A traditional wall painting illustrates the primeval past of the Veddas, in Dambana, Mahiyangana, Sri...

Sri Lanka's ethnic Veddas or Wanniya-laeto, the forest dwellers preserve a direct line of descent from the island's original Neolithic community dating from at least 16,000 BC and probably far earlier according to current scientific opinion. Even today, the Wanniya-laeto community retains much of its own distinctive prehistoric cultural memory, and time-tested knowledge of their forest habitat that has enabled their ancestor-revering culture to meet the diverse challenges to their collective identity and survival. With the impending extinction of Wanniya-laeto culture, however, Sri Lanka and the world stand to lose a rich body of indigenous lore and living ecological wisdom. In Dambana of Mahiyangana, a very small group from the community, act as a troop and show visitors how they used to live in the past.