(18 votes, average: 3.67 out of 5)
Loading...Bellanbandi Palassa is one of the most important Mesolithic sites in Sri Lanka and has yielded a valuable collection of human skeletal remains popularly known as Balangoda Man. The site, discovered by Arthur Delgoda of Morahala, was excavated over several seasons in the late 1950s and early 1960s by P.E.P. Deraniyagala, yielding thirteen flexed human burials and a large collection of faunal remains and stone artefacts that provided the foundation for comparative assessment of ethnic origins (Kennedy, 1965; Deraniyagala, S.U.,1992).
Subsequent excavation in 1971 attempted to clarify the stratigraphic and chronological context of the site; radiocarbon measurement yielded a date of ca. 2,070 years BP, considered to be too young and contaminated, and a thermo-luminescence measurement on fired quartz crystal directly associated with one of the burials gave a date of 6,500 ± 700 years BP, although again the date was considered young (Deraniyagala and Kennedy, 1972; Deraniyagala, S.U., 1992).
Bellanbandi Palassa, which does not appear on any survey maps, is located on the right bank of the Uda Walawe River, above the bed of the Bellan-bandi stream in the Uda Walawe National Park in Ratnapura district. It is approached by following game tracks and temporary streams once one has crossed the Pusale Ara, a northern tributary of the Uda Walawe River. The site lies beside a nameless tributary of the Pusale that disappears during the dry season. The locality is about 5.6 km west of Seenukgala, 1.6 km southwest of Ulgala Hill and another hill Pansadara is 3.1 km to the northeast.
References
- Simpson, A., Perera, N., & Kourampas, N. (2008). Bellan-Bandi Palasa, Sri Lanka: Formation processes of a Mesolithic open-air site identified through thin-section micromorphology. Archaeologia: Journal of Archaeology, 4.
Also See
- Prehistoric Sites of Sri Lanka
- Ancient Heritage Sites of Sri Lanka
- Other Places of Interest Within Close Proximity
Map of Bellanbandi Palassa
The map above also shows other places of interest within a approximately 20 km radius of the current site. Click on any of the markers and the info box to take you to information of these sites
Zoom out the map to see more surrounding locations using the mouse scroll wheel or map controls.
0-09 m (89) 10-19 m (77) 20-29 m (47) 30-39 m (50) 40-49 m (25) 50-99 m (50) Ambalama (176) Ancient Anicuts (35) Articles (0) Asanaghara (8) Ashtapala Bodhi (5) Attraction Articles (3) Attractions (266) Beaches (10) Biosphere Reserves (3) Botanical Gardens (5) Bridges (35) Cave Art (13) Caving (7) Churches (30) Cities (9) Destinations (18) Dethis Pala Bodhi (27) Devalaya (51) Events (3) Flora and Fauna (82) Forts (52) Heritage (1918) Heritage Articles (27) Historic Events (7) History (7) Hot Springs (9) Hydro Heritage (104) Irrigation Articles (4) Islands (15) Kings of Sri Lanka (188) Kovils (29) Kuludage (11) Lighthouses (29) Memorials (57) Mile Posts (6) Misc (1) Mosques (4) Museums (15) National Parks (24) over 100 m (20) Pabbatha Vihara (13) Padhanagara (27) Personalities (211) Pillar/Slab Inscriptions (48) Popular Tourist Attractions (231) Pre Historic Burial Sites (22) Prehistory (42) Prehistory Articles (2) RAMSAR sites (6) Ravana (16) Reservoirs (72) Rock Inscriptions (36) Ruins in Wilpattu (11) Ruins in Yala (25) Santuaries (7) Sluice Gates (17) Stone Bridges (18) Strict Nature Reserves (3) Sumaithangi (3) Survey Towers (18) Tampita Vihara (242) Travel (5) View Points (24) Walawwa (13) War Memorials (26) Waterfalls (380) Wildlife Articles (28) Yathuru Pokuna (4)
Abhayagiri Monastery (20) Ampara District (196) Anuradhapura District (240) Badulla District (123) Batticaloa District (86) Colombo District (123) Galle District (76) Gampaha District (63) Hambantota District (124) Jaffna District (77) Kalutara District (53) Kandy District (217) Kegalle District (165) Kilinochchi District (13) Kingdom of Anuradhapura (88) Kingdom of Kandy (19) Kingdom of Kotte (9) Kingdom of Polonnaruwa (58) Kurunegala District (183) Maha Vihara (18) Mannar District (47) Mannar Island (10) Matale District (94) Matara District (53) Mihintale (22) Monaragala District (113) Mullaitivu District (39) Negombo (5) Nuwara Eliya District (126) Polonnaruwa District (138) Puttalam District (43) Ratnapura District (177) Trincomalee District (80) Vavuniya District (34) waterfalls in Sinharaja (3) z Delft 1 (5) z Jaffna 1 (20) z Jaffna 2 (26) z Jaffna 3 (14)