Videos by Samanti Kulatilake
Sinhala Lecture Excerpt from IAHS Lecture Series - July 2020.
https://www.iahs.lk/
Overview:
... more Sinhala Lecture Excerpt from IAHS Lecture Series - July 2020.
https://www.iahs.lk/
Overview:
මානව විද්‍යාත්මක ප්‍රවේශය - Anthropological Approach
විද්‍යාත්මක ක්‍රමය - භූ විද්‍යාත්මක, පරිණාමීය සහ පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක කාල
Scientific Method - geological, evolutionary & archaeological time
පරිණාමීය පසුබිම - නූතන මිනිසාගේ සම්භවය හා ව්‍යාප්තිය
Evolutionary Perspective - Modern Human Origins & Dispersal
දකුණු ආසියාවේ පිහිටීම සහ නූතන මිනිසාගේ ව්‍යාප්තිය
South Asia: Location & Modern Human Dispersal Routes
ආදි දකුණු ආසියානුවන් - Ancient South Asians
නූතන දකුණු ආසියානුවන් - Recent South Asians
ආදි සහ නූතන දකුණු ආසියානුවන් අතර සම්බන්ධතා පිළිබඳ සාක්ෂි - Evidence
අස්ථිමය - skeletal/dental
පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක - archaeological
ප්‍රවේණි විද්‍යාත්මක - genetic
වාග් විද්‍යාත්මක - linguistic
සංස්කෘතික - cultural
ලංකා භූමිය පිළිබඳ - Perspective on Lanka 17 views
Books by Samanti Kulatilake
Anthropology Sinhala, 2022
Slide and Sinhala text: for students and instructors of Anthropology
මානව විද්‍යාව වනාහි මිනිස... more Slide and Sinhala text: for students and instructors of Anthropology
මානව විද්‍යාව වනාහි මිනිසා පිළිබඳ විද්‍යාත්මක අධ්‍යයනයයි. මිනිසාගේ අතීතය මෙන්ම වර්තමානයේ සංස්කෘතික සහ ජීවී මට්ටමෙන් පවතින විවිධත්වය විමසීම මානව විද්‍යාව තුළින් සිදුවේ. කෙටියෙන් පවසනවා නම්, මානව විද්‍යාවෙන් “සියලු ප්‍රදේශවල සහ සියලු කාලවලට අයත් මිනිසුන් අධ්‍යයනය කරනු ලැබේ”.
Anthropology is the study of humans in all places, in all times.
මනුෂ්‍ය භාවය පිළිබඳ තියුණු විශ්ලේෂණයක නියැලෙන මානව විද්‍යා විෂය, මිනිසා පිළිබඳ පූර්ණ අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගැනීමේ අරමුණක් ඇති සුවිශේෂී ක්ෂේත්‍රයකි. මිනිසා ඉතා සංකීර්ණ සත්ත්වයෙකි. හෝමෝ සේපියන්ස් (Homo sapiens) ලෙස විද්‍යාත්මකව නම් ලබන අප, දීර්ඝකාලීන පරිණාමීය ඉතිහාසයක් හිමි, වර්තමානයේ විවිධතා රැසකින් සමන්විත සත්ත්ව විශේෂයකි. මේ නිසා මිනිසුන්ව අධ්‍යයනය කරනු පිණිස අන් විෂයයන් මගින් ලබන දායකත්වය මානව විද්‍යාවට අතිශයින්ම වැදගත් වෙයි. එනම්, සමාජ ශාස්ත්‍ර (ආර්ථික විද්‍යාව, දේශපාලන විද්‍යාව, සමාජ විද්‍යාව), ශුද්ධ විද්‍යාවන් (ජීව විද්‍යාව, රසායන විද්‍යාව, භෞතික විද්‍යාව) සහ මානව ශාස්ත්‍ර (භාෂාවන්, ඉතිහාසය සහ කලා විෂයයන්) සම්බන්ධ කරගනිමින් මානව විද්‍යාඥයෝ පුළුල් අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගනු රිසියෙන් මිනිසා පිළිබඳව තොරතුරු විමසා බලති. මෙසේ සෑම දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයක් තුළින්ම මිනිසා දෙස බැලීමට මානව විද්‍යාව සාකල්‍ය ප්‍රවේශයක් (holistic approach) අනුගමනය කරයි. එමෙන්ම මෙම පූර්ණ අවබෝධය උදෙසා මානව විද්‍යාව සිව්-විධ විෂය ක්ෂේත්‍ර ප්‍රවේශයක් (four-field approach) යොදා ගනියි.
