Excavations uncover information on ancient glass factory in Giribawa

COLOMBO (News 1st); Archaeological excavations at the Giribawa ancient glass factory in Kurunegala have uncovered information on nearly 20 furnaces used for glass production.

The excavations are being carried out by a team of archaeologists from the National Department of Archeology, the Department of Archeology at the University of Kelaniya, the Kava Institute of Archeology in Germany and the National Research Institute in France.

The buried glass furnaces in the area are being examined via the use of state-of-the art scanners.

According to senior archaeologists, the ancient Giribawa Glass Factory in Anuradhapura dates back to the early 7th and 8th centuries AD.

They noted that glass was manufactured at the area, as well as secondary finishing materials such as glass beads.

It is also home to some of the oldest evidence of glass bead production in South Asia, and the team of archaeologists are continuing their excavations.