Sri Lanka has a long history of both tangible and intangible heritage as a country. The Department of Archaeology has been established to protect the tangible heritage for the next generation. Tangible assets like old coins, Buddha statues, clay pots, etc. are being found through excavations done by the department and those metallic, clay, and other types of tangible assets are forwarded to the chemical conservation division of the Department of Archaeology to conserve those items depending on the physical nature of each item.
Mural paintings and sculpture conservation is also another action taken by the chemical conservation division. World heritage sites like Sigiriya and Dambulla cave temple consist of many mural paintings and the Department of Archaeology is the apex body of conserving those paintings. Novel technology of conservation found through research done in other countries is also considered in this conservation process.
Lichen removal and suppression of wild trees grown on monuments are also done by the Department of Archaeology. To prevent the addition of harmful chemicals to water streams, the Department of Archaeology is following an environmentally friendly traditional method for plant suppression.