Department of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya

02/02/2025

Join us for an insightful guest lecture on Agro Tourism & Sustainability! 🌱🌍

Agro tourism offers a unique experience of rural life and agrarian activities, while sustainability ensures eco-friendly practices that benefit both the environment and local communities.

🗓️ Date: 7th February 2025
⏰ Time: 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM
📍 Venue: Auditorium, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya

🎤 Conducted by:
Mr. Chinthana Duminduhewa

Hosted by the Tourism Club, University of Kelaniya.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from an expert in the field! 🌿

29/01/2025

Polonnaruwa Archaeology & Anthropology Urban Landscape Project (PAAULP) - Third Field Season & Workshop -

The third field season of the Polonnaruwa Archaeology & Anthropology Urban Landscape Project will be held from 03rd February to 24th February 2025 in Polonnaruwa. The project is a collaborative effort by Department of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya, La Trobe University (Australia), University of Jaffna, University of Highlands and Islands (UK), New York University (USA), and Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology of the University of Kelaniya (PGIAR). Fieldwork of season 03 will focus on LiDAR survey of the Polonnaruwa Hinterland and Sigiriya, a field survey and excavation, and GPR survey of the Polonnaruwa Hinterland.
Following fieldwork in Polonnaruwa, the workshop on Polonnaruwa Urbanization will be held on 24th February 2025 at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya. Chair Senior Professor Prishanta Gunawardhana and Dr. Keir Strikland will be heading the project.

පොළොන්නරුව පුරාවිද්‍යා හා මානවවිද්‍යා, නාගරික භූ දර්ශන ව්‍යාපෘතිය - තෙවන අදියර 2025 -

පොළොන්නරුව පුරාවිද්‍යා හා මානවවිද්‍යා, නාගරික භූ දර්ශන ව්‍යාපෘතියේ තෙවන අදියර 2025 පෙබරවාරි මස 03 වෙනිදා සිට 24 වෙනිදා දක්වා පොළොන්නරුවේදී පැවැත්වේ. මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතිය කැලණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ පුරාවිද්‍යා අධ්‍යයන අංශය, ඕස්ට්‍රේලියාවේ ලා ට්‍රෝබ් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, යාපනය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, බ්‍රිතාන්‍යයේ හයිලන්ඩ්ස් ඇන්ඩ් අයිලන්ඩ්ස් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ඇමරිකා එක්සත් ජනපදයේ නිව්යෝර්ක් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, සහ කැලණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ පුරාවිද්‍යා පශ්චාත් උපාධි ආයතනය යන විශ්වවිද්‍යාල හා ආයතනවල සහයෝගීතා ව්‍යාපෘතියක් ලෙස ක්‍රියාත්මක කෙරේ. ව්‍යාපෘතියේ තෙවැනි අදියර යටතේ පොළොන්නරුව තදාශ්‍රිතයේ හා සීගිරිය පුරාවිද්‍යා භූමියේ LiDAR ගවේෂණය, පොළොන්නරුව තදාශ්‍රිතයේ ක්ෂේත්‍ර ගවේෂණය, පුරාවිද්‍යා කැණීම් හා GPR ගවේෂණ කටයුතු සිදු කිරීමට නියමිතය. පොළොන්නරුවේ ක්ෂේත්‍ර වැඩකටයුතුවලින් අනතුරුව පොළොන්නරුවේ නාගරීකරණය පිළිබඳව වැඩමුළුවක් 2025 පෙබරවාරි මස 24 වන දින කැලණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයේ සමාජීයවිද්‍යා පීඨ ශ්‍රවණාගාරයේදී පැවැත්වීමට නියමිතය. විනේතෘ ජ්‍යෙෂ්ඨ මහාචාර්ය ප්‍රිශාන්ත ගුණවර්ධන සහ ආචාර්ය කියර් ස්ට්‍රික්ලන්ඩ් විසින් මෙම ව්‍යාපෘතිය මෙහෙයවනු ලබයි.

07/11/2023

Kelaniya – La Trobe 3 years Archaeology and Anthropology Research Project 2024 -2026

Department of Archaeology of the University of Kelaniya, and the Department of Archaeology and History of the La Trobe University, Australia look forward to working together to enhance the Archaeological research in Polonnaruwa to a greater extent.
Therefore, the initial discussion was held with Senior Prof. Nilanthi de Silva, Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, Dr. Keir Strickland, La Trobe University Australia, and Prof. Robin Coningham, UNESCO Chair on Archaeological Ethics and Practice in Cultural Heritage, Durham University, UK. The discussion was held at the Vice Chancellors’ Office on the 12th of October 2023.
In this Discussion, the steps have been taken to initiate a three-year Archaeological and Anthropological research project in Polonnaruwa, and Season one will begin in January 2024. The MOU which is relevant to the project will be signed in January 2024.
Prof. M. M. Gunatilake, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Dr. Sriyani Hathurusinghe, Head of the Department of Archaeology, Cadre Chair and Senior. Prof. Prishanta Gunawardhana, Department of Archaeology, Prof. A. G. Amarasinghe, Director of the Research Centre for Social Sciences, Senior Prof. Gamini Adikari, Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, Senior Lecturer Dr. Chandima Bogahawatta, Department of Archaeology, Senior Lecturer Mr. Harendralal Namalgamuwa, Department of Archaeology, Dr. Chris Davis, Durham University UK, Ms. Disha Ahluwalia, Baroda University, India, were also on this occasion.

