The Mini-athiliya site and shell mining The Mini-athiliya shell midden site, designated as HMA 2007 is located at 6° 07’ 12” North, and 80° 56’ 47” East, in the southern coast of the Hambantota District in the semi-arid zone of Sri Lanka (Fig. 1). The Mini-athiliya paddy field is situated approximately four kilometres inland from the present coast. Fluctuating sea levels may have placed this site closer to the shoreline during the mid-Holocene. Hungama, located on the main highway, is the town closest to Mini-athiliya. Local informants note that shells and isolated human and animal skeletal elements have often been encountered in the Hatagala Buddhist temple premises, located near the Mini-athiliya paddy field. Shell middens have been mined, quarried, and exploited in a variety of ways around the world as a raw material for agricultural, construction, and commercial purposes (Ceci 1984: 65). From historical times in Sri Lanka, shell deposits have been quarried for lime-based fertilizer, building material, and chicken-feed. While quarrying in this particular site of Mini-athiliya, local shell miners observed among the shell debris well-preserved bone and dental remains. They informed the local authorities, who in turn, alerted the authors and the Excavation Branch of the Archaeology Department of Sri Lanka, who immediately initiated a rescue operation, to avert further destruction to this valuable archaeological site. The Mini-athiliya shell mining operation yielded fragmented and mixed remains of five individuals (Kulatilake, 2009). These human bones, commingled with faunal remains were identified from piles of extracted shell debris and soil. Unfortunately, the mixing due to the mining activities precluded the recording of any contextual information. Provenance information for these mixed burials was only recorded as approximations through personal communication with miners. This paper focuses on the discovery and extraction of a complete human burial that had not been disturbed by the shell mining activity at Mini-athiliya.

Excavation, stratigraphy and contextual information The main objective of the salvage operation at Mini-athiliya was to mitigate the destruction to this archaeological site and it also signified the launching of systematic investigations on Sri Lanka’s coastal shell middens. The second author directed the field excavation (Fig. 2), while the first author was its consulting biological anthropologist. When the excavation team reached Mini-athiliya, it was observed that a large portion of the site was exposed and subjected to destruction by shell mining (Perera, 2009). A parallel is drawn between the Mini-athiliya rescue operation and a rescue excavation in Saldanha Bay, South Africa (Orton, 2013), where the upper deposits had been destroyed prior to systematic excavation. As is customary in any rescue archaeology operation, the primary goal of this project was to salvage and record as much information as possible before further damage accrued. The following information is a summary based on the excavation project report (Perera, 2009). In order to recognize the stratigraphic sequence of the Mini-athiliya site, the excavation team cleaned the profile of an existing mining pit. Using the profile sections, already exposed by shell mining, a site stratigraphy was established. The excavation team also conducted a reconnaissance survey of the area, and a test pit measuring 2m x 2m was probed down to the sterile lagoon bed. This test pit yielded fragmented skeletal remains, stone tools, and large quantities of shells. Subsequently, this pit was extended to encompass a total excavation area of 3m x 3.5m (Fig. 3). An alphanumeric site grid was established over the site. A nail set in a nearby power pole served as an elevation datum. The site grid was set out over the established 3m x3.5m unit and labeled alphabetically from south to north. Topographic site maps were drawn using scales of 1: 20 and 1: 100. The excavation employed the stratigraphic excavation method by using context-based recording and the Sri Lanka Archaeological Department’s standard context cards for recording soil layers and archaeological features. The lowermost shell deposit representing human habitation was designated as Context 3. This context was associated with the complete human burial discussed below. Context 3 had a thickness of 76cm. The soil colour was yellowish brown (Munsell 2.5YR 4/7), reflecting the hues of a waterlogged shell deposit. Its texture was characterized by the presence of highly concentrated and well-packed dense shell debris, within yellowish brown, grey sandy silt. Stone implements, faunal remains, and charred shells were found in this context. The composition of Context 3 can be summarized as follows: shells: 75%, faunal remains: 8%, stone artefacts: 10%, sand: 7%. Context 7 is part of the human burial pit including the cultural remains and soil within it, which is the artificially filled component of the burial pit. The complete human skeleton designated as Context 8 was taken within its matrix as a block for careful exposure and further analysis (Fig. 4). While the scope of this paper does not encompass the analysis of the Mini-athiliya faunal and lithic assemblages, it is clear that the people of Mini-athiliya were a skilled group of aquatic foragers. Large quantities of molluscs were excavated from the Mini-athiliya site. They represent land, brine (estuarine), and marine habitats. The genera represented were Acavus, Oligospira, Cyclophorus, Pila, Paludomus, Anadara, Turbinella, and Cerithidea, with estuarine and marine forms predominating markedly. As observed among the shell middens of Eritrea described by Mayer and Beyin (2009), at Mini-athiliya too it is apparent that the shells were collected from a variety of habitats. Also bones of crabs, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals were recovered from these well-sealed archaeological contexts. The lithic assemblage recovered from Mini-athiliya consisted of flakes and cores, geometric microliths, hammerstones and grinders. The faunal evidence and lithic assemblage from the Mini-athiliya excavation demonstrate a society using a suite of varied subsistence strategies for their survival.

