Two major tsunamis or storms had hit Kirinda 2,200 years and 1,600 years ago, a team of scientists have discovered through dating layers of sand deposits from the estuary in Kirinda.

 As night envelopes Hambantota, three men clad in shorts wade into the Kirinda estuary and in the subdued red glow of a torch, with feet squelching mud, press a long pipe deep into the depths of the estuary bed. Collecting three metres of sediment, with a “corer” they tenderly lift it out and pack the contents into S-lon tubes, “like making pittu”, still working in the dim torchlight, to which the eyes have to take about half-an-hour to adjust. The process is repeated and several sediment samples well-wrapped in black polythene, so as not to expose the contents to light, are transported to Colombo.

As they study the samples once again in dim light, in the laboratory of the Central Cultural Fund, the excitement is tangible. Yes, the layers were visible. Amidst the mud were three clear layers of sand, says Dr. Mohan Abeyratne, the Director of Scientific Research of the Central Cultural Fund (CCF).

It was a tsunami study of a different kind that the CCF team comprising Dr. Abeyratne and Research Scientist (Geology), Pathmakumara Jayasingha and Ashok Kumara of the Post-Graduate Institute of Archaeology, were carrying out.  “The objectives of the study were two fold. The first was to locate deposits from the most-recent 2004 tsunami and the second was to find deposits if available of any other tsunamis or large storms which may have occurred in and around Kirinda in ancient times,” explains Dr. Abeyratne pointing out that historical records suggest at least one catastrophic tsunami did take place in the area.

And the technique used by the CCF team is thermo-luminescence (TL) dating. According to Dr. Abeyratne, whose speciality is dating of the archaeology type, a TL dating laboratory was established at the CCF way back in 1985. “This one and only dating lab in Sri Lanka even now, was set up to scientifically date archaeological objects such as pottery, bricks, etc". . .