Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Proto-History Project Collection

In 1966 the University Museum agreed to fund a one year field survey in northern Ceylon to find possible excavation sites for the investigation of the early history of the island; a period (pre- Buddhist) for which there was little systematic knowledge. The principal investigator for the survey was Vimala Begley, Assistant Curator, South Asia Section. As a result of that survey the sites of Kantarodai on the northern tip of the Jaffna peninsula, and Pomparippu further south on the western coast were selected. With funding mainly from the University of Pennsylvania Museum (additional resources from the Haas Foundation and the Ford Training Student Grants) excavations were undertaken in 1970. Principals for that project included George F. Dales (Associate Curator, South Asia Section) as Project Director, Bennet Bronson as Field Director, and Vimala Begley as Assistant Field Director. Assistant on the project was Mohamad Mauroof, Anthropology Graduate student, University of Pennsylvania. Subsequent analysis of the findings, including radiocarbon studies were conducted in 1983 and 1984.

The Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Proto-History Project Collection includes budgets and proposals, reports and publications, financial records, artifact loans, field notes, artifact analysis, radiocarbon analysis, and photographic prints and negatives housed in 1 box, and site plans and sections and fourty-one pottery drawings housed in 2 folders in Map Case M-20. While excavation began in 1970 in Ceylon, holdings in this collection span the years from 1966 (when the University Museum agreed to fund a one-year long expedition to find possible excavation sites) until 1984 when the most recent radiocarbon analyses were completed. Subjects of photographs and negatives are predominantly site features, artifacts, and excavation landscapes, but also include portraits and everyday life of the excavation team, local Sri Lankan residents, wildlife, and aerial photographs of the site. For related correspondence, please see the George Dales Collection, and for further information, see Vilmala Berley, “Archaeological Exploration in Northern Ceylon”, Expedition 9 (4); Summer, 1967, pp. 21-29., published by the University Museum.

Publication Information: University of Pennsylvania: Penn Museum Archives, 2010

Finding Aid Author:

Use Restrictions: Although many items from the archives are in the public domain, copyright may be retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law. The user is fully responsible for compliance with relevant copyright law. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Permission to reproduce or quote text from this collection in a publication must be requested from and granted in writing by the Senior Archivist, University of Pennsylvania Museum Archives, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104.

Correspondence related to this project can be found in the George Dales Papers.

For further reading, see Vilmala Berley, “Archaeological Exploration in Northern Ceylon”, Expedition 9 (4); Summer, 1967, pp. 21-29.

Corporate Name(s)

• University of Pennsylvania. Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Form(s)/Genre(s)

• Negatives (photographic)
• Photographic prints
• Photographs

Geographic Name(s)

• Ceylon
• Sri Lanka

Personal Name(s)

• Begley, Vimala
• Bronson, Bennet
• Dales, George F.
• Mauroof, Mohamad

Subject(s)

• Anthropological museums and collections
• Anthropology
• Archaeological expeditions
• Archaeology--History
• Excavations (Archaeology)