The state of theocracy: defining an Early Medieval hinterland in Sri Lanka

Coningham, R.A.E.; Gunawardhana, P.; Manuel, M.J.; Adikari, G.; Katugampola, M.; Young, R.L.; Schmidt, A.; Krishnan, K.; Simpson, I.; McDonnell, G.; Batt, C.

Abstract

The ancient Sri Lankan city of Anuradhapura is currently the subject of one of the world's largest and most intensive archaeological research projects. Having traced its growth from an Iron Age village to a medieval city, the research team now moves to the task of modelling the surrounding landscape. Three seasons of fieldwork have located numerous sites of which the most prominent in the urban period are monasteries. Here is a clue about how the early urban hinterland was managed which has implications well beyond Sri Lanka.

Citation

Coningham, R., Gunawardhana, P., Manuel, M., Adikari, G., Katugampola, M., Young, R., …Batt, C. (2007). The state of theocracy: defining an Early Medieval hinterland in Sri Lanka. Antiquity, 81(313), 699-719. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00095673

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2007
• Deposit Date: Dec 1, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 17, 2011
• Journal: Antiquity
• Print ISSN: 0003-598X
• Electronic ISSN: 1745-1744
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 81
• Issue: 313
• Pages: 699-719
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/s0003598x00095673
• Keywords: Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, Heterarchy, Monasticism, Survey, Theocracy.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1547719