Fig. 2.7. The painted clay pot, dated 1129 B.C., found in the ancient house in Udaranchamadama. This instance clearly
shows that Sri Lanka had the technology of making pots from very ancient time. The picture on the right hand side displays
the early shape of the same clay pot.
rub on the brown stones. These evidences show
that the women who lived during that period
were interested in beautifying their body.
Technology
The beginning of the transformation of metal
technology and making clay pots from stone
tools used in the prehistoric era took place
during the period called as proto-historic era.
Since using iron as a metal started, the people
of this era had an opportunity to do their day-
to-day activities efficiently. As iron was a strong
metal, they could do activities such as clearing
jungles, digging the ground and ploughing
easily. The painted clay pot found in the old
house of Udaranchamadama reflects the high
technological standard of making clay items
that existed in that time. As building houses was
started, the technology related to that gradually
increased. Specially, setting the foundation in a
way that sinking does not happen and building
walls levelled to the ground belong to it. A clay
bead has been discovered in the excavation in
Udaranchamadama house. That shows that
the technology of making beads existed in that
period. A highly skillful technology is needed to
make a bead.
Activity 2Mark the distribution of settlements of proto-
historic era in Sri Lanka on a map.2.3. The Settlements in Early Historic Era
The information which describes the early
settlements in the historical period of Sri Lanka
has been mentioned in the historical sources.
Though that information is not sufficient
to definitely identify the areas where those
settlements existed, it provides a considerable
assistance to understand the nature of those
settlements. The archaeological sources are
the evidences that assist us to obtain a definite
understanding about the expansion of the
ancient settlements in this country and other
relevant information.The early historical period was between 450 B.C.
and 300 A.D. The expansion of the small village
tanks is the main index that shows in which areas
the settlements in this country expanded during
this period. There are thousands of such kinds
of small village tanks in the form of ruins found
around Sri Lanka today. In the historical period
majority of the settlements existed mainly close
to a tank. The archaeological field explorations
have discovered that such kinds of villages were
located at one end of the bund of the tank, close
to it.