In the 1st millennium BCE Sri Lanka was central to the wide-spanning trading networks in the Western Indian Ocean region. Population agglomerations grew on the coast and further inland, where Anuradhapura emerged as the major central place. Parallel agglomerations formed in the south in Tissamaharama and in the north on Jaffna Peninsula in Kantharodai. The site of Kantharodai on the northern tip of Sri Lanka is the largest known early historic mound site on the Jaffna Peninsula, thought to represent the ancient centre of the region. The Early Historic occupation of Kantharodai began ca. 400-100 BCE. In our study we focus on the older historic occupation phase at Kantharodai, represented by a rich midden deposit of domestic refuse that offer insights into the environmental conditions faced by early occupants of the site and their modes of subsistence. We provide a glimpse into the subsistence strategies of the earliest settled population in Kantharodai who augmented a diet based on domesticated livestock through multiple wild species from forests, swamps, mangroves and marine habitats. Based on the faunal evidence from early Kantharodai, this complex socio-economic structure appears to have been in operation, confirming proposed models of mixed economies in operation in the Early Historic period of the region.

In Sri Lanka, a survey was conducted in 2018 to assess the levels of identified hazards in commonly consumed food items. Pesticide residue levels in vegetables, green-leaves and fruits, heavy metals in salt, mercury and formaldehyde in fish, artificial colouring in tea and rice, aflatoxins in chilli powder, peanut and coconut oil and microbiological quality of yoghurt were tested to assess the safety of such foods. 397 fruits, 199 vegetables and 85 green-leave samples were tested for pesticide residues and of them 10.08 % fruit samples, 11.56 % vegetable samples and 41.18 % green-leave samples were detected with the presence of pesticide residues exceeding Maximum Residue Limits (MRL). Among salt samples tested for lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury, none of the samples exceeded Maximum Permissible Limits (MPL). About one fifth of red raw rice samples were detected with artificial colouring but none of the tea samples had added artificial colourings. Aflatoxin levels exceeding 10 ppm were detected in 8 (10 %) coconut oil, 9 (11.25 %) peanut and 15 (18.75 %) chilli powder samples. All the yoghurt brands tested complied with microbiological specifications given in SLS standard. This survey provides an overview of the level of contaminants and adulterants in commonly consumed food items in Sri Lanka. It is recommended to carry out regular surveillance to monitor food safety hazards.

This paper discusses the mollusc species composition as revealed from the mid-late holocene coastal shell bearing formations, which have not yet been widely considered. The primary goal of the research was to study shell middens located in association with shell beds at Kalamatiya in the southern Province. The range of species recorded from the site was employed as a criterion for define shell middens in the study. Excavation of a 1 m 2 test unit was employed to gather data while soil samples from each layer were sieved to obtain micro remains. Total of 18 mollusc species recorded from the nine layers of a single site at Kalamatiya (Named site 01) are discussed here.

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