Editing History of Sri Lanka (section)

===Iron Age (~1000 BC–543 BC)===
The protohistoric Early Iron Age appears to have established itself in South India by at least as early as 1200 BCE, if not earlier{{sfn|ParPossehlker|1990}}{{sfn|Deraniyagala|1992|p=734}} The earliest manifestation of this in Sri Lanka is radiocarbon-dated to c. 1000–800 BCE at Anuradhapura and Aligala shelter in Sigiriya.{{sfn|Deraniyagala|1992|p=709-29}}{{sfn|Karunaratne|Adikari|1994|p=58}}{{sfn|Mogren|1994|p=39}}{{sfn|Coningham|1999}} It is very likely that further investigations will push back the Sri Lankan lower boundary to match that of South India.{{sfn|Lankalibrary.com|2012}} Archaeological evidence for the beginnings of the [[Iron Age]] in Sri Lanka is found at [[Anuradhapura]], where a large city–settlement was founded before 900 BCE. The settlement was about 15 hectares in 900 BCE, but by 700 BCE it had expanded to 50 hectares.{{sfn|Deraniyagala|2007}} A similar site from the same period has also been discovered near Aligala in [[Sigiriya]].{{sfn|Dailynews.lk|2008}}

The hunter-gatherer people known as the [[Vedda|Wanniyala-Aetto or Veddas]], who still live in the central, Uva and north-eastern parts of the island, are probably direct descendants of the first inhabitants, Balangoda Man. They may have migrated to the island from the mainland around the time humans spread from Africa to the Indian subcontinent. Achievements include the construction of the largest reservoirs and dams of the ancient world as well as enormous pyramid-like [[stupa]] architecture. This phase of Sri Lankan culture may have seen the introduction of early [[Buddhism]].{{sfn|Holt|2011|p=53-56}} Early mythical history recorded in Buddhist scriptures refers to three visits by the Buddha to the island to see the [[Naga people (Lanka)|Naga]] Kings, snakes that can take the form of a human at will.{{sfn|Ranwella|2000}} The earliest surviving chronicles from the island, the [[Dipavamsa]] and the [[Mahavamsa]], say that tribes of [[Yaksha|Yakkhas]], [[Naga people (Lanka)|Nagas]] and [[Deva people|Devas]] inhabited the island prior to the Indo-Aryan migration.