එම උප විෂය ක්ෂේත්‍ර සතර නම්:
(1) ජෛව (භෞතික) මානව විද්‍යාව - Biological (Physical) Anthropology
(2) සංස්කෘතික මානව විද්‍යාව - Cultural Anthropology
(3) පුරාවිද්‍යාව - Archaeology
(4) වාග් විද්‍යාත්මක මානව විද්‍යාව - Linguistic Anthropology
මිනිස් සත්ත්වයා ජෛව මානව විද්‍යා ප්‍රවේශය BioAnth Intro Kulatilake. Vol 1, 2022
The Human Organism: Introduction to Biological Anthropology ---- OPEN ACCESS (FREE) ONLINE SINHAL... more The Human Organism: Introduction to Biological Anthropology ---- OPEN ACCESS (FREE) ONLINE SINHALA TEXTBOOK “Minis Saththwaya” offers an introduction to Biological (Physical) Anthropology with a focus on humans as biological organisms. Using an evolutionary perspective and a bio-cultural approach, this resource outlines the principles of Biological Anthropology, describing humanity. This online open access resource is designed to make anthropological knowledge accessible in Sinhala for A-Level students, University students, instructors and the general public. Author: Samanti Kulatilake, PhD Associate Professor, Mount Royal University, Canada ජෛව මානව විද්‍යාව හදාරන සිසු සිසුවියන්ට මෙන්ම මිනිසාගේ ජෛවී තොරතුරු විමසන්නන් හට සිංහල බසින් ලියැවුණු මූලාශ්ර දුර්ලභ ය. මෙම විෂයය පිළිබඳව අවබෝධය පුළුල් කිරීම පිණිස වඩාත් විස්තරාත්මකව නව තොරතුරු සහ අදහස් ඇතුළත් කර, ජෛව මානව විද්‍යාව පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු ප්රචලිත කිරීමේ මූලික අභිලාෂය පෙරටු කොට ගෙන මෙම කෘතිය ඉදිරිපත් කරමි. මානව විවිධත්වය සහ පරිණාමය විද්‍යාත්මකව වටහා ගැනීම කාලීන අවශ්යතාවකි. ජෛව (භෞතික) මානව විද්‍යා විෂය පිළිබඳව හැඳින්වීමක් “මිනිස් සත්ත්වයා: ජෛව මානව විද්‍යා ප්‍රවේශය” කෘතියෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වෙයි. පරිණාමවාදී දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයක් තුළින් සහ ජෛව සංස්කෘතික ප්‍රවේශයක් හරහා මිනිසා ජෛව ලෝකයේ සාමාජිකයකු ලෙස අධ්‍යයනය කරන අන්දම මෙහිදී හඳුන්වා දෙනු ලැබේ. මානව විද්‍යාත්මක දැනුම සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් ප්රචලිත කිරීමේ අභිලාෂයෙන් නිර්මාණය කර ඇති මෙම විවෘත ප්රවේශ මූලාශ්රය උසස් පෙළ සහ විශ්ව විද්යාල සිසුන්ට මෙන්ම ආචාර්යවරුන්ට සහ පොදු පාඨකයන්ට ද ප්රයෝජනවත් වනු ඇත. කර්තෘ: සමන්ති කුලතිලක, PhD, සහය මහාචාර්ය, මවුන්ට් රෝයල් විශ්ව විද්යාලය, කැනඩාව
The Human Organism: Introduction to Biological Anthropology, 2022
The Human Organism: Introduction to Biological Anthropology ----
OPEN ACCESS (FREE) ONLINE SIN... more The Human Organism: Introduction to Biological Anthropology ----
OPEN ACCESS (FREE) ONLINE SINHALA TEXTBOOK
“Minis Saththwaya” offers an introduction to Biological (Physical) Anthropology with a focus on humans as biological organisms. Using an evolutionary perspective and a bio-cultural approach, this resource outlines the principles of Biological Anthropology, describing humanity. This online open access resource is designed to make anthropological knowledge accessible in Sinhala for A-Level students, University students, instructors and the general public.
Author: Samanti Kulatilake, PhD
Associate Professor, Mount Royal University, Canada
ජෛව මානව විද්‍යාව හදාරන සිසු සිසුවියන්ට මෙන්ම මිනිසාගේ ජෛවී තොරතුරු විමසන්නන් හට සිංහල බසින් ලියැවුණු මූලාශ්ර දුර්ලභ ය. මෙම විෂයය පිළිබඳව අවබෝධය පුළුල් කිරීම පිණිස වඩාත් විස්තරාත්මකව නව තොරතුරු සහ අදහස් ඇතුළත් කර, ජෛව මානව විද්‍යාව පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු ප්රචලිත කිරීමේ මූලික අභිලාෂය පෙරටු කොට ගෙන මෙම කෘතිය ඉදිරිපත් කරමි.
මානව විවිධත්වය සහ පරිණාමය විද්‍යාත්මකව වටහා ගැනීම කාලීන අවශ්යතාවකි. ජෛව (භෞතික) මානව විද්‍යා විෂය පිළිබඳව හැඳින්වීමක් “මිනිස් සත්ත්වයා: ජෛව මානව විද්‍යා ප්‍රවේශය” කෘතියෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වෙයි. පරිණාමවාදී දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයක් තුළින් සහ ජෛව සංස්කෘතික ප්‍රවේශයක් හරහා මිනිසා ජෛව ලෝකයේ සාමාජිකයකු ලෙස අධ්‍යයනය කරන අන්දම මෙහිදී හඳුන්වා දෙනු ලැබේ. මානව විද්‍යාත්මක දැනුම සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් ප්රචලිත කිරීමේ අභිලාෂයෙන් නිර්මාණය කර ඇති මෙම විවෘත ප්රවේශ මූලාශ්රය උසස් පෙළ සහ විශ්ව විද්යාල සිසුන්ට මෙන්ම ආචාර්යවරුන්ට සහ පොදු පාඨකයන්ට ද ප්රයෝජනවත් වනු ඇත.
කර්තෘ: සමන්ති කුලතිලක, PhD
සහය මහාචාර්ය, මවුන්ට් රෝයල් විශ්ව විද්යාලය, කැනඩාව
Sinhala Language Textbook (cover)
Publisher: Sarasavi Publishers, Sri Lanka
Monograph of MPhil. Dissertation
Papers by Samanti Kulatilake
Over the last three decades, Sri Lanka has risen to international prominence as a key area for ex... more Over the last three decades, Sri Lanka has risen to international prominence as a key area for exploring past forager adaptations. Much of this discussion has focused on the lowland rainforests of the Wet Zone of the island, and their preservation of the earliest fossils of our species, bone tools, and microlithic technologies in the region ca. 45,000 years ago. It has been recognized that the northern and southern coasts of Sri Lanka represent crucial locales for studying human occupation and adaptation through the Pleistocene and Holocene. Here, we revisit the important shell midden site of Mini-athiliya (dating to ca. 4,000 cal. years BP), on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, which has yielded human remains alongside microlithic stone tools and animal remains. We present a comparative analysis of body size variation of the human remains belonging to the HMA 6 adult skeleton from Mini-athiliya with a wider database of foragers to investigate local adaptations. We also apply stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to the tooth enamel of four other individuals documented at Mini-athiliya in order to determine their dietary reliance on forest, grassland, or coastal resources. Together, our results highlight that, rather than a clear distinction between earlier forest adaptations and later coastal specialisation, the Mini-athiliya individuals provide evidence for a plastic spectrum of ecological adaptation. We argue for continued research on how human populations in different parts of the island interacted and adapted to its diverse tropical settings across space and time.
