26 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). 



[Vol. VIII. 



what is now the tank, there is only one conclusion which 

 can be arrived at — that the present line of the embankment 

 represents part of the enlargement of the Tissa tank 

 carried out by King Ilanaga. If this conclusion is a correct 

 one— and I fail to see that any other can account for the 

 observed facts— the date of the most recent deposits in 

 the pottery stratum cannot, in any case, be later than (say) 

 40 A.D. The enlargement of the tank must manifestly 

 have caused the abandonment of the manufactory at the 

 site. While 40 A.D. is thus the latest possible date for the 

 upper part of the pottery stratum, the shape of the letters 

 proves (as far as this can be considered a proof) that the 

 remains are of an earlier date, and, as abovementioned, 

 probably from nearly 200 to 50 B.C. This is confirmed by 

 the fact that a coin of one of the early Roman Emperors, 

 which can hardly be put down to a later date than some 

 time in the 1st century A.D., has been discovered at 

 a height of about three feet above the upper part of the 

 pottery stratum. 



Position and Character of the Remains. 

 The most ancient of the remains were deposited on 

 ' gravel' (decomposed gneiss), a thick stratum of which 

 overlies the gneiss of the district. Broken ' chatties' and 

 plates and plate-covers form by far the greatest part of 

 them. Even in excavating these two channels alone, it will 

 be no exaggeration to say that thousands of pieces of these 

 articles have been met with ; and, of course, the ground 

 between and around the cuttings must be similarly full of 

 them. This alone would prove the existence of a potters' 

 establishment — both manufactory and village* — at the 

 place ; but further proof has been obtained by finding both 

 a piece of moulded and dried (but unburnt) clay in the form 

 of some animal (a child's toy), and a small round granite 

 stone of a shape still in use by potters when moulding 

 chatties, &c. Many pieces of burnt clay, which apparently 

 formed part of the wall of the t kiln, have also been 

 procured. 



* " Because they burn their wares in places or halls close to their 

 dwelling-houses they are called Bada Sellayo." (Upham's Buddhist 

 Tracts, p. 345.) 



