Department of Archaeology (Sri Lanka)

Department of Archaeology

පුරාවිද්‍යා දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව
Agency overview
Formed	1890 [1]
Jurisdiction	Sri Lanka
Agency executive	Senerath Dissanayake, Head of the Department [1]
Website	www.archaeology.gov.lk

The Department of Archaeology is a non-ministerial government department in Sri Lanka responsible for managing the archaeological heritage.

History

On 7 July 1890 the Governor of Ceylon, Sir Arthur Gordon, appointed Harry Charles Purvis Bell as the first Archaeological Commissioner and Head of the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon. The Survey consisted of the Commissioner, a European assistant commissioner, a native assistant, a clerk, and three draughtsmen. The first task given to the Survey was the exploration, excavation, mapping and conservation of historical monuments at Anuradhapura. In 1895 the Survey commenced work at Sigiriya and in May 1900 at Polonnaruwa. Between 1902 and 1907 John Still (the author of Jungle Tide) served as assistant commissioner.

On 8 December 1912 Edward Russell Ayrton was appointed Archaelogical Commissioner, having previously worked as the assistant commissioner under Bell. On 18 May 1914 Ayrton drowned at Tissa Wewa in Tissamaharama. The Archaelogical Department all but closed down, with only a skeleton staff, during World War I, with a series of acting heads. It wasn't until the appointment of Arthur Maurice Hocart in 1921 that the Department became more active. Hocart recognised the need to train young Ceylonese to work in the department, and amongst his protégées was Senarath Paranavithana, who was sent in 1923 to Ootacamund to train under the Government Epigraphist in India. In 1925 Hocart took a year's leave and returned to England. In his absence M. Wedderburn acted as Archaeology Commissioner. Upon his return in 1926 Hocart appointed Paranavithana as the Epigraphical assistant. When Hocart retired in 1929 C. F. Windsor took the role of Commissioner and at this time the head office of the Archaeological Department was relocated from Anuradhapura to Colombo.

In 1932 when Windsor retired Senarath Paranavithana became the first Sri Lankan to be appointed as head of the Department. In 1935 Albert Henry Longhurst took over the role of Archaeological Commissioner and Paranavithana was his Epigraphical assistant. Longhurst was previously the Superintendent of the Archaeological Survey of India. During his tenure in Ceylon he concentrated on the conservation of monuments, particularly in Polonnaruwa. With commencement of World War II all the major works of the department were suspended and Dr Paranavithana was appointed as Commissioner. After the country gained its independence the Archaeological Department went through a significant phase of expansion, with its activities expanded to almost every district on the island.

When Paranavithana retired in 1956 the position of Commissioner was taken by Charles Godakumbura, a role in which he occupied until his retirement in 1967. Raja H. de Silva was then appointed as the new Commissioner.

Archaeological Commissioner

No.	Archeological Commissioner	Year (commence)	Year (complete)
1	Stephen Montague Burrows	1884	1886
2	Harry Charles Purvis Bell	1890	1892
3	R. W. Levers (Acting)	1892	1892
4	Harry Charles Purvis Bell	1893	1912
5	Edward Russell Ayrton	1912	1913
6	B. Constantine	1913	1914
7	H. R. Freeman (Acting)	1914	1918
8	F. G. Tyrrel (Acting)	1918	1920
9	A. W. Seymour (Acting)	1920	1921
10	G. F. R. Browning (Acting)	1921	1922
11	Arthur Maurice Hocart	1922	1924
12	M. Wedderburn (Acting)	1924	1925
13	Arthur Maurice Hocart	1925	1927
14	E. T. Dyson (Acting)	1927	1928
15	C. F. Windsor	1929	1929
16	J. Pearson (Acting)	1929	1930
17	C. F. Windsor	1930	1932
18	Senarath Paranavithana	1932	1934
19	Albert Henry Longhurst	1935	1939
20	Senarath Paranavithana	1940	1956
21	Charles Godakumbura	1956	1967
22	Raja H. de Silva	1967	1979
23	Saddhamangala Karunarathna	1979	1983
24	Roland Silva	1983	1990
25	M. H. Sirisoma	1990	1992
26	S. U. Deraniyagala	1992	2001
27	W. H. Wijayapala	2001	2004
28	Senerath Dissanayake	2004	current

See also

• List of museums in Sri Lanka

References

1. "History of the Department of Archeology". Retrieved 2015-11-29.

External links

• Department of Archaeology web site