Ancient Lanka, 2022
Sri Lanka's rich palaeoanthropological and archaeological record as well as the present demograph... more Sri Lanka's rich palaeoanthropological and archaeological record as well as the present demographic aspects have much to offer in aiding our understanding of the island's ancient past and recent population structure. Sri Lanka has yielded skeletal evidence for the earliest anatomically modern humans from South Asia indicating very early settlement of the region. Following early hunter-gatherer dispersals over 50,000 years ago, agricultural populations expanded to the region with historic settlements and urbanisation creating complex societies in the last three millennia. Through circum-Indian Ocean trade networks in historic times and colonial expansion in the last 500 years, population diversification has continued with groups of multiple genetic and ethno-linguistic backgrounds arriving and settling in the island. These early and later migrants share a gene pool that connects them to descendants of today, who form Sri Lanka's multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multireligious society. Using an anthropological perspective, this article investigates how complex societal and biological diversity would have developed over time in island Lanka. An appreciation of deep time, beyond historic records, helps us recognize that human evolution and diversification has been shaped over thousands of years, while an evidence-based, scientific approach is proposed to eliminate flawed ethnocentric interpretations.
Anthropological Science, 2020
Swiss naturalists Paul and Fritz Sarasin visited Sri Lanka on five occasions. Their later visits ... more Swiss naturalists Paul and Fritz Sarasin visited Sri Lanka on five occasions. Their later visits were focused on anthropological research on the Indigenous Wannila Atto (‘Vedda’) people and exploration of prehistoric settlements in Sri Lanka. Among the Sarasins’ anthropological and archaeological collections are skeletal material of several ethnic groups of Sri Lanka belonging to the 19th and early 20th centuries. This collection is curated at the Natural History Museum of Basel, Switzerland. The
ethnolinguistic groups represented in the Sarasins’ collection include the ‘Vedda,’ Tamil, and Sinhala people of Sri Lanka, and it constitutes the largest ‘Vedda’ cranial collection housed at a single institution.
The objective of this paper is to compare cranial variation of the Indigenous ‘Vedda’ and other Sri Lankan ethnic groups using this important dataset, while publishing the raw craniometric data for further studies. Observations on the dentition show that the Tamil and Sinhala individuals had high incidences of caries and dental abscesses that are typically associated with agriculturalists and that cribra orbitalia associated with iron deficiency was relatively common among all three ethnic groups. Betel quid chewing for recreational and cultural purposes, a practice that is widespread even today, had left dark stains on the teeth of many individuals of all groups in the sample. Multivariate statistical analyses on the craniometric data show that there is significant overlap among the three ethnic groups in terms of cranial shape. These findings underscore the importance of considering the ‘Vedda,’ Tamil, and Sinhala groups from Sri Lanka as closely related, due to gene flow over millennia.
Companion to South Asia in the past (Eds: Robbins-Schug and Walimbe), 2016
Asian Perspectives 57 (1): 51-82, 2018
Abstract:
The skeletal evidence for early modern human occupation of South Asia is sparse. Sri... more Abstract:
The skeletal evidence for early modern human occupation of South Asia is sparse. Sri Lanka has been occupied by modern humans from the terminal Pleistocene, with a skeletal record indicating continuity of occupation and settlement into the late Holocene. This study focuses on the analysis of fragmented human remains dated to the mid-Holocene recovered from a salvage archaeology operation conducted at a shell midden in the coastal village of Mini-athiliya in southern Sri Lanka. The Mini-athiliya site has been radiocarbon dated to ca. 3600 b.p. Large quantities of estuarine, marine, and terrestrial shells, stone tools, lithic debris, and animal bones were associated with the human skeletal remains recovered from this shell midden. The skeletal remains, faunal remains, and stone tools from this site have been greatly disturbed by recent shell mining activities. Much of the material collected from the piles of debris was mixed, fragmented, and out of context.Our study refers to associations we make to the cultural assemblage from this site to make inferences on the context of skeletal remains found. The minimum number of individuals (MNI) identified from commingled remains is five. In addition, another individual from an undisturbed context from this site was previously reported. Based on tooth eruption and the presence and level of dental attrition, the estimated age at death for these individuals ranges from 5 to 45 years. Heavy attrition in the adult dentition indicates a highly abrasive diet with a marked absence of caries among these relatively robust people. This study contributes to the understanding of the bioarchaeological aspects of mid-Holocene aquatic foragers who were contemporaries of early agricultural people of South Asia, while describing a framework for managing a skeletal sample from a disturbed context.
Ancient Asia, Volume 5 (3) pp 1-8, 2014
Man and Environment Vol XXXVI (2) pp 28-34, 2011
M.D. Petraglia, & B. Allchin , Eds., The Evolution and History of Human Populations in South Asia. Inter-disciplinary Studies in Archaeology, Biological Anthropology, Linguistics and Genetics. . pp 245-268. Springer: Dordrecht. , 2007
Conference Presentations by Samanti Kulatilake
Canadian Association for Biological Anthropology, 2022
The Galle Fort, a World Heritage site located on a peninsula jutting out of the southwestern coas... more The Galle Fort, a World Heritage site located on a peninsula jutting out of the southwestern coast of Sri Lanka was first fortified on the land front by the Portuguese in the 1500s. The Dutch captured it in 1640 and built extensive fortifications upon existing ramparts, bastions and on the sea fronts, making it one of the largest Dutch Forts in South Asia. It was later taken over by the British. The objectives of the archaeological project undertaken in 2019-2020 were to distinguish the original structural plans and phases of the constructional features, as a precursor to conservation, and to recover archaeological evidence of the activities and subsistence pattern during the late Historic period of intense European colonial intervention. We report the bioarchaeological remains recovered from the transported backfill of sandy clay and rubble excavated from the space between the two retaining walls of the ramparts. These remains are associated with bastions and landmarks such as the Star Bastion, Sun Bastion, Moon Bastion, Lighthouse and Black Fort. Within this mixed backfill, highly fragmented human and animal remains commingled with artifacts from numerous cultural phases were recovered. The faunal assemblage included bones and teeth of domesticated animals such as pigs (Sus domesticus), goats (Capra hircus), cows (Bos indicus), water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), chickens (Gallus domesticus) and dogs (Canis familiaris). Bones of large fish, bivalves, cowries and conch shells were also identified. Fragmented human skeletal and dental remains were also prominently present within this backfill. Pending further detailed analysis, preliminary observations revealed cut marks on both animal and human bones recovered from the Galle Fort ramparts. These bioarchaeological finds and observations offer insights into colonial era activities and subsistence within this administrative, military and economic coastal hub, while corroborating historical records that refer to the violence and disruption faced by the colonized.
