Abstract:
Among the many ingenious innovations of ancient Sri Lanka, the cascade
tank system stands as an exemplary feat of hydrological management. In the study of
the socio-archaeological space that influenced the development of this genius irriga-
tion system, it should not be investigated as an isolated industry, but as a process that
was born and gradually evolved based on the needs of the people. This research pro-
vides an overview from an irrigation archaeological point of view about the origin of
village tanks that were fundamental to the emergence of cascade or vertical networked
tank systems, mainly based on field research, other archaeological data, and historical
sources. The irrigation-based ancient Sri Lankan civilization considered the ‘Village
Tank’ as the main development venture which was supposed to be a basic investment
in the society. To understand the socio-archaeological space that influenced the de-
velopment of networked village water systems, it is a prerequisite to study the settle-
ment distribution during the proto-historic period. The oldest settlements are distrib-
uted in areas where the need of the people was fulfilled. Instead of the monotonous
subsistence system that existed until then, a diverse economic system had emerged.
During this period the people have developed the natural water retaining places called
Pathas (Waterholes) in arid regions into small tanks by building small dams, to obtain
water during the dry season. It was observed in the study that the natural Waterhole
formed during the Holocene period were mostly used for the construction of small
village tanks. Early Iron Age knowledge and metal tools would have been used for
these constructions. Their intrinsic knowledge of topography and the pattern of water
usage by the people in the proto-historic and early historic periods resulted in vertical
systems, which integrated into the cascade tank systems.
