Megaliths & Megalithic Culture

• Context (TH): A stone carving of a snake from the megalithic period was found at Puthukkai village in Kasaragod.

Credit: The Hindu

Megalith

• It is a larger stone constructed either as burial sites or commemorative memorials.
• These types of structures were predominantly constructed during the Neolithic period and persisted through the Chalcolithic Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.

  

  Credit: Livemint

Megalithic culture

• In India, they mainly belong to the Iron Age (1500 BC–500 BC), with some exceptions, such as Chalcolithic-Megalithic sites. Whereas, South India’s megalithic culture had a much larger chronological span.
• The megalithic people constructed elaborate tombs. They furnished them with essential objects. They thought this practice to be necessary as they believed in the afterlife of the dead.
• Their economy was based on agriculture. The megalithic people introduced tank irrigation in south India and thus brought a revolutionary change in the agricultural system.
• Iron objects have been found universally in all the megalithic sites.