Amsterdam helps archaeology of Sri Lanka with shards and drone
A local perspective of the colonial period in Sri Lanka is lacking. So the UvA and the City of Amsterdam sent archaeologists and a box full of shards found in Amsterdam to Sri Lanka. Also, a drone was send that can see through dense vegetation to help Sri Lankan archaeologists investigate the Balana fort.
It must have been an impressive sight, the mountain fort rising out of the jungle on Balana hill from the 16th century. For three centuries, the fort managed to hold off British, Portuguese and Dutch opponents. The kingdom of Kandy was the last native kingdom of Ceylon, present-day Sri Lanka, to hold out against European colonial forces, including the Dutch East India Company (VOC).
The Dutch East India Company (VOC) came to Sri Lanka, then Ceylon, in the seventeenth century to trade in cinnamon. The Dutch forged an alliance with the kingdom of Kandy to drive out the Portuguese. After the Portuguese disappeared, however, the Dutch took control of the coastal areas themselves, leading to tensions with Kandy. Despite rebellions and British interest, the VOC retained power until 1796, when the British took over the island.
Sri Lankan archaeologist Chryshane Mendis works at the Dutch embassy in Sri Lanka and knocked on the door of the City of Amsterdam and UvA to help him research this defensive fortress. And his call did not go unanswered: municipal archaeologist Ranjith Jayasena and UvA archaeologist Jitte Waagen traveled to the jungles of Sri Lanka, armed with knowledge of Amsterdam archaeology and a high-tech drone.
And working in Sri Lanka was not unpleasant by the way according to Waagen: “The atmosphere of the interior of Sri Lanka, curry for breakfast, taking a tuk-tuk to the fort and being surrounded by macaques doing your work. I did enjoy that.”
Why is there a sudden interest from Sri Lanka to search the Balana fort? And why is help from Amsterdam requested for this?
Local perspective
“Although much is known about the Dutch VOC forts in Sri Lanka, the local forts of the Kingdom of Kandy have long been unappreciated,” Jayasena said. “Nevertheless, Sri Lanka has a long archaeological tradition. Religious sites in particular have been frequently excavated and are being restored.” Anyone visiting Sri Lanka today sees how prominent religion is: the island is dotted with ancient temples, impressive stupas and Buddhist monasteries. “In the consciousness of Sri Lankans, forts are less important than religious sites, so forts are unjustly undervalued and fall into disrepair. There is a knowledge gap,” says Jayasena.
Sri Lankan Mendis, who completed a master’s degree in archaeology at the UvA, says it is important to better understand the colonial period from a local perspective. “The colonial warfare has been studied frequently from the VOC side, but the Sri Lankan perspective is missing. I want to better understand what Sri Lankans’ view was of the colonial powers,” says Mendis. And very little is known about that: “There is no single document about what can be found in a local fort. That’s why I was interested in the Balana fort, which had an important position in colonial warfare.”
“The Balana fort is unique because it is one of the few archaeological sites well enough maintained for research,” Mendis said. “European forts were built of permanent materials, such as stone. Because Sri Lankan forts were often built with impermanent materials, such as tree trunks, they fall into disrepair more quickly.” Fortunately for Mendis, the Balana fort did get built of materials that have stood the test of time.
Moreover, it is interesting for both Sri Lanka and the Netherlands to find out how much exchange of Sri Lankan and Dutch products there was across the border of the colony and Kandy. “Directly between the colonial fort on the coast and the royal city of Kandy is the Balana fort. The Sri Lankan forts in the area were part of a long series of defenses so we know little about how open or closed this border was,” says Jayasena. “By examining items found in forts on both sides of the border, you will learn more about how much exchange of goods took place in Sri Lanka. So far, this area has only been looked at from a VOC perspective, but you actually want to look at the area from a Sri Lankan perspective.”
Dutch influences
While research is still in full swing, it is becoming increasingly clear that there is more lurking around the overgrown fort. “A wall seemed to run down the hillside, suggesting that the fort’s terrain is larger than previously thought,” Waagen says. Mendis explains that this wall was placed to take advantage of the natural terrain in the defense of Kandy. “This fits with Kandy’s defense strategy. This wall running down the mountain could ensure that soldiers were stopped from entering the interior. The fort itself was on a small hill so this was a smart move.”
Mendis thinks the Balana fort may have been inspired by Dutch forts, which were built before the Kingdom of Kandy’s defense line was built. “At first glance, the shape of Balana does not appear to have been copied from the VOC, but further research on the interior construction remains to be done to determine whether there were Dutch influences after all,” says Jayasena.
In addition, Mendis is interested in what objects can be found in that interior construction of the fort. “In the middle it’s all flat but near the walls there were probably setups where objects could have been located.” It is not yet known what items, such as pots or porcelain traded by the Dutch, were used in Sri Lanka’s local forts. Mendis hopes to secure a PhD spot at the UvA to further investigate what items were hidden in forts built by Sri Lankans.
Amsterdam shards
Because of the historical exchange of trade goods between Amsterdam and Asia, many traces of this period can be found, including in Sri Lanka, archaeologist Jayasena said. “The international image of Amsterdam in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is reflected in the soil around the world.” Jayasena says archaeologists abroad regularly seek help in Amsterdam to better understand their finds. Mendis knocked on Jayasena’s door because they already knew each other from their previous collaboration. Jayasena sent a box of earthenware shards from Amsterdam excavations to Mendis and his Sri Lankan colleagues to help them understand their own finds. “Recognizing pottery is more than just seeing it, you have to be able to hold it and feel it.” He had carefully labeled all the shards and so the Sri Lankan archaeologists were able to learn to recognize European material on their own.
The Sri Lankan archaeologists are learning to better date their own finds from this box of Dutch shards. Jayasena says it is not inconceivable to find porcelain traded by the Dutch, for example, in conjunction with a Sri Lankan storage jar in the fort. Since the age of the porcelain is known, this storage jar can then also be better placed in time.
The landscape of the past
Specific expertise is available at the archaeology department, including a drone. That drone has an advanced laser scanner that is hardly ever used in Sri Lanka. Jitte Waagen, together with the 4D Research Lab, used this drone to map the ruined fortress hidden under dense vegetation.
Waagen explains that he used a drone with an advanced laser scanner to see through the vegetation. “Per minute, the scanner emits hundreds of thousands of lasers. Compare the lasers to the drops from rainfall. Some drops end up on leaves. But there are always drops that hit the ground. And those drops are interesting.”
This laser scanner very accurately measures the spot where the laser is reflected back by physical objects, allowing you to map structures on the surface, but even possibly traces of underground buildings, Waagen explains. “A collapsed building lying underground has an effect on what the soil looks like. For example, the soil may differ slightly in height or the vegetation may be different from other places.” You can figure out parts of the past landscape of the past, so to speak, with this technique.
Question is why you would not just put a shovel in the ground. Waagen explains that drones have advantages over physical excavation, especially if you want to map a larger area in detail. “Excavation is literally shovel by shovel. It’s time-consuming and expensive, and you can only do it once. Moreover, climate change is accelerating the deterioration of archaeological sites. Drones map hard-to-reach sites quickly and inexpensively, without disturbing the excavation site.”
Waagen is also helping local archaeologists by developing a digital archive where artifacts can be viewed from different angles. “We taught a local archaeologist how to use our digital archive to better study his own discoveries.”
In addition to Ranjith Jayasena, Chryshane Mendis and Jitte waagen, UvA archaeologist Mikko Kriek and UvA professor of archaeology James Symonds collaborated on the project.
