No. 27. — 1884.J tissamaharama archeology. 



33 



with among the houses, and in all probability these were 

 broken ones which have been thrown away. 



The following is a list of the articles which have been 

 met with in this class : — 



L Part of a priest's begging-bowl, 9-5 inches in inside 

 diameter at the rim ; thick and heavy, and of inferior qua- 

 lity, but otherwise similar to those now made. 



2. Several common bowls of strong, rough, unvarnished, 

 red earthenware. Four specimens measured had mouths 

 averaging 10*8 inches wide, and seem to have been from 3 

 to 8 inches deep. Similar, but much larger bowls are now 

 used for storing salt-fish at Hambantota, I am told. 



3. Many of the common, large, small-mouthed, lipped 

 * chatties' for holding water. These are of varying shapes, 

 and. closely resemble modern ones, A few, however, had 

 much thicker, solid lips, and were clumsy and heavy. 



4. Covers for the above (No. 3). These are of many 

 sizes and shapes, but are usually deep, almost cup-shaped, 

 flat-bottomed or nearly so, with a wide horizontal lip which 

 fitted over the lip of the chatty, the body of the cup going 

 inside the mouth of it ; some have rounded bottoms. 

 Although I believe that these covers are not now made in 

 Ceylon, I am informed that they are common in some parts 

 of South India. 



5. Shallow, small, wide-mouthed, lipped chatties, such 

 as are now in use for cooking purposes, &c. A few letters 

 were cut on the outside of some of these. Nearly all are 

 blackened and polished inside. 



6. Hundreds, if not thousands, of broken circular plates, 

 off which rice was to be eaten ; mostly of superior workman- 

 ship. The bottom of these has a slight upward curve ; 

 round the edge stood a thin, usually upright rim like the 

 body of the plate, varying from 1*1 to 1*75 inches, with a 

 mean of 1*5 inch high. This rim is, in many specimens, 

 curved over considerably towards the interior of the plate. 

 Many of the letters to which reference has been made were 

 scratched or engraved on the outside of this rim. These 

 plates varied considerably in size, the inner diameter of 

 several specimens being from 7-2 to 13-2 inches, with a mean 

 of 10*5 inches. Their thickness is about -14 inch. The 

 majority of them have the inside coated with an admirable 



28-85 c 



