Abstract:
Little is known of the human use of rainforest plant resources of prehistoric Sri Lanka due to the lack of preservation
of organic material and the effects of various destructive taphonomic processes. Phytoliths recovered
from a AMS radiocarbon and OSL dated sequence at Fahien Rock Shelter indicate interactions of anatomically
modern humans with the lowland rainforests of south-western Sri Lanka from 44,952–47,854 cal. BP to
11,991–12,402 cal. BP. During this period, the Rock Shelter occupants extracted their livelihood from a number
of wild plants including bananas, rice, breadfruits, durians, canarium and species of palm and bamboo. These
taxa are associated with present-day disturbed lowland rainforests. Gathering and processing of plant resources
by existing modern rainforest foragers cannot directly be compared with the subsistence activities of the Late
Pleistocene Rock Shelter occupants.
