HYDERABAD: A cluster of burial structures of the Iron Age have been found in utter neglect at Raghunathapuram village of Rajapet mandal in Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri district by Dr E Sivanagireddy, Archaeologist and M Vedakumar, Chairman, Deccan Heritage Academy. These burial structures, known as ‘Rakasigullu’ locally, illustrate the burial practices of the Iron Age in which the dead were buried in a stone chamber covered with a huge capstone measuring 4 x 4 metres in dimension and 0.33 metre in thickness, demarcated by a circle of natural boulders placed around them.
The explorers visited and surveyed the megalithic burial sites known as ‘Cist Burials’ located in either side of the road leading to Ramaswamy Gutta of the village on Sunday. After conducting a thorough survey on the local hill and the surroundings, Dr Reddy revealed that there are only 10 burials existing now out of 100 which were noticed a few years ago, perhaps victim to active agricultural operations.
Vedakumar spotted 20 cup marks on one of the capstones, identifying them as the depiction of star constellations bearing lot of significance on astronomical grounds. They also noticed grooves of the neolithic period (4000 BC) on the rear side of the Ramaswamy temple located on the hillock amidst the Deccan Rock formations.
The activists said that there were 20 to 25 natural boulders placed in circular form around each burial which are needed to be preserved in their current form.
They sensitised the local community on the archaeological and historical significance of the structures and the need to preserve them for posterity.
They made an appeal to the district authorities concerned to notify the burial site immediately and opined that it could be developed as a cultural and archaeological landscape, to be promoted under heritage tourism for the benefit of the tourists frequenting Yadadri temple city and the ancient Jain centre at Kolanupaka.
Burial practices of Iron Age revealed
The burial structures, known as ‘Rakasigullu’ locally, illustrate the burial practices of the Iron Age in which the dead were buried in a stone chamber covered with a huge capstone measuring 4 x 4 metres in dimension and 0.33 metre in thickness, demarcated by a circle of natural boulders