era led a nomadic life mostly during the best part of the year. Their population consisted of a collection of small groups with 15-25 members. The maximum number of members in a group was around 50. They walked about 7 km a day in search of food. Evidence shows that on some occasions they buried the dead bodies of their relatives in and out of their caves. 30 human skeletons have been discovered from Bellanbendipelassa while 12 from the Belilena in Kithulgala and 9 skeletons from Pahiyangala were found.

2.1.5. Food Style

v Name the animals that were hunted for food, in Stone Age.

·         Gaur

·         Buffalo

·         Black bear,

·         Wild boar

·         Deer

·         Spotted deer

·         Mouse deer

·         Porcupine

·         Rabbit

·         Stag

·         Giant squirrel

·         Mongoose

·         Beaver

·         Skunk

·         Monkey

·         Jungle fowl

·         Python

·         Iguana

·         Fresh water fish

·         Snail

v What are the plant food eaten in Stone Age?

·         Wild breadfruit

·         Wild plantains

·         Wild breadfruit seeds

·         Gonala

·         Katuala

·         The kernel of jaggery palm (kind)

·         The kernel of "Dothalu"

2.1.6. Technology

v How was the technology in pre-historic era?

The stone tools are the only proof that reveals about the technology in this era. The stone tools in small size, which are called geometric micro stone tools by archaeologists, help gain a descriptive knowledge on the technology of the Stone Age. The length of each of these is 4.5cm.

They had used more alabaster and a little of "Kahanda" stone to make these micro stone tools. These were made for hunting animals, cutting, scratching, chopping and digging. Apart from these some tools such as hammers and grinding stones had been made using granite.

2.1.7 Nature of People's Physical Body

v What was the nature of people's physical body in the pre-historic era?

Generally the height of a grown up male belonged to this era, was 174 cm, while that of a female was not more than 166cm. They had large teeth comparatively and a wide nose and chin. The size of an adult male’s brain was 1600 cm³. It was 920 cm³ in a grown female. The maximum life span of pre-historic main might have been about 35-40 years.  

2.1.8. Rituals

v What sort of rituals were there in per-historic times?

Clear information about the rituals of this era is found through the burial of dead bodies. A skull of a man perforated, dividing it into two was found in an excavation in Ravana ella cave. The rough edges and the protruded parts of the skull had been rubbed, leveled and painted with brown stones red in colour. Similarly painted parts of skeletons have been discovered in the Pahiyangala cave as well. The dead bodies had been buried and kept for some time to decay. Later they were dug out and buried and kept for same time to decay. Later they were dug out and buried back. The skeletons found in “Batadomba lena”, Kuruwita had been curled and buried.

2.2 Settlements in Proto-historic Era·

What is proto-historic era? The period between the end of the pre-historic era and the beginning of the historic era is called the proto-historic era. The duration of this era is 2400 B.C. - 400 B.C.

2.2.1. Settlements in Proto-historic Era

v How did it begin?

It began with the gradual tendency towards depending on plant food mostly and with the use of iron. At the end of ice age a suitable environment was created for agriculture due to the increase of temperature in the world.

Moreover the population increased considerably and a new social style was created.

v Which period does the oldest proof about the pre-historic era of Sri Lanka belong to?

The oldest proof about the proto­-historic era of Sri Lanka belongs to 2400 B.C. More than 50 locations belong to this era have been found in Sri Lanka according to archaeological exploration. This information was found by the "Galsohonkanaththa burial" near ancient settlements.

This kind of burial grounds were discovered from Ibbankatuwa near Dambulla, Yapahuwa, Yatigalapoththa near Galewela, Haldummulla in Uva province and Beragala.

2.2.2. Dating

v What are the proto-historic locations (and their assured dates) found so far through excavation?

·         Beragala burial ground                                  - 2400 B.C.

·         Hadumulla burial ground                              - 1750 B.C.

·         Ranchamadama burial ground                       - 1350 B.C.

·         Uda Ranchamadama residential place          - 1129 B.C.

v Appreciate the importance of clay tub burials when dating the proto-historic era.

According to dating clay tub burials are older. Not only that, when the things discovered in the clay tub burials, they are not only primary on the basis of technology, but also weak on the basis of diversity.

A considerable number of stones ­were discovered from clay tub burials. Depositing a plenty of stone tools is a strong evidence that proves their archaism.

2.2.3. The Nature of Settlements

v What is the nature of protohistoric settlements?

The main feature of this era is that people abandoned their pre-historic livelihood of hunting and built up permanent settlements and habitations. The major evidence that reflects this characteristic introduced as sedentism is the remnant of houses that have been discovered so far.

Such a house was found from Udarancharnadama in Rathnapura district in 2009. The house is 10.20 m x 6.80 m in size and rectangular ar in shape.

The walls were in wattle and daub and the roof was thatched with something similar to "Iluk".

2.2.4. Life Style

v What was the life style of proto-historic man?