Back(Bone) to the Future – Bioarchaeological Perspectives on Climate Change and Climate Crisis, 2021
The objective of this paper is to highlight the threats posed by human and environmental processe... more The objective of this paper is to highlight the threats posed by human and environmental processes leading to the loss of bioarchaeological heritage embedded in prehistoric coastal sites in southern Sri Lanka. We refer to two hunter-gatherer-fisher campsites at Mini-athiliya and Godavaya, where rescue operations were conducted to salvage bioarchaeological data. Mini-athiliya is a mid-Holocene shell midden site located on a coastal embayment and Godavaya is situated on a rocky coastal hillock comprising two distinct geo-cultural phases-the Late Pleistocene and Middle Holocene. While the Mini-athiliya site and surrounding areas are threatened by commercial shell mining, Godavaya is adversely affected by gravel mining and granite quarrying. Sri Lanka's southern coast was subjected to episodes of marine transgression and regression during the Middle Holocene, where tidal action driven shell valves accumulated along embayments at times of transgression. Mid-Holocene shorelines with such natural shell beds are also dotted with shell midden campsites. Mini-athiliya is one such site, which was discovered accidentally during a commercial shell mining operation. From the archaeological rescue operation there, skeletal and dental remains of six individuals along with faunal remains and stone tools were salvaged. Rescue operations at Godavaya yielded human, faunal and cultural remains contemporaneous with the Mini-athiliya deposits. At Godavaya, a large expanse of land has been destroyed by indiscriminate mining and quarrying, exacerbating coastal erosion and impeding the reading of prehistoric geomorphology and cultural deposition sequences. Extracting coastal resources are often conducted on the whims of local authorities and politicians. Due to a lack of understanding of the cultural significance of these sites and inadequate communication between coastal conservation agencies and government departments, such haphazard destructive activities continue, resulting in the loss of bioarchaeological heritage. We emphasize the importance of protecting valuable coastal bio archives within the context of challenging socioeconomic and political conditions.
IUAES Conference - Croatia, 2021
By Samanti Kulatilake & Patrick Carmichael
The Nasca people of the southern coast of Peru (A.D. 1... more By Samanti Kulatilake & Patrick Carmichael
The Nasca people of the southern coast of Peru (A.D. 100-600) are famous for their stunning polychrome pottery and giant ground drawings - Nazca Lines - carved into the desert landscape. Nasca skeletal biology and genetics however, have received relatively little attention in the literature. Through stable isotope analysis, the Nasca dietary pattern is assessed as agrarian-based, where marine resources played a relatively minor role (Carmichael et al. 2014). This study was designed to enhance the knowledge about the genetics of the Nasca from the Early Intermediate Period of coastal Peru, by studying ancient DNA (aDNA) obtained from several mummies buried at the great ceremonial site of Cahuachi and two adjacent sites (Soisongo and Majoro Chico). Paleogenomic studies on ancient South Americans have addressed broad questions of population dynamics, demographic changes and high altitude adaptations (Brandini et al. 2018; Fehren-Schmitz et al. 2010; Gomez-Carballa et al. 2018; Llamas et al. 2016; Kemp, et al. 2009; Sandoval et al. 2013; Shinoda et al. 2006), while some studies have used bioarchaeological data to make inferences on their internal social structure (Baca et al. 2012; Mendisco et al. 2018; Russo et al. 2016; Velasco 2018; Nagaoka et al. 2020). Through the extraction and analysis of mitochondrial DNA from ten mummified Nasca individuals, we assess available genetic signatures, while identifying the methodological challenges associated with extracting aDNA from highly degraded material. From the DNA sequence data on this sample, we make inferences on broad lineage affiliations and provide context for the Nasca peoples’ biology.
Key words: Peru, ancient DNA, Nasca, mummies, Cahuachi
Notable findings on a complete human burial from the archaeological site of Mini-athiliya in the ... more Notable findings on a complete human burial from the archaeological site of Mini-athiliya in the southern coast of Sri Lanka are presented in this poster. Mini-athiliya is primarily a shell-midden site located close to a lagoon in an estuarine environment. It is dated to the mid-Holocene, ca. 4000BP. While archaeological excavations yielded fragmentary human remains from several burials within the shell midden, the focus here is on the complete human burial recovered from this site. The skeleton was removed as block within its matrix from the site and later excavated meticulously. Initially catalogued as HMA Skeleton #6, it was nicknamed “Menik Hāmy”, giving this prehistoric modern human from Sri Lanka, a unique identity. This individual was identified as a male of approximately 45 years. “Menik-Hamy” had been buried in a foetal position with the head placed to the North, and covered with debris including large quantities of shells within a shallow grave. The burial appeared to have been compressed vertically, crushing and fragmenting many features. While a high degree of attrition to the molar teeth suggested an extremely abrasive diet, cranial and postcranial features indicated a high degree of robusticity. The burial pattern and associated lithic and faunal remains exemplify behavioural and cultural aspects of mobile aquatic foragers of the mid- Holocene in coastal Sri Lanka.
Early European explorers studied and collected skeletal remains of diverse ethnic groups they enc... more Early European explorers studied and collected skeletal remains of diverse ethnic groups they encountered in their travels and expeditions. The Sarasins cousins of Switzerland visited Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) on five occasions between 1883-1925. Their first visit was primarily a zoological expedition. In their latter visits the Sarasins' focus was on anthropological research on the indigenous Vedda people and the exploration of prehistoric settlements of the island. Among the data and collections acquired by the Sarasins are about 400 artifacts, 500 photographs and skeletal remains of over 90 individuals affiliated with diverse ethnic groups of Sri Lanka. The ethnic groups represented in the Sarasins' collection include the Vedda, Tamil, Sinhala and Rodi people. Of these groups, the indigenous Vedda people of Sri Lanka have been highlighted for study by the Sarasins, as a society and a life way on the verge of extinction and a larger sample of Vedda artifacts and skeletal material had been collected. This collection constitutes the largest collection of Vedda skeletal remains curated in any single museum collection. The skeletal series is also unique due to its size, completeness and integrity of the specimens, where many individuals are named, aged and sexed by the collectors. We present basic descriptive statistics and observations on the Sri Lankan skeletal material collected by the Sarasins, curated at the Natural History Museum in Basel, Switzerland.
