Abstract:
The rich history of Sri Lanka is made up of movable and immovable remains scattered all
over the country. While examining literary and archaeological sources the ancient rulers
of this country took various measures, made laws, and used systematic methods to
. safeguard our ancient heritage. As a result of this a reasonable amount of archaeological
remains survived even during the Civil War, calamities and unavoidable circumstances.
The criteria required by the Antiquities Amendment Act (1998) were that any cultural or
national phenomena, which was 100 years or more remain a legal archaeological ruin.
Although the country owns a good collection of archaeological remains, media and other
sources always tend to report its ruin and destruction. The media points out various
methods employed for this destruction. Out of these, the theft of artefacts remains the
highest mode of destruction to archaeological remains. According to press reports and
Archaeological Department information the highest number of artefact theft occurred
from temple premises and private owners.
The ultimate goal of stealing these artefacts was to export them to foreign markets, in
order to obtain valuable foreign exchange. It was clear that illegal trade organizations
were behind this. The ultimate result is the increase of the volume of illegal trade.
Thus the aim of this paper id to cover the following areas of study:
1. To find out the causes of the increase in the stealing of archaeological
remains/antiques
11. The nature ofthe causes
111. To minimise the situation
