The recent discovery of 65 large sandstone jars, classified as megaliths, believed to be used for ritual burials across four sites in Hasao district, Assam has stirred interest among archaeologists worldwide. This follows an earlier find by the State Department of Archaeology, Chennai in 2020 where they identified 250 cairn-circles, which are also megalithic structures, from the Kodumanal excavation site in Erode district of Tamilnadu.
Unveiling the Assam Megaliths
The Assam megaliths are large jars, some of which stand tall and cylindrical while others are partly or entirely embedded in the ground. The sizes range up to three metres high and two metres wide. Some of these megaliths feature intricate decorative carvings while others are plain.
History of Megaliths in Assam
Historical records show that British civil servants James Philip Mills and John Henry Hutton first noted the existence of these Assam jars as early as 1929. They documented their presence in six sites in Dima Hasao: Derebore (now Hojai Dobongling), Kobak, Kartong, Molongpa (now Melange Puram), Ndunglo and Bolasan (now Nuchubunglo). More recently, in 2016, two additional sites were discovered. In 2020, the History and Archaeology Department at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, Meghalaya, identified four more. One particular site, Nuchubunglo, held 546 jars, marking it as the largest known site of its kind in the world.
Significance of the Findings
While these jars have yet to be scientifically dated, researchers have observed similarities between these and ones found in Laos and Indonesia, leading to theories of possible historical connections. The resemblance between jars from all three locations raises the possibility of a common cultural practice once prevalent across these regions.
Previous dating done at the Laos site suggests that their jars were placed there as far back as late in the second millennium BC. In Laos and Assam, human skeletal remains have been found inside and around the jars, suggesting a mortuary function. The function of the jars in Indonesia, however, remains unconfirmed, though some scholars theorize a similar mortuary role.
Understanding Megaliths
Megaliths are large stones used to construct prehistoric structures or monuments, either independently or in conjunction with other stones. These constructions include burial sites with actual remains, such as dolmenoid cists (box-shaped stone burial chambers), cairn circles (stone circles with clear boundaries) and capstones (distinctive mushroom-shaped burial chambers found primarily in Kerala). Non-sepulchral megaliths include memorial sites like menhirs.
Archaeologists in India associate most megaliths with the Iron Age (1500 BC to 500 BC), although some date back to 2000 BC. Megalithic sites are distributed across the Indian subcontinent, with a significant concentration in Peninsular India, including the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.