GUNTUR: As many as 20 burial mounds of the prehistoric era have been found in a state of neglect at Tangeda village of Dachepalli mandal. These structures otherwise called dolmens, said to be of between 1000 and 500 BC, are huge slabs of limestones used to house skeletal remains of the dead of the Iron Age era.
The dolmens were discovered on Wednesday when archaeologists and officials of Cultural Centre of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA) visited the area, near Tangeda-Vadapalli bridge, built across Krishna river, connecting Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Their visit was followed by local graziers informing them about 80 such structures that were razed during the bridge construction ten years ago. Construction materials are kept on the site by villagers, unaware of its historical and archaeological importance.
These burials, which measure 2 metre in length, 1.5 metre in width and 1.5 metre in height, have the geometrical figure of swastika, the officials said, adding a few of them were of children. “Each stone is interlocked with the other assuring structural stability and they are covered by another slab. The structures are raised on a flat slab that served as floor for the burial on which the skeletal remains were interred.”
Since these structures are 10 km from Dachepalli in Guntur district and 1 km from Vadapalli in Telangana, the officials suggested the site could be developed as an archaeological or heritage tourist destination.
The State government has also been requested to declare the 2500-3000-years-old remains as ‘protected monuments’.