Evidence from genetics and palaeoanthropology indicate an early and specifically southern movemen... more Evidence from genetics and palaeoanthropology indicate an early and specifically southern movement of modern humans out of Africa, as well as subsequent dispersals that populated the circum-Indian Ocean regions. South Asia, centrally located in this hypothesized dispersal route is denoted as a palimpsest of people who have migrated in successive waves from prehistoric through recent times. While cranial shape can be subject to certain environmental influences, the strong hereditary basis for cranial shape is established, and cranial shape can be used to infer affinities and distances between populations. In this study, I focus on the cranial metric variation among selected recent South Asian groups. The focal sample includes crania from Northwest India, Northeast India, South Central India, the Vedda and the Sinhalese. Craniometric data was collected using the standard Howells' methods and the variation among the selected groups is investigated using multivariate statistical analyses. I describe the cranial shape of South Asian subpopulations and show striking similarities between these groups. The results of the analyses suggest that the South Asians are a relatively homogeneous regional population with subpopulations within South Asia sharing close affinities. Next I compare the South Asians with selected recent circum-Indian Ocean populations and demonstrate the affinities South Asians share with certain adjacent populations, while being clearly different from others. Early and more recent dispersals, gene flow between adjacent peoples, genetic drift due to isolation, as well as local adaptations, explain the observable similarities and differences among these populations.
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Videos by Samanti Kulatilake
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Overview:
මානව විද්‍යාත්මක ප්‍රවේශය - Anthropological Approach
විද්‍යාත්මක ක්‍රමය - භූ විද්‍යාත්මක, පරිණාමීය සහ පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක කාල
Scientific Method - geological, evolutionary & archaeological time
පරිණාමීය පසුබිම - නූතන මිනිසාගේ සම්භවය හා ව්‍යාප්තිය
Evolutionary Perspective - Modern Human Origins & Dispersal
දකුණු ආසියාවේ පිහිටීම සහ නූතන මිනිසාගේ ව්‍යාප්තිය
South Asia: Location & Modern Human Dispersal Routes
ආදි දකුණු ආසියානුවන් - Ancient South Asians
නූතන දකුණු ආසියානුවන් - Recent South Asians
ආදි සහ නූතන දකුණු ආසියානුවන් අතර සම්බන්ධතා පිළිබඳ සාක්ෂි - Evidence
අස්ථිමය - skeletal/dental
පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක - archaeological
ප්‍රවේණි විද්‍යාත්මක - genetic
වාග් විද්‍යාත්මක - linguistic
සංස්කෘතික - cultural
ලංකා භූමිය පිළිබඳ - Perspective on Lanka
Books by Samanti Kulatilake
මානව විද්‍යාව වනාහි මිනිසා පිළිබඳ විද්‍යාත්මක අධ්‍යයනයයි. මිනිසාගේ අතීතය මෙන්ම වර්තමානයේ සංස්කෘතික සහ ජීවී මට්ටමෙන් පවතින විවිධත්වය විමසීම මානව විද්‍යාව තුළින් සිදුවේ. කෙටියෙන් පවසනවා නම්, මානව විද්‍යාවෙන් “සියලු ප්‍රදේශවල සහ සියලු කාලවලට අයත් මිනිසුන් අධ්‍යයනය කරනු ලැබේ”.
Anthropology is the study of humans in all places, in all times.
මනුෂ්‍ය භාවය පිළිබඳ තියුණු විශ්ලේෂණයක නියැලෙන මානව විද්‍යා විෂය, මිනිසා පිළිබඳ පූර්ණ අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගැනීමේ අරමුණක් ඇති සුවිශේෂී ක්ෂේත්‍රයකි. මිනිසා ඉතා සංකීර්ණ සත්ත්වයෙකි. හෝමෝ සේපියන්ස් (Homo sapiens) ලෙස විද්‍යාත්මකව නම් ලබන අප, දීර්ඝකාලීන පරිණාමීය ඉතිහාසයක් හිමි, වර්තමානයේ විවිධතා රැසකින් සමන්විත සත්ත්ව විශේෂයකි. මේ නිසා මිනිසුන්ව අධ්‍යයනය කරනු පිණිස අන් විෂයයන් මගින් ලබන දායකත්වය මානව විද්‍යාවට අතිශයින්ම වැදගත් වෙයි. එනම්, සමාජ ශාස්ත්‍ර (ආර්ථික විද්‍යාව, දේශපාලන විද්‍යාව, සමාජ විද්‍යාව), ශුද්ධ විද්‍යාවන් (ජීව විද්‍යාව, රසායන විද්‍යාව, භෞතික විද්‍යාව) සහ මානව ශාස්ත්‍ර (භාෂාවන්, ඉතිහාසය සහ කලා විෂයයන්) සම්බන්ධ කරගනිමින් මානව විද්‍යාඥයෝ පුළුල් අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගනු රිසියෙන් මිනිසා පිළිබඳව තොරතුරු විමසා බලති. මෙසේ සෑම දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයක් තුළින්ම මිනිසා දෙස බැලීමට මානව විද්‍යාව සාකල්‍ය ප්‍රවේශයක් (holistic approach) අනුගමනය කරයි. එමෙන්ම මෙම පූර්ණ අවබෝධය උදෙසා මානව විද්‍යාව සිව්-විධ විෂය ක්ෂේත්‍ර ප්‍රවේශයක් (four-field approach) යොදා ගනියි.
