Virtual Reconstruction and Visualization of Pre and Proto Historic Landscapes in Srilanka

Advanced digital media and 3D computer graphics have long been used to preserve or virtually reconstruct cultural heritage sites. While a number of research work on preservation and virtual visualization of archaeological sites in Europe and Egypt, less effort has been spent on introducing new technologies to visualize and preserve cultural heritage sites in some other regions of the world like south Asia. This research presents a case study focused on the virtual visualization and simulation of pre and proto historic landscapes in Sri Lanka. The transition between prehistory and protohistory of Sri Lanka is not precisely clear, that would have occurred in the mid or late Holocene. Recently, archaeological researchers have found important evidence for the proto historic culture of the Uda Walave River Basin in Sri Lanka. This area has recognized as an environmentally optimal area to investigate and describe the question of pre and proto historic transition in Sri Lanka. The main goal of this paper is to visualize and virtually reconstruct pre and proto historic culture in Sri Lanka; based on recent archaeological evidence and findings in the Uda Walave River Basin and southwestern region of the country.