Dating Results for the Mini-athiliya shell midden Previous researchers have obtained dates on shell middens of southern Sri Lanka utilizing shells (Katupotha, 1988; Deraniyagala, 1992). A date of 4440 ± 60 BP was obtained by liquid scintillation counting of methanol for shell samples on shell (Veneridae) from an exposed deposit in Hatagala (6° 06’ 35” North, 80° 56’ 50” East), situated close to Mini-athiliya (Katupotha, 1988: 341–345). An objective of the Mini-athiliya rescue archaeology project was to obtain charcoal samples from secure archaeological contexts to date this shell midden. The Mini-athiliya excavation yielded charcoal from a hearth and other sealed stratigraphic contexts. The dates for Mini-athiliya have been secured using several charcoal samples from contexts denoted as the lower level within Context 2 and Context 3, the main habitation levels of the site. The charcoal in the lower part of context 3 is dated to 3610 +/- 40 BP and a sample from the lower levels of context 2 is dated to 3680 +/- 40 BP. These dates overlap considerably and are essentially identical. The radiocarbon dating summarised in Table 1 suggests that these contexts represent a single, continuous occupation deposit during the mid-Holocene with dates clustered around 4000 BP. Large-scale molluscan consumption and shell disposal is considered to result in a rapid rate of midden accumulation (Waselkov, 1987). Accordingly, at Mini-athiliya, the thickness of the shell deposit, which also included discarded lithic debris and charred faunal remains, ranged from 50–120cm. This suggests rapid and heavy accumulation of refuse. Stratigraphic information indicates that these early aquatic foragers had not re-occupied Mini-athiliya. The historic and more recent use of this site has been primarily for agricultural (rice paddy cultivation) and commercial purposes (shell mining). Sample and Analysis Measured Radiocarbon Age 13C/12C Ratio 2 Sigma Calibration Beta - 256149

(Charred Material)

HMA Context 2 LOWER

AMS-Standard delivery 3680 +/- 40 BP -24.7 o/oo Cal BC 2190 to 2170

(Cal BP 4140 to 4120)

AND

Cal BC 2150 to 1950

(Cal BP 4100 to 3900) Beta - 256151

(Charred Material)

HMA Context 3 LOWER

AMS-Standard delivery 3610 +/- 40 BP -24.8 o/oo Cal BC 2120 to 2090

(Cal BP 4070 to 4040)

AND

Cal BC 2040 to 1880

(Cal BP 3990 to 3830)

The discovery and extraction of the complete human burial from Mini-athiliya The complete human burial at Mini-athiliya was encountered entirely by accident. At the end of the salvage operation, when the excavation team had decided to close the excavation pits at Mini- athiliya, a worker’s implement hit a solid surface. Excavating around this surface it was clear to the team that it was a human skull. It turned out to be the skull of the skeleton to be named HMA 6 (Fig. 5). A bone-by-bone recovery was not feasible on site, due to the onset of the rainy season and the urgency associated with this rescue operation. It was decided that the complete human burial would be removed from Mini-athiliya as a block within its matrix (Contexts 7 and 8), to be followed by the implementation of a meticulous extraction strategy, off site, within laboratory conditions. The strategy decided upon to recover the complete skeleton for detailed analysis, while losing as little contextual information as possible, is described below. Digging narrow trenches around the burial in a rectangular shape and exposing the burial as a block, it was placed in a plaster cast with the surrounding matrix. A layer of soil was artificially placed, covering the surface of this block. A wooden crate was constructed to surround the plaster cast containing the complete burial within its matrix. The dimensions of the box were: 118cm x 75cm x 70cm. This crate containing the burial was unearthed from the site (Fig. 6) and was transported to the Head Office of the Sri Lanka Department of Archaeology in Colombo (Fig. 7). It was noted previously that five individuals were identified from the fragmentary skeletal material from the shell miners’ pits. These individuals were labeled as HMA 1 through 5 (Kulatilake, 2009). Therefore, this skeleton was labelled HMA 6. The meticulous excavation, extraction and exposure of this burial were undertaken in 2009 by the authors, a team of excavators, and laboratory personnel (Fig. 8). Careful excavation allowed the identification of many details about this individual. Skilled excavators, laboratory personnel, draughts persons, and photographers were deployed. Once the crate containing the skeleton was pried open, the top plaster sheet was removed. The layer of soil placed artificially on the skeleton was slowly brushed away in 2cm increments. This layer was approximately 16cm in thickness. The skull, which had been elevated during the original burial process, was first encountered in this levelling process. The damage that occurred during the initial discovery of the skeleton had fragmented the tempero-parietal region of the cranium. Compacted soil filled the cranial cavity keeping most cranial bones intact. The entire skeleton had been covered with debris including large quantities of shells during the original internment. A demarcation of a shallow grave was barely identified during the excavation. It would be pertinent to note that the extraction process in the laboratory progressed “shell by shell”, where the excavators painstakingly removed vast quantities of shells to expose the skeletal elements. Dental picks, scalpels, and brushes were used and levelling was conducted at 2cm intervals. The process was documented throughout, using written records, drawings, and photographs. The matrix surrounding the burial yielded burnt and fragmented animal bones and fragmented lithic material. Laboratory personnel who were present throughout the extraction process initiated the consolidation of bone that was prone to crumbling. Paraloid B72 in acetone (2%) solution was injected to areas such as the femoral head and iliac spine of the pelvis. Observations and measurements were made, where possible, on exposed skeletal elements.