Excavations commence at megalithic burial site in Hanur

The exercise is being conducted by the University of Mysore

A team of history and archaeology scholars and students from the University of Mysore have embarked on an excavation of megalithic burial sites in Chamarajanagar district.

The excavations are being conducted at Doddalathur village, located in a small valley formed by the Male Mahadeshwara Hill ranges in Hanur taluk of Chamarajanagar district, in association with the Mythic Society, Bengaluru.

V. Shobha, chairperson of Department of Studies in Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Mysore, who is involved with the project, said that to the west of the village is a small hillock and in the adjacent fields are hundreds of burials of the megalithic period which corresponds to the Iron Age..

The burials consist of circles made of large boulders hence the name “megalithic”. Since iron technology came into use during this period, it is also known as Iron Age, and in south India, this period has been broadly placed in the time bracket of 1200 BCE to 300 CE, said Dr. Shobha.

She pointed out that Doddalathur megalithic burial site was discovered by C. Krishnamurti of Archaeological Survey of India, in 1961. The site once had more than 1,000 burials, according to the local villages but many have vanished in recent years due to expansion of agriculture and cultivation activities, settlement and land development projects, Dr. Shobha added. But the site has potential for excavation as a majority of the burials are still intact despite disturbances, she said.

C.B. Patil, retired Superintending Archaeologist, Archaeological Survey of India, is the co-director of the excavation and the project, hopes to throw more light on the megalithic-iron age culture in the hilly regions of southern Karnataka in addition to gathering scientific dates for this period.

Another purpose is to provide field training to the students of archaeology. The excavations, which commenced on October 3, 2024, will continue for about two months. Incidentally, in 2021 and 2022, the department excavated the habitation-cum-megalithic burial site of Budipadaga which is about 20 km southwest of Doddalathur.

Published - October 06, 2024 07:13 pm IST