Megalithic Cist Burial Excavation At Enadimangalam In Kerala And Its Implications In Cist Burial Architecture And Burial Practices

Iron Age-Early Historic culture in the southern part of Peninsular India is associated with early iron-using society in the region and is renowned for its burial architecture, ritual offerings, ceramics, iron implements and other material culture. The modern state of Kerala in the south-western corner of Peninsular India, while sharing the salient features of this Iron Age-Early Historic culture, exhibits unique types of laterite-made Megalithic burial architecture due to its geographic and physiographic peculiarities. This paper reports the findings from an excavation conducted in 2019 at Enadimangalam in Kerala and its implications for understanding cist burial architecture and burial practices. The excavated cist burial displays the features of a double-chambered cist with cot/bench made of stone slabs. Based on the evidence, the process of the construction of a cist burial is elucidated, and the possible indications of later modification are highlighted. Possibilities of the multiple uses of the same burial structure during the Iron Age-Early Historic period is suggested. The scattered distribution of burial structures in the region of Enadimangalam reflects the presence of smaller settlements and supports the possible multiple uses of the same burial. The importance of considering the landscape and its peculiarities in the further search for habitation evidence is highlighted, particularly in the context of a dearth of habitation evidence connected to the Megalithic burials in Kerala.