The bones of animals such as deer, cattle, wild boar and giant squirrel were found in excavations of the "Udaranchamadama" house. These evidences show that although they got used to an agricultural lifestyle, they did not completely abandon hunting.

Among the other things found in the house were clay beads, an iron stick used to apply Kohl on ladies’ eyes, two brown stones used to colour the body and two grinding stones to rub on the brown stones. It is believed that the women lived in that ere were also interested in beauty culture.

2.2.5. Technology

v What was the nature of technology in proto-historic era?

The beginning if the transformation of metal technology and clay pottery from making stone tools took place during this time.

As iron was a strong metal that they used it in tools for clearing jungles, digging the ground and ploughing easily. The painted clay pot found in the Udaranchamadama house reflects the high technological standard of making clay items at that time.

They laid the foundation in a way that sinking does not happen and built walls levelled to the ground of it. The clay beads found show their technical mastery in making them.

2.3. The Settlements in Early Historic Era

v What is the duration of the early historic period?

The early historic period was between 450 B.C. and 300 AD.

v How was the expansion of early historic settlements occurred?

The settlements during this era were centered around miniature tanks. Thousands of ruins of such tanks are scattered around Sri Lanka. Those villages were usually located near the dam of such tanks.  

2.3.1. Factors that influenced the Expansion of Settlements

v What are the factors influenced the expansion of early historic settlements?

·         The annual rainfall

·         Nature of the soil

·         Geodiversity

·         Expansion of natural resources

·         The drainage

v Why did the early historic settlements in Sri Lanka expand in the dry zone?

The early historical settlements spread in areas with a dry climatic condition. Although the annual rainfall in those areas was not sufficient for agriculture, the settlements expanded in the dry zone due to its fertile soil. The red brown soil which was there in the dry zone was ideal for agriculture.

For agricultural purposes water was received in two ways. The major was one was the monsoon rain water received from rivers too was useful to a certain amount during the dry seasons. Later on anicuts were constructed and the water was carried through canals, to places where necessary.

2.3.2 The Structure and the Nature of Settlements

v What is "Vapigama"?

The settlements which developed themselves around a tank are called "Vapigama". One village was separated from another by a jungle-belt. The village and the tank were closely related, Sumanavapigama, Viharavapigama, “Hundarivapigama” and “Kadahavapigama” are such villages mentioned in Mahawamsa.

v What are the settlements where different types of professionals lived in, according to historical chronicles (Vamsakatha), and inscriptions?

·         Kasikaragama - villages where farmers lived

·         Manikaragama - where people worked in gem mines lived

·         Gopalgama - villages where cowherds lived

·         Kewattagama - the villages of fishermen

·         Kumbhakaragama - the villages of potters

·         Vadtakigama - villages of carpenters

v What are the villages existed on the basis of tasks?

·         Pattanagama - situated close to harbours

·         Niymgam - trading villages

·         Olagam - deserted villages around tanks

v What is the size and population of old settlements?

A small scale village was normally not more than 0-15 hectares. A medium scale rural settlement was about 2 hectares in size, where as a large scale urban settlement was more than 2 hectares. Normally there I lived 5 or 6 families in a village.

 Around 30 families lived in some large scale villages. By the 6th century A.D. there was a population around 35,000 in the ancient "Magama" city and adjacent urban settlements.

v What are "Parikkitta Garm"?

The villages protected by a fence were called "Parikkitta Garn".

v What are “Aparikkitta Gam”?

 The village which did not have the protection of a fence were called “Aparikkitta Gam”

v What is identified as “Pura”?

   To introduce vast urban settlements the name “Pura” (city) was used.

v By what name was Anuradhapura introduced in the Panakaduwa copper plate, which belonged to the period of king Vijayabahu I?

     By the name of "Nurupura".

v What are considered as "Nakara" or "Nagara"?

The settlements situated between the city and the village are called "Nagara". Taking the commodities produced in the villages for trading in big cities, was coordinated by these intermediate settlements. They were slightly bigger, than a village.

v What sort of organization was there in ancient settlements?

A village was a unit consisting of several families. The family was the most important feature of a village. A family was represented by the chief householder. He was known as "Gahapathi" in Brahmi inscriptions. A person who acted on behalf of a group of a few chief households of a village was called "Gamika" or "Gramika" which means "the chief of the village".

At a later period a panel consisting of ten chief householders was engaged in solving administrative issues in an area, joined with ten villages. In inscriptions this panel has been introduced as "Dasa Garn Eththan".

2.3.3. Means of Subsistence

v Explain the means of subsistence of the early historic people.

Their means of subsistence was Chena cultivation. Chena crops that grow in dry zones such as "kurakkan, meneri, sesame and thanahal" were cultivated in them. These crops had a cluster of short roots and were sustainable to the drought. They were conducive to be grown in the areas outside the overflowing river valleys. Thev tended to construct basic village tanks as the production of food had to be increased with the in increasing population in the settlements. More water was needed for more agriculture. As a result the early historical settlements started outside the river valleys, entered into river valley settlements.