Under the guidance of the then Head of the Department, Prof. Karunasena Hettiarachchi, the Department of History and Archaeology of the USJ was able to offer the compulsory Archaeological Excavation training program for the 2nd year Archaeology (Honours) degree students, from 10th July- 22nd July 2023, at Ibbankatuwa Megalithic Burial site (Field School), under the Dambulla Project of the Central Cultural Fund.
As one of the most important protohistoric sites in Sri Lanka demonstrating the historic and cultural evolution of the country, a burial excavation is currently in progress at the Ibbankatuwa Megalithic burial site, which is conducted by the Central Cultural Fund (CCF) in collaboration with the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR); and our students were lucky enough to join this rare opportunity as their first-ever field experience. Accordingly, the undergraduates were able to obtain hands-on practical training for the theoretical knowledge they learned in the classroom, such as archaeological field survey techniques, operating total station, dumpy level, and other measuring equipment, laying up an excavation grid, archaeological excavation techniques, stratigraphic identification and analysis, excavation drawings and other recording methods, etc. Furthermore, the students were able to acquire theoretical knowledge specific to the context, such as the protohistoric period, site formation process, matrix context method, and so on.
Accordingly, the Department of History and Archaeology would like to thank Prof. Upul Subasinghe, the then Acting Vice-Chancellor of the USJ, and Prof. Shirantha Heenkenda, the Dean of the FHSS, for making the necessary arrangements to realise this training program. Furthermore, the Department thanks Prof. Gamini Ranasinghe, the Director-General of the Central Cultural Fund for allowing this training program for our students. In addition, Mr. Ajith Jayasundara, the Project Manager of the Dambulla CCF Project, Mr. Tilak Sendanayake, the Officer-in-charge of the Ibbankatuwa Megalithic Burial Site (Field School), Sen. Lect. (Dr.) Ranjith Bandara Dissanayake from the PGIAR, and other officers from the CCF and the PGIAR for taking care of our students and tirelessly offering them with relevant theoretical and practical knowledge.
