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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XVII. 



Archaeology. 



The Archaeological Commissioner has, as in past years, again pre- 

 sented the Council, for its Annual Report, with a summary of the 

 operations carried on by the Archaeological Survey during the past year. 



Excavations. 



Anurddhapura. — The greater part of the year was spent in com- 

 pleting excavations in the area lying mainly between Basawakkulam 

 tank and the Ruwanveli Dagaba. Particular attention was given to 

 properly opening up to view the two finest viharas (wrongly termed 

 " pavilions ") and their attendant jpirivenas, in this section, by the 

 removal of the earth on all sides, widely, to a depth of 3 to 4 ft. 

 This wholesale action was demanded in order to ensure the happy 

 grouping of these picturesque shrines and their satellites being 

 clearly comprehended. Displaced columns, capitals, &c, have been 

 adjusted, so far as practicable without the aid of special gear. The 

 general effect of these compact, well-balanced, ruin clusters has been 

 markedly improved. 



Excavation at the base of Eldla Sohona, on the Kurunegala road y 

 was re-commenced during the dry months, and may be yearly continued 

 until the broad cuttings on the north and east are united by a trench 

 skirting the north-east quadrant of this circular ruin. The soil is 

 being utilized gradually in filling up unsightly and pestilential ponds 

 and low ground in the town. 



Some very desirable finishing work was done towards making the 

 interesting regularly planned monastery at Bandara PuUyankulam 

 more conspicuous and easier of access from the two roads which pass 

 it— the high road to Jaffna and " MacBride's Deviation. 1 ' Forest 

 trees have been freely thinned out, the stone-slab retaining wall of the 

 quadrangle built afresh from the north portico to that on the east, 

 the dagaba basement restored, and the whole of the ground on the 

 north-east as far as the road cut down to its former level. 



To the west of the Jaffna road trial pits were dug in the unex- 

 plored raised site, upon which stands a single stone-pillared ruin of 

 no importance. At a depth of 12 to 15 ft. a strange and hitherto 

 unrecorded series of structures was come upon — mere vertical crusts 

 of brickwork, varying in shape and dimensions, and practically empty. 

 Great antiquity is indicated by the exceptional size of the bricks and 

 the thickness of the soil strata above these " shells." Possibly 

 they may have been kilns, where bricks for the larger dagabas at 

 Anuradhapura were burnt. 



Sigiriya. — The annual clearing of the ruins, grass-covered and rain- 

 worn, on the summit of Sigiri-gala and the terraces below it, was 

 carried out in 1900. This precaution is essentially necessary, year by 

 year, to preserve the excavated ruins in even fair condition, owing to 

 their fragile nature and exposed position. 



Later, the gang got rid of a good portion of the detritus beneath 

 which lie buried the minor terraces on the western slope of the " half 

 way " maluwa projecting from the Great Rock northwards. 



A set of monks' cells, &c, was thus laid bare immediately south of 

 the so-called "Prison Rock." 



Steady progress has been made in the rebuilding of the floor and 

 the outer wall of the gallery at the north-west corner of the Rock, 

 where it had long disappeared in whole or in part. 



