Building blocks of early civilisation

Ruminations on Sri Lanka’s ancient past – Part VIII

By Seneka Abeyratne

In Metals and Metal Use in Ancient Sri Lanka, 1991-92, P.V.B Karunatilaka claims that, “The discovery of metals and the acquisition of the knowledge and skills of metal use is considered a major leap-forward in the evolution of human civilisation.” From the available data, it is not possible to ascertain if any metal or non-metal mining activities occurred during the Stone Age in Sri Lanka. The oldest potsherds discovered in the island date back to the Early Iron Age, hence, it is likely that the mining of clay and non-metals like mica and quartz commenced during that period.

Use of metals, non-metals and other materials

Although evidence suggests that the Early Iron Age culture was preceded by a chalcolithic culture, it is generally accepted that there was no Bronze Age in Sri Lanka. (Bronze is an alloy consisting mainly of copper and tin.) Nevertheless, we could assume that ancient metallurgy began with copper, towards the end of the Stone Age or the beginning of the Early Iron Age. It is likely that this metal was used mainly by artisans and craftsmen.

But it was the advent of iron that enabled a semi-settled system of agriculture and community development to evolve in the island. As we saw, further refinements in iron technology led to a system of small village tank settlements practising a mix of irrigated and rainfed agriculture that has survived to this day in the dry zone. It is likely that the island acquired the technology for producing iron from India (Seneviratne, S. Common Lankan, South-Indian Trade Routes in Early Iron Age, Interview, 2006).

From an archaeological standpoint, the megalithic tombs scattered throughout the dry zone, which closely resemble those of South India, are a prominent feature of the Early Iron Age in Sri Lanka. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines megalith as “a very large usually rough stone used in prehistoric cultures as a monument or building block.” Given that in the South Asian context, megalithic tombs are associated with ancient Hindu cultural practices, it is tempting to conclude there was a strong Hindu influence in the island prior to the advent of Buddhism.

An important discovery is that most of the megalithic tombs excavated to date in Sri Lanka contain both metal and non-metal artefacts. Archaeologists have found that nearly everywhere on the planet, metal first shows up in ancient tombs (Thantilage, A. Protohistoric copper metallurgy in Sri Lanka: An Overview, 2008). This is also the case in Sri Lanka. Though different kinds of megalithic burials have been discovered in the island, the urn burials appear to be the oldest. The Pomparippu urn burial, for example, is dated at 1,000-800 BCE. “Of all the urn burials sites, the site at Pomparippu, situated in the northwestern province, also occupies a very special place, as it is the only megalithic burial site where microliths have been found in direct association with the characteristic black-and-red ware and other artifacts associated with early Iron Age lifeways” (Thantilage, 2008).

Most of the excavated megalithic burials contain pottery remains (mainly BRW) while a few contain the remains of iron and copper artefacts. (More copper than iron artefacts.) We can therefore infer that Sri Lanka’s Early Iron Age civilisation knew how to smelt iron and copper ore and extract the pure metal, which went into a variety of uses (tools, artefacts, metal crafts). It also knew how to make pottery and other kinds of ceramic products from non-metals.

During the Late Protohistoric-Early Historic Period Sinhalese migrants arrived in the island, followed by Buddhism. The ancient Sinhalese kings commissioned the construction of major reservoirs, dams, canals, royal palaces, monastery complexes, shrines and statues on a large scale and also promoted a variety of arts and crafts. New lands had to be developed and prepared for major-irrigated rice cultivation and new roads built for facilitating transportation. These were far-sighted policy initiatives which spurred the development of science and technology as well as human skills across the primary, secondary and tertiary industries.

A wide range of materials were needed for supporting the planned activities in the farm and non-farm sectors. These included iron, steel, bronze, bricks, binding mortars such as clay, lime plaster, stone blocks and columns, earth, and timber. All these materials were supplied by domestic cottage industries. Various other requirements had to be addressed as well, including manpower and draft animal power. Perhaps elephants were used to transport heavy objects such as logs and granite blocks.

Production of iron and steel tools

The mass production of tools and equipment using hardy materials such as iron and steel also had to be undertaken. As observed by Kamalika Pieris (Science and Technology in Ancient Sri Lanka, The Island, October 19, 2005), “Our soil is one of the hardest in the world. Our granite, particularly gneiss, is also hard and difficult. Even our timber is hard. As a result, iron and steel tools were developed in Sri Lanka a thousand years ahead of the west. The drip ledges and inscriptions on caves confirm that the ancient engineers had tools of superior steel. By 3^rd Century BCE, the Sinhalese were using the fixed drill and lathe as well.”

Thusitha Mendis (The usage of ancient metal technology according to archaeological evidences of ‘Dheega pashanaya’ at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, 2015) asserts that metal technology was developed primarily to build natural drip-ledge caves for Buddhist monks during ancient times. As we saw, advances in metal technology also enabled the production of harder and sharper iron tools which could be used for the building of small village tanks in the hard-rock basement region of the dry zone. This was a major technological innovation that resulted in a transformation of dry zone agriculture, in other words the introduction of rice as an irrigated crop in the 3^rd Century BCE.

The metals produced during the Early Historic Period (500 BCE-300 CE) included copper, iron, gold, and possibly tin. The available data, though limited, show that the early Sri Lankans had learned how to use different metals and make various alloys and amalgams through different processes. “What we can say with a degree of certainty is that Sri Lankans had made major advances in metal technology at least by the fifth century A.D” (Metals and Metal Use in Ancient Sri Lanka, 1991-92).