Warangal: Historians have stumbled upon several dolmens near the Ramulavarigutta hillock in Raghunathapalli in Jangaon district.
One such historian, Reddy Ratnakar Reddy, as part of his explorations came across as many as 20 dolmens along a stream called ‘Kanugulavagu’ flowing towards Kanchanapalli village.
According to Mr Reddy, these tombs can be dated back to 500 BC. The area is rich in Megalithic and Neolithic sites. Traces of a temple, a statue with just its feet visible, a bowl made of stone, and grooves formed due to sharpening of weapons can be seen here, indicating an early habitation of the area.
“Local people said that there used to be hundreds of these tombs in a radius of one kilometre, but farmers here destroyed these recently to cultivate the land,” Mr Reddy said.
However, all dolmens are not built in a similar fashion. While cut stones were used in many of them, some tombs were constructed with just stones placed in a square and a flat stone placed on top. “Dolmens are usually found on flat surfaces of hillocks. I have seen similar structures at Valmidi and Thatikonda,” he said.
Dolmens are single chamber megalith consisting of two or more thick structures supporting a huge horizontal capstone.
