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Megaliths Notes

This document discusses different types of megaliths found in South India, including: menhirs (monolithic pillars), cairn circles (stone rubble heaps within stone circles), dolmens, rock cut caves, and various burial styles like pit burials, sarcophagus burials, and urn burials. It provides details on the locations and characteristics of each type, noting that megaliths are found extensively in the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

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Lalith Krishnan
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346 views

Megaliths Notes

This document discusses different types of megaliths found in South India, including: menhirs (monolithic pillars), cairn circles (stone rubble heaps within stone circles), dolmens, rock cut caves, and various burial styles like pit burials, sarcophagus burials, and urn burials. It provides details on the locations and characteristics of each type, noting that megaliths are found extensively in the states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

Uploaded by

Lalith Krishnan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Megaliths

Branfill 1818
► http://www.megalithindia.in/2010/11/photo
graphs-of-megaliths.html
types
► Menhir
► Cairncircle
► Rock cut caves
► Dolmen
► Cist
► Rock Cut Caves,
► Hood Stones and Hat Stones / Cap Stones
► Menhirs, Alignments and Avenues
► Dolmenoid Cists
► Cairn Circles
► Stone Circles,
► Pit Burials
Rock Cut Caves
► These are scooped out on soft laterite, as
found in the southern part of the West
Coast. These rock cut cave tombs are
peculiar to this region and occur in the
Cochin and Malabar regions of Kerala.
► On the East Coast of South India, they are
presentin Mamallapuram (Mahabalipuram) n
ear Madras. In the Deccan and western
India they are observed at Elephanta,
Ajanta, Ellora, Karle, Bhaja etc
Hood Stones and Hat Stones /
Cap Stones
► These consists of a dome-shaped dressed
laterite block which cover the underground
circular pit cut into a natural rock and
provided with a stairway.
► commonly encountered
in Cochin and Malabar regions extending
along the Western Ghats into
the Coimbatore region upto the Noyyal river
valley in Tamilnadu.
menhir
► Menhirs are monolithic pillars planted
vertically into the ground. These may be small
or gigantic in height. They are dressed or not
dressed at all.
► essentially commemorative stone pillars set
up at or near a burial spot.
► They are mentioned in ancient Tamil literature
as nadukal and are often
called PandukkalorPandil..
► Insome cases, the menhirs are not planted in
ground but rest on the original ground propped
up with a mass of rubble as at Maski. These
occur in a number of sites in close vicinity of
other type of megalithic burials, mostly in
different regions of Kerala and Bellary,
Raichur and Gulbarga regions of Karnatakain
large numbers, but less frequently at other
places of South India
► Alignments areclosely associated to the
menhirs. These consists of a series of
standing stones. These stones are
sometimes dressed. The alignments are
found at Komalaparathala in Kerala and at a
number of sites in Gulbarga, Raichur,
Nalgonda and Mahboobnagar districts of
Karnataka.
Dolmen
Cairn Circles
► one the most popular type of megalithic
monuments occurring all over south India in
association with other types. They consist
of a heap of stone rubble enclosed within a
circle of boulders.
► Onthe basis of the form of the underground
burial, they may be divided into three sub-
types – (i) Pit burials, (ii) Sarcophagi burials,
and (iii) Pyriform or other types of urn
burials
► A sarcophagus isliterally a legged coffin
made of terracotta. The cairn circles
containing sarcophagi entombments are
comparatively more widespread than the pit
burials. 
► This sarcophagus is generally provided with a convex
terracotta lid, rows of legs at the bottom and often
with a capstone at a higher level. Rarely, these
sarcophagi are not provided with legs, but are
supported on pottery stands and vessels or placed on
the floor directly. Such megalithic structures are found
from South Arcot, Chingleput and North Arcot districts
ofTamilandu and Kolar district of Karnataka. They are
also found in the southern districts of Andhra
Pradesh, though they are comparatively rare in these
regions
urn burials
► The urns,(a pot) in which the burials are
made, are deposited in pits dug into the
soil. The pits are filled up with the soil upto
the ground level and are frequently
provided with a capstone. Then, the heap of
cairns on the surface, which marks the
burial, is surrounded by a circle of stones
► They are predominant in Kerala and have
been known to occur
is Madurai, Tiruchirapalli, Coimbatore, Nilgiri
s, Salem, Chingleputand South Arcot district
of Tamilnadu; Kolar, Banglore, Hassan,
Chitradurg, Bellary, Raichurand
Gulbarga districts of Karnataka; various
districts of Andhra Pradeshand the region
around Nagpur in Maharashtra.

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