Yapahuwa Megalithic Burial Site (Gal Sohon Kanatta)

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Yapahuwa Ancient Megalithic Burial Site (Gal Sohon Kanatta) - යාපහුව මෙගලිතික ආදි මානව සුසාන භූමිය (ගල් සොහොන් කනත්ත) — Yapahuwa Ancient Megalithic Burial Site (Gal Sohon Kanatta) – යාපහුව මෙගලිතික ආදි මානව සුසාන භූමිය (ගල් සොහොන් කනත්ත)

The prehistoric and historic heritage in the surrounding area of Yapahuwa has been preserved in the stone caves, rock shelters, inscriptions, graves and other ruins.. This rather unknown stone cist burial site in Yapahuwa called “Gal Sohon Kanatta” (stone tomb cemetery) by locals lies in the village known as “Pin Wewa” about 1.6 kms from Yapahuwa and south-east of Maho town. This area covers about 5 hectares in extent and is located at 240 m above sea level.

A survey done by the Department of Archaeology and University of Peradeniya in 1997 has revealed about 109 visible burials at this site. Landscape of the study site is generally flat. This includes relatively small wash divides, depressions, a tributary of the Deduru Oya, several small irrigation tanks and cultivated fields. Three radiocarbon dates obtained from charcoal associated with burials has indicated the sites existence spanning between 420 BC to 20 AD.

It has been observed that the graves consist of Cist Burials as well as some Urn Burials. Unfortunately this site has not been properly preserved and only few Cist Burial graves can be found today which could easily be mistaken for few random slabs of stone.

Note that the location marked on the Google Map below is a approximate location.

Sketch shows relative position of large and small urn burials (Pots) at the two locations within the excavated area. Location 1 and 2 represent expose pits covering 6 5 m and 7 6 m areas. The largest urn (Pot 7) is located within a stone-cist. Relatively large urn (Pot 15) and other small urns are shown. Locations of pollen analyzed samples (S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, S9, S10 and S12) are shown in black circles while charcoal collected levels for 14C dates are shown in rectangles. Calibrated ages are included at 95% probability

References

Premathilake, R. and Seneviratne, S., 2015. Cultural implication based on pollen from the ancient mortuary complex in Sri Lanka. Journal of Archaeological Science, 53, pp.559-569.

Also See

Map of Yapahuwa Ancient Megalithic Burial Site

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