එම උප විෂය ක්ෂේත්‍ර සතර නම්:
(1) ජෛව (භෞතික) මානව විද්‍යාව - Biological (Physical) Anthropology
(2) සංස්කෘතික මානව විද්‍යාව - Cultural Anthropology
(3) පුරාවිද්‍යාව - Archaeology
(4) වාග් විද්‍යාත්මක මානව විද්‍යාව - Linguistic Anthropology
OPEN ACCESS (FREE) ONLINE SINHALA TEXTBOOK
“Minis Saththwaya” offers an introduction to Biological (Physical) Anthropology with a focus on humans as biological organisms. Using an evolutionary perspective and a bio-cultural approach, this resource outlines the principles of Biological Anthropology, describing humanity. This online open access resource is designed to make anthropological knowledge accessible in Sinhala for A-Level students, University students, instructors and the general public.
Author: Samanti Kulatilake, PhD
Associate Professor, Mount Royal University, Canada
ජෛව මානව විද්‍යාව හදාරන සිසු සිසුවියන්ට මෙන්ම මිනිසාගේ ජෛවී තොරතුරු විමසන්නන් හට සිංහල බසින් ලියැවුණු මූලාශ්ර දුර්ලභ ය. මෙම විෂයය පිළිබඳව අවබෝධය පුළුල් කිරීම පිණිස වඩාත් විස්තරාත්මකව නව තොරතුරු සහ අදහස් ඇතුළත් කර, ජෛව මානව විද්‍යාව පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු ප්රචලිත කිරීමේ මූලික අභිලාෂය පෙරටු කොට ගෙන මෙම කෘතිය ඉදිරිපත් කරමි.
මානව විවිධත්වය සහ පරිණාමය විද්‍යාත්මකව වටහා ගැනීම කාලීන අවශ්යතාවකි. ජෛව (භෞතික) මානව විද්‍යා විෂය පිළිබඳව හැඳින්වීමක් “මිනිස් සත්ත්වයා: ජෛව මානව විද්‍යා ප්‍රවේශය” කෘතියෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වෙයි. පරිණාමවාදී දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයක් තුළින් සහ ජෛව සංස්කෘතික ප්‍රවේශයක් හරහා මිනිසා ජෛව ලෝකයේ සාමාජිකයකු ලෙස අධ්‍යයනය කරන අන්දම මෙහිදී හඳුන්වා දෙනු ලැබේ. මානව විද්‍යාත්මක දැනුම සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් ප්රචලිත කිරීමේ අභිලාෂයෙන් නිර්මාණය කර ඇති මෙම විවෘත ප්රවේශ මූලාශ්රය උසස් පෙළ සහ විශ්ව විද්යාල සිසුන්ට මෙන්ම ආචාර්යවරුන්ට සහ පොදු පාඨකයන්ට ද ප්රයෝජනවත් වනු ඇත.
කර්තෘ: සමන්ති කුලතිලක, PhD
සහය මහාචාර්ය, මවුන්ට් රෝයල් විශ්ව විද්යාලය, කැනඩාව
Papers by Samanti Kulatilake
ethnolinguistic groups represented in the Sarasins’ collection include the ‘Vedda,’ Tamil, and Sinhala people of Sri Lanka, and it constitutes the largest ‘Vedda’ cranial collection housed at a single institution.
The objective of this paper is to compare cranial variation of the Indigenous ‘Vedda’ and other Sri Lankan ethnic groups using this important dataset, while publishing the raw craniometric data for further studies. Observations on the dentition show that the Tamil and Sinhala individuals had high incidences of caries and dental abscesses that are typically associated with agriculturalists and that cribra orbitalia associated with iron deficiency was relatively common among all three ethnic groups. Betel quid chewing for recreational and cultural purposes, a practice that is widespread even today, had left dark stains on the teeth of many individuals of all groups in the sample. Multivariate statistical analyses on the craniometric data show that there is significant overlap among the three ethnic groups in terms of cranial shape. These findings underscore the importance of considering the ‘Vedda,’ Tamil, and Sinhala groups from Sri Lanka as closely related, due to gene flow over millennia.
The skeletal evidence for early modern human occupation of South Asia is sparse. Sri Lanka has been occupied by modern humans from the terminal Pleistocene, with a skeletal record indicating continuity of occupation and settlement into the late Holocene. This study focuses on the analysis of fragmented human remains dated to the mid-Holocene recovered from a salvage archaeology operation conducted at a shell midden in the coastal village of Mini-athiliya in southern Sri Lanka. The Mini-athiliya site has been radiocarbon dated to ca. 3600 b.p. Large quantities of estuarine, marine, and terrestrial shells, stone tools, lithic debris, and animal bones were associated with the human skeletal remains recovered from this shell midden. The skeletal remains, faunal remains, and stone tools from this site have been greatly disturbed by recent shell mining activities. Much of the material collected from the piles of debris was mixed, fragmented, and out of context.Our study refers to associations we make to the cultural assemblage from this site to make inferences on the context of skeletal remains found. The minimum number of individuals (MNI) identified from commingled remains is five. In addition, another individual from an undisturbed context from this site was previously reported. Based on tooth eruption and the presence and level of dental attrition, the estimated age at death for these individuals ranges from 5 to 45 years. Heavy attrition in the adult dentition indicates a highly abrasive diet with a marked absence of caries among these relatively robust people. This study contributes to the understanding of the bioarchaeological aspects of mid-Holocene aquatic foragers who were contemporaries of early agricultural people of South Asia, while describing a framework for managing a skeletal sample from a disturbed context.
