ඇල්. වී. ඒ. ද මැල් — දකුණු ආසියාතික පුරාවිද්‍යාවේ මහා කැණීම්කරුවා (L. V. A. de Mel — The great excavator of South Asian archaeology)

Author: Ishanka Malsiri 

Publisher: Vidharshana 2022

De Mel joined the Archaeological Department as a laborer in 1971. He passed the GCE O/L exam, and in those days, he could have obtained a better-paying job with those qualifications. He learned excavation methods from several archaeologists, particularly Siran Daraniyagala.

The following describes his experience when he first met Daraniyagala at the Kithulgala Belilena cave in 1978:

"Are you Mel?"
"Yes, sir, it’s me."

Instructions were given to get a tablespoon, a coconut spoon, and a pointed spoon.

He entered the excavation pit on Daraniyagala’s orders.

"Start digging now."

Mel began to sweat profusely at this command. It is not surprising that Mel, who had about eight years of experience but still lacked a formal understanding of excavations, was shocked.

He learned from Daraniyagala systematically and diligently for about three years. Daraniyagala, too, realized that Mel was a special student. In the process, Mel became an expert in soil layer analysis.

In 1988, Mel and Professor Catherine Raymond from Sorbonne University conducted an excavation in Anuradhapura—the capital of Sri Lanka for over 1,500 years, from approximately 500 B.C.E. to 1000 C.E.—specifically in the inner city. (Catherine is now a Professor of Art History and the Director of the Center for Burma Studies at Northern Illinois University.)

This site is known as the Anuradhapura Salgahawatta site (ASW 88). The following is how Mel described the process.

"There was a professor named Catherine at Sorbonne University in France. She and I conducted the ASW 88 excavation. Coningham wasn’t there at the time.  At the ASW 88 site, we discovered pottery shards with Brahmi script (a few letters) dating to 600–500 B.C.E. This finding was later published in a newspaper, sparking great controversy among historians and archaeologists. Some university scholars argued that the discovery was not credible, claiming that no Brahmi script had been found before 300 B.C.E., even in India.  Mr. Deraniyagala pointed out that certain Indian states do not permit excavations of ancient sites. He believes that early writing in India may date back to the 7th, 8th, or even 9th century B.C.E. However, the challenge is that excavation activities in those regions are restricted due to political and caste-related issues."  

(Mel worked with Robin Coningham during the second excavation of the Salgahawatta site from 1989 to 1992. Robin Coningham is now a professor at Durham University.)

Before the Samanalawewa Reservoir Project was initiated in the late 1980s, the government conducted both an Environmental Impact Assessment and an Archaeological Impact Assessment. Gill Juleff was part of the research team tasked with creating the Archaeological Impact Assessment Report. She held a degree in archaeochemistry.

During the assessment, the team discovered prehistoric remains of furnaces designed for smelting iron ore in a place called Mahathanna. The iron ore smelting furnaces in Mahathanna were strategically built to face the strong winds blowing from the windward side of the mountain range opposite the site. The smelting process could only be successfully carried out when the southwest monsoon winds, which peak in July, reached their maximum strength.

At Gill Juleff’s request, Mel meticulously reconstructed the historic furnace and successfully replicated the ancient Sinhalese iron smelting process.

This picture of the furnace was obtained from the Wilpattu House, 

maintained by Barr-Kumar Kulasingha.

In 1996, Gill Juleff published a paper titled "An Ancient Wind-Powered Iron Smelting Technology in Sri Lanka" in Nature. The following is the paper’s description from Nature:

“I report the discovery and excavation at Samanalawewa, Sri Lanka, of a previously unknown furnace type. The furnaces are all situated on the western margins of hills and ridges, where they are exposed to the strong monsoon winds. Field trials using replica furnaces confirm that this furnace type uses a wind-based air-supply principle that is distinct from either forced or natural draught, and show also that it is capable of producing high-carbon steel. This technology sustained a major industry in this area during the first millennium AD, and may have contributed to South Asia's early pre-eminence in steel production.”

Juleff jokingly teased Mel, saying, "What a lazy bunch you are—you just sit there and let the wind melt iron ore for you!"

Over the course of his career, Mel has excavated an estimated 20,000 soil layers. No other excavator with such extensive experience has ever emerged in the archaeological history of this country. That is why Mel is regarded as an unparalleled excavator. He is, without a doubt, the "Ishwar of Asian Archaeology."  These are the sentiments of his admirer, Ishanka Malsiri.

This book is written in Sinhala. If you can read Sinhala, it is a marvelous biography of a great excavator. I believe all Sri Lankans should read this book.