Godavaya
Open-knowledge reference entry
Godavaya or Godawaya is a small fishing hamlet located at the mouth of the Walawe river, between Ambalantota and Hambantota in the Hambantota District in southern Sri Lanka.
It received its name, originally Goda Pavata Pattana or Gota Pabbata Pattana (meaning 'small rock harbour') from a huge rock overlooking the Indian Ocean, at the foot of which it is situated. The original harbour town was an entrepot on the Maritime Silk Road from at least the 2nd century CE.
It has been the site of extensive excavations by German and Sri Lanka Archaeologists since 1994.
Godavaya is also the site if a wildlife sanctuary. The beach is important for nesting leatherback turtles.
History
The Godavaya area has been inhabited for about 7000 years. In August 2008, a human skeleton dating back to 3000-5000 BC (carbon dating has yet to be done) was discovered in an abandoned stone quarry at Godavaya, together with tools of animal-bone and stone. In honour of the discoverer of the site, German archaeologist Oliver Kessler, the skeletons were named Olli 1 -3.
The settlement of Goda Pavata Pattana, lay sandwiched on the peninsula between the inland harbour on the Walawe river and the sea harbour on the bay of Godavaya. Trade was an important component in the economy of ancient Sri Lanka and Godavaya was an important maritime settlement, serving Tissamaharama and Ridiyagama in the kingdom of Ruhuna.
“Godavaya” enters the record as open-knowledge reference entry. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Godavaya, Open-knowledge and entry can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Godavaya” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Godavaya, Open-knowledge and entry provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5576200. Authority coordinates are 6.112, 81.052. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1994 and 2008.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Godavaya”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Godavaya primary sources, Godavaya archive and Godavaya research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Godavaya”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Godavaya” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.