06-04-2006, 08:52 PM
This artcile was referenced earlier: Deraniyagala:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->...<b>.There is palynological (pollen) evidence from the Horton Plains for herding (?Bos indicus) and the incipient management of barley and oats by >15,000 BC and by herding and the farming of barley and oats by 8,000 BC (Premathilake 2000).</b> Then there is Doravak-lena shelter which is said to have yielded a geometric microlithic industry in association with what appears to be a cereal and a crude red pottery by 5,300 BC and <b>Black and Red Ware (BRW) by 3,100 BC </b>(Wiyeyapala in Deraniyagala ip:34, final report pends.). There is also Mantai where a geometric microlithic horizon dated to ca. 1,800 BC was found associated with a few pieces of slag, which could indicate the knowledge of copper-working as manifested in southern India by ca. 2,000 BC 5 . At all three sites, the indications are that settlements suggestive of herding/farming dominating the subsistence strategy are not in evidence. Assuming that the term âprotohistoricâ applies only when over half the nutrient intake is derived from food production (ie, herding/farming) these sites are being assigned to the prehistoric period. But they do represent the transition from prehistory to protohistory in Sri Lanka. It was of considerable duration, ca. 13,000 years, and constitutes a field of research into what is still uncharted terrain. It is probable that from at least as early as 14,000 BC up to ca. 1,000 BC, different subsistence strategies were being employed comtemporaneously, according to the ecological niche being exploited. These strategies could have ranged from one based 100 per cent on hunting and gathering to those with a certain degree of herding/farming with hunting and gathering being still predominant.
The new evidence from the Horton Plains is of the greatest significance (Premathilake 2000). Ghar-i-Mar and Aq Kupruk in Afghanistan and Mehrgarh in Pakistan are known to have had a Neolithic subsistence strategy by 7,000-6,000 BC. There is tentative evidence of herding in northern Rajasthan by 7,000 BC, of rice and pottery at Koldihwa, U.P. in India by 5,000 BC, and perhaps cereal management/farming in the Nilgiri Hills of South India by 8,000 BC (Gupta and Prasad 1985 cited in Premathilake 2000).....http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/dera2.html <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->...<b>.There is palynological (pollen) evidence from the Horton Plains for herding (?Bos indicus) and the incipient management of barley and oats by >15,000 BC and by herding and the farming of barley and oats by 8,000 BC (Premathilake 2000).</b> Then there is Doravak-lena shelter which is said to have yielded a geometric microlithic industry in association with what appears to be a cereal and a crude red pottery by 5,300 BC and <b>Black and Red Ware (BRW) by 3,100 BC </b>(Wiyeyapala in Deraniyagala ip:34, final report pends.). There is also Mantai where a geometric microlithic horizon dated to ca. 1,800 BC was found associated with a few pieces of slag, which could indicate the knowledge of copper-working as manifested in southern India by ca. 2,000 BC 5 . At all three sites, the indications are that settlements suggestive of herding/farming dominating the subsistence strategy are not in evidence. Assuming that the term âprotohistoricâ applies only when over half the nutrient intake is derived from food production (ie, herding/farming) these sites are being assigned to the prehistoric period. But they do represent the transition from prehistory to protohistory in Sri Lanka. It was of considerable duration, ca. 13,000 years, and constitutes a field of research into what is still uncharted terrain. It is probable that from at least as early as 14,000 BC up to ca. 1,000 BC, different subsistence strategies were being employed comtemporaneously, according to the ecological niche being exploited. These strategies could have ranged from one based 100 per cent on hunting and gathering to those with a certain degree of herding/farming with hunting and gathering being still predominant.
The new evidence from the Horton Plains is of the greatest significance (Premathilake 2000). Ghar-i-Mar and Aq Kupruk in Afghanistan and Mehrgarh in Pakistan are known to have had a Neolithic subsistence strategy by 7,000-6,000 BC. There is tentative evidence of herding in northern Rajasthan by 7,000 BC, of rice and pottery at Koldihwa, U.P. in India by 5,000 BC, and perhaps cereal management/farming in the Nilgiri Hills of South India by 8,000 BC (Gupta and Prasad 1985 cited in Premathilake 2000).....http://www.lankalibrary.com/geo/dera2.html <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->