A foreign research team from the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (Germany) and several other institutions headed by Dr. Patrick Roberts visited the Department of History and Archaeology, University of Sri Jayewardenepura on 13th June 2023.
The team comprised Dr. Patrick Roberts (British), Dr. Shira Yoshimi Maezumi (USA) and Dr. Rachel Claire Rudd (Australian), representing the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (Germany); Mr. Philipp Griess (German) and Mr. Lukas Lukinčić (German) from the Universal Film Agency and Mr. Gerhard Hotz (Swiss) and Mr. Basil Marius Bucher (Swiss) representing the Museum of Cultures in Basel (Switzerland) and Natural History Museum Basel (Switzerland) respectively.
The main objective of the foreign research team is to carry out the archaeological sediment core sampling project of Dr. Oshan Wedage (Senior Lecturer of the Department of History and Archaeology) at the Hortan Plains highland, Bolgoda lake-south and Mahagalkadawala wewa (Anuradhapura) between 12th June to 30th June 2023. In addition, the scholars from the Museum of Cultures in Basel and the Natural History Museum Basel (Switzerland) expressed their intention of repatriating the human artifacts of our indigenous Vedda community at their museums, which were taken away by the Sarasin brothers, prominent researchers in Anthropology, during the British colonial period. Furthermore, the representatives from the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (Germany) conveyed their willingness to offer two foreign scholarships to upcoming talented research buds of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology (Germany) expects to enter into an MoU with the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.
