New Artifacts found in Sigiriya Excavation

Several new artifacts have been found from a recent excavation at the Sigiriya Rock Fortress and a statue of a lion made from terracotta was among them. The excavation is currently underway in the northern water conduit of the Sigiriya Rock Fortress, Director General of the Central Cultural Fund (CCF) Prof. Prishantha Gunawardena said. Several other antiques including terracotta clay pots, beads and iron antiques had been found from the excavation, Government Information Department said. Sigiriya rock fortress had been built by King Kashyapa I in the 5th century A.D. Sigiriya was declared a World Heritage site in 1982. “For centuries, there have been several theories regarding the lion statue of Sigiriya. But now, with this statue being found, we can assume as to how the original lion statue looked like. We believe that this mini statue could be a replica of that,” Prof. Gunawardena said. The academic further said that other clay pots found from the excavation looked similar to those manufactured in foreign countries. “This means that we had a well-structured business trade with Rome and the Central Asian region during the King Kashyapa’s era,