Sri Lanka's pre-historic human to be sent to Germany for testing

From Colombo Page: Sri Lanka's pre-historic human to be sent to Germany for testing


July 07, Colombo: Sri Lanka's pre-historic human skeleton found recently from an archeological site in Kalutara district of Western Province will be sent to Germany for further studies, Archeology Department officials have said.

Samples of the skeleton found in the Fa-Hien cave archaeological site in Pahiyangala of Kalutara district have been collected for DNA studies and the skeletal parts and DNA samples will be sent to Germany for further research, the officials said.

A team of Sri Lankan archeologists and an archeology expert, Dr. Jay Stock from the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge has collected the samples of the skeleton at the site.

The excavated skeleton is to be kept frozen to preserve it from the environment the Director General of Archaeology, Dr. Senarath Dissanayake has said.

The skeleton is believed to be about 37,000 years old and belonged to the Homo sapiens species known as Balangoda Man. Along with the skeleton, stone tools and glass bead jewelry have been found in the cave. According to the scientists this is the first complete human skeleton found in South Asia.