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“An Archaeological Investigation at the Port Site of Kirinda in Southern Sri Lanka” Bohingamuwa et al.

on radiocarbon dates and chronologically diagnostic ceramics while

also providing an overview of material culture, including evidence
for agriculture. This excavation revealed three distinct cultural
phases, of which the oldest could be further subdivided into three

sub-cultural phases. Collectively, the cultural sequence at Kirinda
dates from around the late third/fourth century CE to about the
eighth or ninth centuries CE. This is broad agreement with the

historical sources, which date the earliest occupation to the third
century BCE. The material culture is dominated by locally made,
coarse ware ceramics and glass beads. While there is evidence for
the on-site production of glass beads, both the local ceramics and
the local glass beads are technologically inferior to those from
Keywords
contemporary urban sites such as Anuradhapura, Kantharōdai, and
Early Historic period, Mantai. Other artefacts, including imported ceramics and beads, are
Indian Ocean, maritime, limited and fragmentary. Overall, the material culture evidence
coastal, ceramics, beads, Rice indicates that Kirinda remained a minor fisheries harbour
agriculture, cotton throughout its occupation, while engaging in minimal interactions
with Indian Ocean maritime networks.

Introduction

This paper presents the preliminary results of a small-scale excavation undertaken by the Southern Sri
Lankan Ports Project (SSPP) at the port site of Kirinda in southeastern Sri Lanka. The primary aim
1
of this paper is to establish the site‘s cultural and sedimentological sequence based on the stratigraphy
revealed during the excavation, supported by absolute chronology through AMS radiocarbon dates
on rice remains. Due to the complexity of the formation processes that seems to have led to the
creation of the present physiological and cultural landscape, establishing a clear sedimentological and
cultural sequence at Kirinda is essential before undertaking any meaningful discussion. Analysis of
material culture is presented along with a summary of evidence for past agriculture based on
archaeobotanical evidence previously reported (Murphy et al. 2018). As outlined below, the
overarching objective of this excavation was to explore the role of coastal ports, particularly minor
ports, along Sri Lanka‘s southern littoral in the broader context of the Indian Ocean‘s maritime
networks and the nature of regional connectivity.

Being located approximately 22 km away from the nearest landmass in southern India, Sri Lanka‘s
only means of external contact and communication in premodern times was by sea. Consequently,
the ports and anchorages located along its coast acted as vital entry and exit points that linked the
island to the external world. Sri Lanka‘s strategic location in the middle of the Indian Ocean made it a
vital node within the trans-oceanic networks by the first millennium BCE (see for e.g., Bohingamuwa
2017; Bandaranayake et al. 2003; Bopearachchi, 1996; Prickett-Fernando 1990a, 1990b, 1994, 2003;

1 The Southern Sri Lankan Ports Project (SSPP) was a collaborative research cum training project involving the CCF,
PGIAR, and University of Ruhuna in Sri Lanka and the University of Oxford, University of Bristol, and University College
London in the United Kingdom. This project was a sub-project of the Oxford University-based SEALINKS Project of Dr
Nicole Boivin. The limited archaeological excavations were undertaken under the license issued to the Director of the CCF,
Prof. Gamini Adikari, who is a co-director of the project. The project was coordinated and overseen by the CCF
Tissamahārāma project manager, Mr R.M.A.B.M. Rathnayake. The project involved field exploration in terms of field
walking to understand the historical landscape along the coast around Kirinda and also at Patanangala and Pālaṭupāna
fisheries harbours. However, small-scale excavations were conducted only at the Kirinda port, adjacent to the modern
fisheries harbour.

ANCIENT CEYLON 2025: 29(I), 27-54 pp. | 28