Completed projects
Sponsorships for items within the National Archaeology Day Conference and Celebrations
Coinciding with the 136th Archaeology Day, Sri Lanka’s national archaeology conference titled “Breathing Life into Heritage” (Urumayata Jeevayak) took place on July 7 and 8 at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in Colombo. Organized by the Department of Archaeology and the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, the event featured key support and event sponsorships from HAL to promote community-driven heritage conservation.
Training emerging archaeologists on creating public awareness
This ongoing project provides training for emerging archaeologists in Sri Lanka to engage with the general public to increase heritage awareness.
Meemuré archaeological excavation
This archaeological excavation within the deep jungles of Dumbara (Knuckles) mountain range in Sri Lanka was conducted by Prof Raj Somadeva, a senior archaeologist in Sri Lanka. This study aimed to explore how the prehistoric communities that occupied the mountain regions spread across the country by examining their burial rites. Carbon dating of the material that were found during this excavation provided novel evidence about the evolution of prehistoric communities into the later periods. The findings of this excavation will be published soon
Complete video documentation of an archaeological excavation
This project aimed to generate a full video documentation of a complete archaeological excavation searching for evidence of human habitation in a novel region in Sri Lanka. The project generated ~400 hours of video footage covering all relevant actions from the preparation phase to the conclusion of the excavation. This material can now be used in training apprentice archaeologists as well as educating the public
The documentary “The Saga of the Mountain Dwellers”
This project produced a documentary that showcased an archaeological endeavour to find evidence of prehistoric communities in an isolated mountain region in Sri Lanka. This was debuted in 2023 and has since been webcasted to interested audience in several countries in the world.
“Kaala Tharana” (Traversing Time) Fund Raising Project
This project aimed to raise critical funds for several heritage projects. It was a hybrid event held physically in Melbourne (Australia) with our members and archaeology enthusiasts joining online from twelve locations around the world. The highlight of the event was the first webcast of the documentary we produced, The Saga of the Mountain Dwellers.
Public awareness video series
This project provided equipment to establish a video production unit for an eminent senior archaeologist to generate and webcast educational videos targeted at the public. This was a key project aimed at creating heritage awareness among the general population.
Preservation and cataloguing of approximately 200,000 archaeological artefacts collected over several decades
This ongoing project aimed to prevent deterioration and then catalogue and preserve over 200,000 archaeological artefacts that have been collected by university researchers during over decades of archaeological excavations in Sri Lanka. Through HAL’s funding, these artefacts have been now restored, preserved, and catalogued. The entire collection of preserved items is now ready to be handed over to the Department of Archaeology of Sri Lanka for permanent safekeeping and heritage management.
