Themes of special interest: Underwater Archaeology, Underwater Photography

Rasika Muthucumarana is a senior archaeology officer working for the Maritime Archaeology Unit (MAU) of the Central Cultural Fund (CCF – the custodian agency for the UNESCO world heritage sites of Sri Lanka). Since 2001, he has been involved with most of the underwater archaeological field work projects in Sri Lanka, as well as some of the UNESCO field school projects throughout the region. He also is an underwater photographer and SCUBA diving instructor for PADI International. He started his career in maritime archaeology in 2001 working for the Avondster project, one of the earliest underwater archaeological excavations conducted in Sri Lanka. During the last 15 years, Rasika has been instrumental in establishing maritime archaeology in Sri Lanka and shaping its components toward best practice. He also contributes to the teaching of underwater archaeology in local universities and the development of course structure. He also is a landscape artist who loves to travel and stay close to nature.

Rasika is a PhD candidate of the Department of Archaeology, University of Sri Jayawardhanapura, Sri Lanka. He holds a BA special degree and MPhil in archaeology from the University of Peradeniya and a postgraduate certificate in maritime archaeology from Flinders University, South Australia.