Mahagalwewa Megalithic Cemetery (Sinhala: මහගල්වැව මෙගලිතික සුසාන) is an ancient burial site situated in the verge of Mahagalwewa Reservoir in Divisional Secretariat Division Suriyawewa in Hambantota District, Sri Lanka. The old Buddhist temple Padikemgala Viharaya is located near the site.
The site consists of several tombs of the cist type. The remains of the dead in vessels have been placed within the cist made of four stone slabs kept to form a rectangular space sealed by a capstone.
In 2016, the bone fragments unearthed through excavations done at Mahagalwewa were sent to the Institute of Beta Analytic in America for Radio Carbon Dating and the results revealed that the cemetery belongs to the periods between 361-178 B.C. and 371-199 B.C. (Performance Report, 2017).
References
1) Performance Report, 2017. A summary report consisting of the performance of the key divisions in the Department of Archaeology and provincial offices in the year 2017. Department of Archaeology. p.215.
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This page was last updated on 27 April 2023
