Give an account of megalithic settlements of South India
Answers
Answer:
The stone boulders are known as megaliths (literally big stones). These were carefully arranged by people, and were used to mark burial sites. The practice of erecting megaliths began about 3000 years ago, and was prevalent throughout the Deccan, South India, in the north-east and Kashmir. While some megaliths can be seen on the surface, other megalithic burials are often underground. Sometimes, archaeologists find a circle of stone boulders or a single large stone standing on the ground. These are the only indications that there are burials beneath.
Megalithic settlements of South India are:-
1. Palli, Karkala Taluk of Udupi district
2. Topikallus (Umbrella stones), Kerala.
3. Thovalappady in Idduku district of Kerala
4. An urn containing a human skull and bones unearthed by the Archaeological Survey of India at Adhichanallur, near Tirunelveli town in Tamil Nadu.
5. Number of tombs with burial chambers found at Periyapatti Kadu on the upper part of Kudhiraiyaru dam near Palani was remnants of Megalithic period.
6. A huge megalithic burial site said to have belonged to 3rd Century B.C. has been unearthed near Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu on July 14,2009
7. Megalithic burial site Mallachandiram near Krishnagiri, Tamil Nadu.
8. Sundupalli, Andhra Pradesh
Answer:
Megalithic settlement of South India
In the present state of research these megalithic monuments,
whatever their external shape and contents be, seem to herald the Iron Age
in South India. The megalithic culture in South India was a full fledged iron
age culture when the great benefits of the use of this metal were fully
realised by the people. Hence, normally the stone dropped out of use as a
material for the weapons and tools to a large extent. The megalithic people
of South India, or, for that matter, the iron age people of the subcontinent
in general, found out new uses of stones in their daily life. Most of the
information about the iron age in South India comes from the excavations of
the megalithic burials. Iron objects have been found universally in all the
megalithic sites right from Junapani near Nagpur in Vidharba region (Central
India) down to Adichanallur in Tamilnadu in the far south.