A number of ancient burial monuments including a dozen of cist graves, have been recovered at a rubber plantation in Vadakkencherry in south Indian state Kerala.
The remains are found buried in the undulating landscape of the plantation and they are capable to provide archaeological details about the megalithic tradition existed in the south Indian state, experts said.
As per the information received from plantation workers, K Rajan, a senior history lecturer of Government Victoria College here, recently visited the area and excavated the
burial complex. Archaeological experts also visited the spot and collected evidence later.
According to them, majority of the cists found there were built using monolithic slabs or two or three pieces of dressed granite.
The orientation of the cist is east-south-north-west and in one of the cists, it is found on the south-west side. The thickness of the slabs are also varied, Rajan said.
"Unfortunately, the eastern slabs are missing in many cists. I think, local people have removed that as part of their 'treasure-hunt'," he said.
The burial site was used for tapioca farming about 25 years back. But it was converted into a rubber plantation before 15 years.
According to archaeologists, the cists were the grave in which people they buried the dead ones with food and water.
Along with the burial monuments, a roofless granite temple housing a huge lingam was also found from the site.
"Examinations are on to find out whether the shrine is part of megalithic tradition or not," he said.