07/11/2023

International Workshop on Ancient Urbanization in Sri Lanka (IWAUS 2023)

International Workshop on Ancient Urbanization in Sri Lanka (IWAUS 2023) was held on the 12th and 13th of October 2023 at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya. It was organized by the Department of Archaeology, and the Research Center for Social Sciences of the University of Kelaniya, University of Jaffna, Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, in collaboration with La Trobe University, Australia, and UNESCO Chair/Durham University, United Kingdom.
Sharing new knowledge about the research materials found by the researchers about the Ancient Civilization of Sri Lanka was the main intention of organizing the workshop.
Senior Professor Nilanthi De Silva, Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya was the Chief Guest of the workshop. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Robin Conningham, UNESCO Chair Professor and Professor at Durham University.
International Workshop on Ancient Urbanization in Sri Lanka (IWAUS 2023)

International Workshop on Ancient Urbanization in Sri Lanka (IWAUS 2023) was held on the 12th and 13th of October 2023 at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kelaniya. It was organized by the Department of Archaeology, and the Research Center for Social Sciences of the University of Kelaniya, University of Jaffna, Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, in collaboration with La Trobe University, Australia, and UNESCO Chair/Durham University, United Kingdom.
Sharing new knowledge about the research materials found by the researchers about the Ancient Civilization of Sri Lanka was the main intention of organizing the workshop.
Senior Professor Nilanthi De Silva, Vice Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya was the Chief Guest of the workshop. The keynote address was delivered by Professor Robin Conningham, UNESCO Chair Professor and Professor at Durham University.

04/10/2023

Commemorating Professor Senarath Paranavitana

The 51st commemoration of late Professor Senarath Paranavitana will be held on 04th October 2023 at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Social Sciences. The event is organized by the Archaeology Student’s Society of University of Kelaniya.

02/10/2023

International Workshop on Ancient Urbanization in Sri Lanka (IWAUS) 2023 will be held on 12th & 13th in October at the Auditorium of Faculty of Social Sciences under the patronage of Senior Professor Nilanthi De Silva Vice Chancellor of University of Kelaniya. On that day the key note address will be given by Professor Robin Conningham, UNESCO Chair Professor and Professor at Durham University,
On that workshop, Prof. Prishanta Gunawardhana (UOK), Emeritus Prof. Jagath Weerasinghe, Prof. Ian Simpson (University of Stirling), Prof. Gamini Adikari (PGIAR), Prof. P. Pushparathnam (University of Jaffna), Dr. Keir Strickland (La-Trobe University, Australia), Dr. Chris Davis (University of Durham), Dr. Arjuna Thantilage (PGIAR), Sivaruby Sajitharan (University of Jaffna), Harendralal Namalgamuwa (UOK), Jayampath Senananyaka (PGIAR), Umanga Roshani (UOK), Prof. Geethani Amarathunga (UOK), Indika Rajapaksha (UOK), Waruni Wickramarachchi (UOK), Suvimali Rathnayake(UOK), Sumedha Viraj (UOK), Indrachapa Weerasinghe (UOK), Deesha Ahulwalia (University of Baroda, India), and Kaveesha Nanayakkara (UOK) will present the research materials on this subject.

27/09/2023

We are thrilled to invite you to the guest lecture organized by the Tourism Club of University of Kelaniya. Open for all!

Topic : TOURISM & GREEN INVESTMENT
Conducted by :
Senior Professor Gamini Adikari
Dr. Mahesh Priyadarshana
Date : 27th September, 2023
Time : 1.00 pm onwards
Venue : K2 002 Hall

Come and join with us for a journey around the world to see how we celebrate our World Tourism Day .
See you on the 27th!

27/09/2023

🌍 Celebrating World Tourism Day 2023! 🌿 Embrace sustainable travel and invest in our planet's future. Green investments are vital for preserving our natural wonders and ensuring a brighter, greener world for generations to come. 🌎💚 #

07/10/2022

World Tourism Day Celebration 2022 - Guest Speech
Commemorating the World Tourism Day on 27th September, the Tourism and Cultural Resource Management degree program of the Department of Archaeology organized a Guest Speech on 28th September at the Board Room, Faculty of Social Sciences. Aligning with the World Tourism Day theme of this year 'Rethinking Tourism', the guest speech was conducted on the topic ‘A way forward of tourism in the economic crisis of Sri Lanka’. The Primary objective of this event was to enhance the awareness of the undergraduates regarding the current atmosphere of the tourism and hospitality industry in Sri Lanka amidst of the prevailing economic crisis. The Guest Speaker for the event was tourism veteran Mr.Upali Rathnayake, Director of Domestic Tourism and Community Relations in Sri Lanka Tourism.

07/10/2022

World Tourism Day Celebration 2022 - Hotel Visit
Commemorating the World Tourism Day on 27th September, Tourism and Cultural Resource Management Degree Program offered by the Department of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya organized a series of events. One of the events of this celebration was a hotel visit on 27th September, 2022 to Pegasus Reef Hotel, Wattala which is one of the renowned and star class hospitality establishments in Gampaha district. During the hotel visit, the prominent departments of the hotel were introduced to the students who were escorted by the Human Resource Manager of the hotel Mr.Randika Kalugala. Meanwhile the hotel offered a demonstration session on ‘Table Etiquettes in Fine Dinning’ which is a highly relevant and important area for the students who study tourism and hospitality management discipline.

19/11/2021