Batadombalena- The Home of the Balangoda Manawaya
Batadomba lena is in Kuruvita village. There are 85 kilometres from Colombo to this cave. if you start your journey from Kuruwita town you may have 8 kilometres from there. Batadombalaena is an Archaeological site in the Rathnapura district. With evidence of habitation from 8000 years BCE. Balangoda man (Homo sapiens balangodenis) lived in this cave. Batadombalena is known as the Diva guava in Buddhist literature. It is believed that the cave where the Buddha spent the day after placing his footprint on Adam’s peak.
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Batadombalena- The Home of the Balangoda Manawaya |
Batadombalena is in fact of three caves. The largest cave is 49 feet high,59 feet wide and 82 feet long. It is a triangular arch cave. It has a narrow shelf at the base of the rock.
Anatomically modern prehistoric human remains found in Sri Lanka are commonly referred to as Balangoda man. The cave was the home of Balangoda man. the first time this cave was excavated was in 1930. It discovered the skeletal remains of several modern human adults and a child. This place gave the earliest record of modern humans in South Asia.
According to the scientists, Babangoda man’s bones are robust, with thick skull bones. He had a depressed nose, heavy jaws and a short neck. Scientists had estimated a height of 174 cm for mail and 166cm for females. Their teeth are conspicuously large.
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| Batadombalena- The Home of the Balangoda Manawaya |
In 2015, oxford university studied teeth excavated in the Batadombalena and revealed new secrets. According to it, Balangoda men had lived in this cave home 45000 years ago. He had regular contact with the coast, 40 kilometres away. There was jewellery made of seashells and shark’s teeth. They are excavated in this cave.
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| Batadombalena- The Home of the Balangoda Manawaya |
Batadombalena Map