Warangal: Rare dolmen faces threat of extinction

Warangal: A rare Dolmen burial site belonging to the Megalithic period has been found on the outskirts of Konduru in Raiparthy mandal of Jangaon district.

The Dolmen was discovered by local historian Reddy Ratnakar Reddy in an agriculture land belonging to a farmer. The farmer had divided the land between his two sons and they were preparing to remove this structure.

Dolmens are considered the earliest surviving man-made monuments and are found in several places of erstwhile Warangal district. Megalithic dolmens found in south India generally date back to 3,000 years.

Of the latest find, Mr Ratnakar Reddy said that while one of the stone plates faced south, the other faced north. The two-metre stones were placed with a 3.5-metre gap. The capstone or slab usually found on top of the dolmens was missing. 

It is believed that several dolmens in the field had been removed. The area is 879 feet above sea level. 

“During the early days, people used to follow a culture in which they built a house-like structure to store the remains of their family members. They believed the dead person lived in those structures. They are just like the memorials we build today. There are several types of dolmens in Telangana but this type is found rarely,” he said.

Mr Reddy said that several broken pieces of earthen pots were found in the area and urged the heritage department to excavate the area in the hope of finding new traces of prehistoric civilisation. He said the rare dolmen must be preserved and the farmer had agreed to sell that portion of the land.