Megalithic excavations in Chamarajanagar district reveal rare burial practices, rock art

Megalithic excavations in Chamarajanagar district reveal rare burial practices, rock art

News –

• Recent excavations at Doddalathur in Chamarajanagar district have revealed new insights into early megalithic burial culture and traditions in southern Karnataka, including unusual layouts and rare engravings on boulders.
• Doddalathur, located in Hanur taluk and five kilometres southwest of Kowdalli, is one of the few surviving megalithic landscapes in the region where a large number of burials remain intact.
• the excavation – found 13 burials, comprising stone circles and cairn circles, constructed with natural boulders of varying diameters.
• Four contained cists, or stone-slab chambers, while the rest were urn burials.
• “In the megalithic burials, the usual burial repertoire includes pottery known as black-and-red ware, black ware and red ware, and iron objects. “These were also found in some of the burials that were excavated at Doddalathur,
• in addition to skeletal and animal remains and a few beads have also been found
• The most interesting discovery, according to researchers, is that of an iron object, which is circular in shape with two loops on either sides and resembles an iron shield.
• This was found in association with iron weapons like axe, arrow, and a two-pronged sword while the same burial has human figures engraved on the boulders. Underlining its importance,
• This is significant because rock art is rare in this part of Karnataka.
• Charcoal samples from both urn and cist contexts were dated through AMS Carbon-14 analysis, placing the burials between the 6th century BCE and the 4th century CE, a timeframe consistent with megalithic occupation phases elsewhere in peninsular India