Items from the Ancient Lankan Civilization in Ruhuna
Some Coins and other specimens that I obtained on site in Ruhuna,
Lanka in 2001 December all from or via Mr A. Ratnayaka a collector in
Katharagama, who provided most of the 280 coins and 300 other items
for the monograph and collection published in 1999
Ruhuna. An Ancient Civilization Re-visited.
Numismatic and Archaeological evidence on Inland and Maritime trade,
by Osmund Bopearachchi and Rajah M. Wickramasinhe.
See Jan Lingen's review of this catalog in
ONS.
I have linked below 38 web pages for 18 coins and 26 other items
collected on this trip in
2001 December to Lanka.
Together with the
collection
of 12 plate specimens from the book and about 35 more coins in the
LakdivaCoin web-site, this now has images and detailed
descriptions to a representative sample of the numismatic and other
items found in Ruhuna which has been published in the above catalog
and by other archaeological
surveys.
The Internet allows one to exhibit Lankan heritage to the world without
exporting the items out of the island, and the prohibitive cost of
color printing.
If you a new to this site please read the brief navigating instructions
at the bottom of this long page by pulling down the scroll bar on right.
Before you Book-mark please
Click here.
See Also more Ancient items from 2003, May trip to Lanka.
Many of the coins remain unidentified and if anyone can identify
any of them, or has information on the age of items like it please let
me know details about it.
Talk at North Eastern
Archaeometallurgy Research Group
meeting
2002-Jun-18th, Lehigh University, PA USA
Talk
at Western Pennslyvania Numismatic Society
(WPNS) meeting
2002-Dec-3rd, Pittsburgh, PA USA
Some of these coins of south Indian origin, I was told were found when
panning for gems in the Manik ganga which is a river that flows
through Katharagama, which is an ancient site of
Hindu worship that attracted pilgrims from South India for centuries.
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Silver uncleaned Punch Mark coins
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Lead Brahmi script Inscribed coin Floral design.
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Lead Horse & Svastika coin
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Lead Leopard with Brahmi inscribed coin
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Lead Tree & Svastika coin
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Lead struck Lakshmi Plaque coin
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Mini Lakshmi Plaque coin
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Lead uncleaned Lakshmi Plaque coins
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Copper 1st century CE Kushan Dracham coin
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Lead item in the shape of a fish.
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Black Polished disk with Elephant and Srivasta.
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Redware roulette draughts-like disk
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Terracotta small coin pot in which Tree-Svastika coins were found.
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Terracotta medium size coin pot found empty.
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Terracotta large seal with svastika and Brahmi text.
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Stone seal with symbol of Sun.
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Clay sealing with symbol of Bull.
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Stone grooved small ellipsoid roller.
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Terracotta grooved small ellipsoid weight.
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Terracotta marble-sized ball
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Terracotta small beads from chain
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Clay disk pendent
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Stone Ring mould like those used to cast coins.
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Lead cast ring matching mould.
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Copper signet ring with elephant symbol.
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Copper makara ornament pendent.
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Copper srivasta ornament broken end
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Lead ingot shaped like a seal - Interupted ear-ring ?
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Lead ingot roll. Is it a Scroll ?
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Copper rods - Ancient double-tipped cotten swabs.
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Copper spoon for cleaning ear wax.
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Copper small Pandayan(?) coin Dots and Rays.
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Copper small Pandayan(?) coin Curves and Spokes.
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Copper 17th century Dutch Pulicat Mint VOC kas coin.
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Copper 17th century Dutch Negapatnam Mint rare Duit coin.
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Stone slab engraved with art of unknown age.
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Unmarked Copper coin coin Grains on both sides.
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Metallic Lakshmi Plaque coin of silver-like appearance.
Please click on the colored or underlined link such as on the word
coin to get to page with description and images of each of the
items listed above. Some of the images are displayed on those pages
at less than the scanned resolution of image. To see them at full size
if necessary please right click and view image.