Kanhirapoil Megalithic Site

About Kanhirapoil Megalithic Site:

• It is located in the state of Kerala.
• Major findings
  • 24 pairs of prehistoric footprints and a human figure have been found carved into rock on private property.
  • The carvings, made with iron tools, include footprints varying in size from six to ten inches, suggesting representations of both children and adults.
  • At the end of the footprints, a human figure has been intricately etched, accompanied by four circular pits around it.
  • These carvings bear similarities to prehistoric rock art found in Avalakki Pera in Udupi district in Karnataka.

Key facts about Megaliths

• These were constructed either as burial sites or commemorative (non-sepulchral) memorials
• The former are sites with actual burial remains, such as dolmenoid cists (box-shaped stone burial chambers), cairn circles (stone circles with defined peripheries) and capstones (distinctive mushroom-shaped burial chambers found mainly in Kerala). 
• Non-sepulchral megaliths include memorial sites such as menhirs.
• In India, archaeologists trace the majority of the megaliths to the Iron Age (1500 BC to 500 BC).
• In India, these are concentrated in the states of Maharashtra (mainly in Vidarbha), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Q1: What is archaeology?

It is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or eco facts and cultural landscapes. 

News: Prehistoric rock-cut footprints and human figure unearthed at Kanhirapoil in Kerala’s Kasaragod