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The archaeological heritage of Sri Lanka is divided in to three ages as Prehistoric (Stone age), Protohistoric (Iron age) and historical periods. The presence of man activities in Sri Lanka probably dates from 75,000 years ago (late Pleistocene period). Prehistoric sites, identified in the country are distributed from the maritime belt and the lowland plains of the wet and dry zones to the high plateaus and rain forest in the central and south western mountain region of the island.

The proto-historic period expands from about 1000 BC to the historical period at about 500 BC. The main indicators of the distribution of proto-historic and early settlements in the island are megalithic burials and pottery sites.

The beginning of the historical period of Sri Lanka is traditionally assigned to the reign of king Devanampiya Tissa (307–267 BC) when the Buddhism was introduced to Sri Lanka by the missionaries sent by the Indian emperor Ashoka. However the first clear information about the establishment of building and structures are dated back to the time of king Pandukabhaya (437–367 BC).

Sri Lanka's political and religious history is mainly set out by the ancient chronicles as well as over 4,000 stone inscriptions from 3rd century BC onward. Which give the history in considerable detail from the 3rd century and less reliably back to the 6th century BC.

Presently Sri Lanka archaeological department has declared number of archaeological reserves and protected monuments throughout the country. Archaeological reserves are the sites consist of archaeological remains which are under the direct control of the archaeological department. Protected monuments are privately owned but scheduled under section 18 of the Antiquities Ordinance No.09 of 1940.

Monuments
The religious monuments make the major proportion of Sri Lanka's archaeological heritage. It mainly constitute the monuments related with the Buddhist tradition, notably Theravada Buddhism, from 3rd century BC to present. The monuments range from the earliest monastics of 3rd century BC to 19th century temple complexes.

Ancient constructions of Sri Lanka In the ancient period, inscribed cave shelters were made by donors as religious donations for Buddhist monks to provide shelter to them during the annual rainy season retreat (Paranavitana 1970; Dias 2001: 14–18). Therefore existence of dripledged caves in a site indicate that they were inhabited by Bhikkhus during the ancient period and epigraphs further reveal the names of donors who donate the prepared caves to them. As many of similar epigraphs scattered across the island, the inscriptions at Kuragala are seemed to be incomplete as it contain only the names of donors.

controversy on the Stupa Some sources allege that the construction of Kuragala stupa, was stopped after Jailani trustee was only constructed a few feet high and abandoned due to the protests of the Muslim community

Dagoba
Stupa/ Chaitya/Dagoba

Danasala
Alms halls

Image houses
Patimaghara

Buddha and Bodhisattva images
Bodhisattva

Stelae
Stelae

Inscriptions
Inscriptions

Colonial architecture
The traditional monumental architecture of the island was significantly changed with the European invasion and occupation of the country.