Conference Presentations by Samanti Kulatilake
The Nasca people of the southern coast of Peru (A.D. 100-600) are famous for their stunning polychrome pottery and giant ground drawings - Nazca Lines - carved into the desert landscape. Nasca skeletal biology and genetics however, have received relatively little attention in the literature. Through stable isotope analysis, the Nasca dietary pattern is assessed as agrarian-based, where marine resources played a relatively minor role (Carmichael et al. 2014). This study was designed to enhance the knowledge about the genetics of the Nasca from the Early Intermediate Period of coastal Peru, by studying ancient DNA (aDNA) obtained from several mummies buried at the great ceremonial site of Cahuachi and two adjacent sites (Soisongo and Majoro Chico). Paleogenomic studies on ancient South Americans have addressed broad questions of population dynamics, demographic changes and high altitude adaptations (Brandini et al. 2018; Fehren-Schmitz et al. 2010; Gomez-Carballa et al. 2018; Llamas et al. 2016; Kemp, et al. 2009; Sandoval et al. 2013; Shinoda et al. 2006), while some studies have used bioarchaeological data to make inferences on their internal social structure (Baca et al. 2012; Mendisco et al. 2018; Russo et al. 2016; Velasco 2018; Nagaoka et al. 2020). Through the extraction and analysis of mitochondrial DNA from ten mummified Nasca individuals, we assess available genetic signatures, while identifying the methodological challenges associated with extracting aDNA from highly degraded material. From the DNA sequence data on this sample, we make inferences on broad lineage affiliations and provide context for the Nasca peoples’ biology.
Key words: Peru, ancient DNA, Nasca, mummies, Cahuachi
https://www.iahs.lk/
Overview:
මානව විද්‍යාත්මක ප්‍රවේශය - Anthropological Approach
විද්‍යාත්මක ක්‍රමය - භූ විද්‍යාත්මක, පරිණාමීය සහ පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක කාල
Scientific Method - geological, evolutionary & archaeological time
පරිණාමීය පසුබිම - නූතන මිනිසාගේ සම්භවය හා ව්‍යාප්තිය
Evolutionary Perspective - Modern Human Origins & Dispersal
දකුණු ආසියාවේ පිහිටීම සහ නූතන මිනිසාගේ ව්‍යාප්තිය
South Asia: Location & Modern Human Dispersal Routes
ආදි දකුණු ආසියානුවන් - Ancient South Asians
නූතන දකුණු ආසියානුවන් - Recent South Asians
ආදි සහ නූතන දකුණු ආසියානුවන් අතර සම්බන්ධතා පිළිබඳ සාක්ෂි - Evidence
අස්ථිමය - skeletal/dental
පුරාවිද්‍යාත්මක - archaeological
ප්‍රවේණි විද්‍යාත්මක - genetic
වාග් විද්‍යාත්මක - linguistic
සංස්කෘතික - cultural
ලංකා භූමිය පිළිබඳ - Perspective on Lanka
මානව විද්‍යාව වනාහි මිනිසා පිළිබඳ විද්‍යාත්මක අධ්‍යයනයයි. මිනිසාගේ අතීතය මෙන්ම වර්තමානයේ සංස්කෘතික සහ ජීවී මට්ටමෙන් පවතින විවිධත්වය විමසීම මානව විද්‍යාව තුළින් සිදුවේ. කෙටියෙන් පවසනවා නම්, මානව විද්‍යාවෙන් “සියලු ප්‍රදේශවල සහ සියලු කාලවලට අයත් මිනිසුන් අධ්‍යයනය කරනු ලැබේ”.
Anthropology is the study of humans in all places, in all times.
මනුෂ්‍ය භාවය පිළිබඳ තියුණු විශ්ලේෂණයක නියැලෙන මානව විද්‍යා විෂය, මිනිසා පිළිබඳ පූර්ණ අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගැනීමේ අරමුණක් ඇති සුවිශේෂී ක්ෂේත්‍රයකි. මිනිසා ඉතා සංකීර්ණ සත්ත්වයෙකි. හෝමෝ සේපියන්ස් (Homo sapiens) ලෙස විද්‍යාත්මකව නම් ලබන අප, දීර්ඝකාලීන පරිණාමීය ඉතිහාසයක් හිමි, වර්තමානයේ විවිධතා රැසකින් සමන්විත සත්ත්ව විශේෂයකි. මේ නිසා මිනිසුන්ව අධ්‍යයනය කරනු පිණිස අන් විෂයයන් මගින් ලබන දායකත්වය මානව විද්‍යාවට අතිශයින්ම වැදගත් වෙයි. එනම්, සමාජ ශාස්ත්‍ර (ආර්ථික විද්‍යාව, දේශපාලන විද්‍යාව, සමාජ විද්‍යාව), ශුද්ධ විද්‍යාවන් (ජීව විද්‍යාව, රසායන විද්‍යාව, භෞතික විද්‍යාව) සහ මානව ශාස්ත්‍ර (භාෂාවන්, ඉතිහාසය සහ කලා විෂයයන්) සම්බන්ධ කරගනිමින් මානව විද්‍යාඥයෝ පුළුල් අවබෝධයක් ලබා ගනු රිසියෙන් මිනිසා පිළිබඳව තොරතුරු විමසා බලති. මෙසේ සෑම දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයක් තුළින්ම මිනිසා දෙස බැලීමට මානව විද්‍යාව සාකල්‍ය ප්‍රවේශයක් (holistic approach) අනුගමනය කරයි. එමෙන්ම මෙම පූර්ණ අවබෝධය උදෙසා මානව විද්‍යාව සිව්-විධ විෂය ක්ෂේත්‍ර ප්‍රවේශයක් (four-field approach) යොදා ගනියි.
එම උප විෂය ක්ෂේත්‍ර සතර නම්:
(1) ජෛව (භෞතික) මානව විද්‍යාව - Biological (Physical) Anthropology
(2) සංස්කෘතික මානව විද්‍යාව - Cultural Anthropology
(3) පුරාවිද්‍යාව - Archaeology
(4) වාග් විද්‍යාත්මක මානව විද්‍යාව - Linguistic Anthropology
OPEN ACCESS (FREE) ONLINE SINHALA TEXTBOOK
“Minis Saththwaya” offers an introduction to Biological (Physical) Anthropology with a focus on humans as biological organisms. Using an evolutionary perspective and a bio-cultural approach, this resource outlines the principles of Biological Anthropology, describing humanity. This online open access resource is designed to make anthropological knowledge accessible in Sinhala for A-Level students, University students, instructors and the general public.
