Areas of Attraction and Areas of Isolation: A Case Study of the Havanevela Cist Burial

Abstract

The village of Havanevela is located in the Havanevela Gramasevaka Division in the Galewela Divisional Secretariat of the Matale District. The site is located seven kilometres from the Galevela junction and can be approached via the Galevela- Matale road (B345). The preliminary excavation at the Havanevela cist burial carried out in 2007 by the Department of Archaeology, University of Kelaniya provided valuable evidence with regard to the cist burial culture in the Upper Kala Oya region. Furthermore, it also augmented Prof. Sudarshan Seneviratne’s (1987) theory on areas of attraction and areas of isolation/ relative isolation in relation to two other significant cist burials in the Upper Kala Oya region, Ibbankatuva and Yatigalpotta. This paper aims to discuss the testing of Seneviratne’s above mentioned theory in relation to the data recovered from Havanevela.