Prehistoric human beings lived in caves/plains, where water
was easily available, be it from a river or a lake. Since a prehistoric burial
site contains more than a hundred burial monuments in one place indicates
that prehistoric human beings lived in large numbers for a long period.
The burial monuments are Cairn (கற்குவை), Cairn Circles (கல்வட்டங்கள்), Cairn Circles with Cist (கல்வட்டத்துடன் கூடிய கல் பதுக்கைகள்), Dolmens (கல் திட்டைகள்).
As per the historians, these burial monuments belong to the Stone Age, ie, 3000 to 1800 BC, and were practiced till the Sangam Age, ie, 300 BC to 200
AD.
In cairn circles, the stones may be pebble-like stones
or laterite stones, or the available stones of that region are kept
in a round shape, keeping the cist at the center. The size of the circle and the
Cist depends on the person deceased, like the group leader. Burial pots,
in which the deceased will be kept and buried. In some cases, part of the
bones are also kept. Along with the big pots, small pots containing the articles
and food that are loved by the deceased are also kept. The cist contains
stone slabs on 4 sides and is covered with a capstone slab. The cist will be
below the ground level. In the case of Dolmens, side stone slabs are erected in the
form of an inverted swastika, and a cover stone slab is erected on top. The
Dolmens are erected where stone slabs are easily available, such as on hills and in the plains. In Tamil Nadu, these burial monument sites are found in the northern region, western region (Kongu Nadu), and southern region up to
Madurai. The following posts contain such burial monument sites with details, which
I visited.
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