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Ruminations on Sri Lanka’s Ancient Past-By Seneka Abeyratne Source:Island Let us now turn our attention to Sri Lanka’s prehistory corresponding to the Stone Age. Although it is possible that a Paleolithic, or Early Stone Age, culture existed in the island more than one hundred thousand years ago, the archaeological evidence in support of this hypothesis is somewhat sketchy. On the other hand, the discovery of rare fossil remains of homo-erectus in Balangoda, a region in south-central Sri Lanka, is strong archaeological evidence that the island was probably inhabited by primitive ape-like men about 34,000 BP. “These anatomically modern prehistoric humans belonged to what are called the Balangoda cultures,” as stated by de Silva, K.M. ‘A History of Sri Lanka’, fifth edition, 2016. The stone implements found in the island are mostly of the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age, type which date back to about 28,000 BP and are associated with ...