Megalithic Culture in India

Megalithic culture in India refers to a specific cultural pattern that emerged in India. The cultural pattern was primarily associated with the area of South of the Vindhyas. The culture is known as megalithic because one major feature of this culture is use of the big pieces of stone mainly in burial practices. But some evidence of this cultural pattern exists in the region north of the Vindhyas e.g. Burzahom.

Burzahom is an important Neolithic site and here the evidence of megalithic culture in india has also been found in later phases . There are very few megalithic sites north of the Vindhyas, but this culture was prevalent south of the Vindhyas.

The region south of the Vindhyas includes Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The timeline of this cultural trend is from 1000 BCE to 100 CE. It can be concluded that entire South India has witnessed this cultural trend. The use of iron also became a specialty of the culture. The burial site was being protected by large stones on the left and right sides.

YOU SHOULD READ OUR OTHER ARTICLES ON ANCIENT HISTORY:

• Prehistoric Period in India
• Indus Valley Civilization
• Vedic Period
• Post Vedic Period
• Chalcolithic Period in India

There used to be a big stone as the roof of the graveyard. These types of stone structures are called megaliths. We have discovered different types of megaliths from different sites of megalithic culture in India. The Megalithic culture in India can therefore be defined as “A cultural pattern formed by the use of large pieces of stone and iron in South India during the period from 1000 BC to 100 AD”.

Major Sites of Megalithic Culture in India

Below there is a list of some major sites of this culture and these sites are across the whole south india.

A broad information about these sites can help in answering the MAP Based questions in UPSC CSE exam. The questions in preliminary exam can also based on these megalithic sites.

Major Features of Megalithic Culture in India

As we have already discussed above, the two main characteristics of this period are the use of large stones and iron. Below we have discussed those elements as well as many other elements which are important characteristics of this period.

• Iron Objects: A variety of iron objects have been discovered which include iron swords, iron spears, arrowheads etc. Therefore the Megalithic culture also represents the Iron Age culture. This was the first iron culture of South India.
• Megaliths: It referes to the structure created by the use of big pieces of stone.
• Hunting-Herding-Agriculture: The specialty of the economy of this period was agriculture. Evidence of rice, millet, pulses etc. has been found. Evidence of domestication of animals like goat, sheep etc. has also been found.
• Small Settlements: The Megalithic culture in India was characterized by settlement. The houses were small in size. The houses were made of wood etc. There is no evidence of the use of bricks in general.
• Painting: These people were also associated with painting. The paintings mainly depicted hunting scenes, battles and war scenes. There were also paintings of horse riding.
• Pottery: We have discovered differenct kinds of pottery like red ware, black and red ware. We have also discovered some painted pottery. A significant aspect of megalithic culture in india is graves. We have discovered huge number of graves. These graves are charecterised by big pieces of stone and megaliths. It also serves as the repository of several objects used by the megalithic people.
• We have discovered iron,gold,silver and other metals objects from these graves. It shows that the megalithic people used various metals. The bones of wild animals and domestic animals has also been discovered.

Forms of Megaliths in Megalithic Culture in India

Below we have discussed some points of megaliths. These points describe the variety of megaliths.

• Dolmen: A dolmen is a megalithic construction formed by putting a massive capstone on two or more support stones, which creates a chamber below that is occasionally walled in on one or more sides. Frequently used as a burial room or tomb.
• Kudikal/Kudakal: This form of megalithic stone was placed on the burial place.
• Mehnir: A mehnir is a large upright standing stone. Mehnirs may be found signly as monoliths, or as part of a group of similar stones. Their size can vary considerably, but there shape is generally uneven and squared often tapering towards the top. Mehnirs are widely distributed across Europe, Africa and Asia, but are most numerous in western Europe.
• Stone Circle: When all the big stones are places in a circle around the burial then it is refered as the stone circle.

Most of the forms of megrliths are associated with burial practices but some of them are associated with different elements also. The Bhimbetka rock shelters have the rock paintings and they can be associated with the megalithic culture in India due to the same timeline. The paintings shows that these people were believing in mother godesses and nature worship. The rock art also shows that they were practicing a belief system, rituals, and religious ceremonies.

We have also disovered various ornaments of this period. These ornaments are made up of metals, stones, shell, teracotta and bones. Below we have named important ornaments of this period

• Beads
• Necklaces and Chains
• Pendants
• Ear Ornaments
• Bracelets and Bangles
• Rings
• Hair Ornaments
• Anklets

These ornaments shows the importance of social status and cultural identity. These were also significant in rituals. The ornaments spread in a wide geographical extent. Due to this, It can be linked to local trade connections between different megalithic sites.