Author: Samanti Kulatilake, PhD
Associate Professor, Mount Royal University, Canada
ජෛව මානව විද්‍යාව හදාරන සිසු සිසුවියන්ට මෙන්ම මිනිසාගේ ජෛවී තොරතුරු විමසන්නන් හට සිංහල බසින් ලියැවුණු මූලාශ්ර දුර්ලභ ය. මෙම විෂයය පිළිබඳව අවබෝධය පුළුල් කිරීම පිණිස වඩාත් විස්තරාත්මකව නව තොරතුරු සහ අදහස් ඇතුළත් කර, ජෛව මානව විද්‍යාව පිළිබඳ තොරතුරු ප්රචලිත කිරීමේ මූලික අභිලාෂය පෙරටු කොට ගෙන මෙම කෘතිය ඉදිරිපත් කරමි.
මානව විවිධත්වය සහ පරිණාමය විද්‍යාත්මකව වටහා ගැනීම කාලීන අවශ්යතාවකි. ජෛව (භෞතික) මානව විද්‍යා විෂය පිළිබඳව හැඳින්වීමක් “මිනිස් සත්ත්වයා: ජෛව මානව විද්‍යා ප්‍රවේශය” කෘතියෙන් ඉදිරිපත් වෙයි. පරිණාමවාදී දෘෂ්ටිකෝණයක් තුළින් සහ ජෛව සංස්කෘතික ප්‍රවේශයක් හරහා මිනිසා ජෛව ලෝකයේ සාමාජිකයකු ලෙස අධ්‍යයනය කරන අන්දම මෙහිදී හඳුන්වා දෙනු ලැබේ. මානව විද්‍යාත්මක දැනුම සිංහල භාෂාවෙන් ප්රචලිත කිරීමේ අභිලාෂයෙන් නිර්මාණය කර ඇති මෙම විවෘත ප්රවේශ මූලාශ්රය උසස් පෙළ සහ විශ්ව විද්යාල සිසුන්ට මෙන්ම ආචාර්යවරුන්ට සහ පොදු පාඨකයන්ට ද ප්රයෝජනවත් වනු ඇත.
කර්තෘ: සමන්ති කුලතිලක, PhD
සහය මහාචාර්ය, මවුන්ට් රෝයල් විශ්ව විද්යාලය, කැනඩාව
ethnolinguistic groups represented in the Sarasins’ collection include the ‘Vedda,’ Tamil, and Sinhala people of Sri Lanka, and it constitutes the largest ‘Vedda’ cranial collection housed at a single institution.
The objective of this paper is to compare cranial variation of the Indigenous ‘Vedda’ and other Sri Lankan ethnic groups using this important dataset, while publishing the raw craniometric data for further studies. Observations on the dentition show that the Tamil and Sinhala individuals had high incidences of caries and dental abscesses that are typically associated with agriculturalists and that cribra orbitalia associated with iron deficiency was relatively common among all three ethnic groups. Betel quid chewing for recreational and cultural purposes, a practice that is widespread even today, had left dark stains on the teeth of many individuals of all groups in the sample. Multivariate statistical analyses on the craniometric data show that there is significant overlap among the three ethnic groups in terms of cranial shape. These findings underscore the importance of considering the ‘Vedda,’ Tamil, and Sinhala groups from Sri Lanka as closely related, due to gene flow over millennia.
The skeletal evidence for early modern human occupation of South Asia is sparse. Sri Lanka has been occupied by modern humans from the terminal Pleistocene, with a skeletal record indicating continuity of occupation and settlement into the late Holocene. This study focuses on the analysis of fragmented human remains dated to the mid-Holocene recovered from a salvage archaeology operation conducted at a shell midden in the coastal village of Mini-athiliya in southern Sri Lanka. The Mini-athiliya site has been radiocarbon dated to ca. 3600 b.p. Large quantities of estuarine, marine, and terrestrial shells, stone tools, lithic debris, and animal bones were associated with the human skeletal remains recovered from this shell midden. The skeletal remains, faunal remains, and stone tools from this site have been greatly disturbed by recent shell mining activities. Much of the material collected from the piles of debris was mixed, fragmented, and out of context.Our study refers to associations we make to the cultural assemblage from this site to make inferences on the context of skeletal remains found. The minimum number of individuals (MNI) identified from commingled remains is five. In addition, another individual from an undisturbed context from this site was previously reported. Based on tooth eruption and the presence and level of dental attrition, the estimated age at death for these individuals ranges from 5 to 45 years. Heavy attrition in the adult dentition indicates a highly abrasive diet with a marked absence of caries among these relatively robust people. This study contributes to the understanding of the bioarchaeological aspects of mid-Holocene aquatic foragers who were contemporaries of early agricultural people of South Asia, while describing a framework for managing a skeletal sample from a disturbed context.
The Nasca people of the southern coast of Peru (A.D. 100-600) are famous for their stunning polychrome pottery and giant ground drawings - Nazca Lines - carved into the desert landscape. Nasca skeletal biology and genetics however, have received relatively little attention in the literature. Through stable isotope analysis, the Nasca dietary pattern is assessed as agrarian-based, where marine resources played a relatively minor role (Carmichael et al. 2014). This study was designed to enhance the knowledge about the genetics of the Nasca from the Early Intermediate Period of coastal Peru, by studying ancient DNA (aDNA) obtained from several mummies buried at the great ceremonial site of Cahuachi and two adjacent sites (Soisongo and Majoro Chico). Paleogenomic studies on ancient South Americans have addressed broad questions of population dynamics, demographic changes and high altitude adaptations (Brandini et al. 2018; Fehren-Schmitz et al. 2010; Gomez-Carballa et al. 2018; Llamas et al. 2016; Kemp, et al. 2009; Sandoval et al. 2013; Shinoda et al. 2006), while some studies have used bioarchaeological data to make inferences on their internal social structure (Baca et al. 2012; Mendisco et al. 2018; Russo et al. 2016; Velasco 2018; Nagaoka et al. 2020). Through the extraction and analysis of mitochondrial DNA from ten mummified Nasca individuals, we assess available genetic signatures, while identifying the methodological challenges associated with extracting aDNA from highly degraded material. From the DNA sequence data on this sample, we make inferences on broad lineage affiliations and provide context for the Nasca peoples’ biology.
Key words: Peru, ancient DNA, Nasca, mummies, Cahuachi