Megalithic Monuments in Asia

About The Book

This book is an attempt to describe and explain the prehistoric people of megalithic age who lived as an international community in Asia.

The origin of the individual types is governed by multifarious factors. The megalithic monuments have origin from different regions. depending on the factors of diffusion: each type often combined with other types. and developed into regional types. The book reveals that there is similarity in the construction, interments and beliefs in respect of the megalithic monuments found throughout Asia.

It is found that myths. Sun religion and rites in megalithic period were very similar from one region to the other. We could interpret that the megalithic people have common ideology in the myth: religions and rites. The same cultural elements such as Sun religion, secondary burials and sacrificial customs were commonly found in Asian regions. Evidence of long distance contacts through archaeological, historical, ethnological and philological materials have overlapped with the distribution of megalithic monuments and their myth, legend, religion and rites. Therefore, the similarities in the megalithic culture of Asia tell us the relationship among the megalithic communities from different regions. Obviously, the megalithic communities lived in a rather global context. Through this book, we could cuter into the fascinating world that prehistoric people enjoyed in international society.

This book will be of interest to professionals, students as well as lay readers who want to learn about it these fascinating and impressive megalithic monuments and the community responsible for their existence.

About the AuthorDr Lee Hoen Jai (b. 1961) graduated in Archaeology and Anthropology from Hanyang, University, South Korea in 1990. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from Department of History, School of Social Sciences, University of Hyderabad. He has extensive field experience and worked in Korea, Japan,-China, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. He has also considerable experience in excavating archaeological sites. He has lectured at the University of Kyonggi. At present, he is Senior Lecturer and Curator in Prehistory at the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum, Korea.

Foreword

The megalithic monuments and their culture has always fascinated humanity. The universality of this culture is well established. The monuments scattered apart in separate continents and located several thousand miles away show similarity in character and spirit. This similarity advocates the need to take up comparative study of these monuments distributed over a large span of area. Though, several volumes are produced on the megalithic monuments of different regions, there are very few works that comprehensively deal with the megaliths from a larger area like a continent. In this respect, the work of Dr. Lee is a pioneering contribution.

When Mr. Lee approached me, to work on Asian megaliths, I was sceptical, whether he would be able to deal with the enormous data that is available on the subject. But, my apprehensions were short lived, as I find this scholar extremely hardworking and determined. He collated information from innumerable sources to derive comprehensive view of the megaliths from Asia. The material is organised into five chapters. The Introductory chapter traces the history of study of megaliths in Asia, apart from sub-regional geography of the study region. The second chapter deals with the typology and distribution of different types. This chapter gives a clear idea of the distribution of different types of megaliths throughout Asia. This chapter also deals with the functionality of different types of monuments. The third chapter deals with the myths, rites and the concept of megalithic religion using the data on distribution of different myths and beliefs, the author tries to trace the migration of the megalithic practices. The chapter on the chronology, origin and migration presents a comprehensive view of the chronology of different types in different regions. The authorities to carefully weave the data on navigation, ancient literature, philological evidence, ocean currents, anthropological data, etc. to trace the migration of the megalithic practices over long distances. Large number of maps and tables give a clear view of the distribution of the megalithic types, myths and beliefs and chronology. Good number of representative photos supplements the text well.

This book is very useful to the scholars as well as lay readers interested in having a comprehensive view on the Megalithic Culture in Asia.

Preface

This book is an attempt to describe and explain the prehistoric people of megalithic age lived in the international community in Asia. Life and death are the most mysterious aspects of the human beings than anything else in the world. Everyone wants to live in eternal and immortal life, so that they would remain like unchangeable stones. Stones in the Bible symbolize the stable eternal, divine, perfect, and beautiful life, so that people can avail stones in the funerary rites. It is my hope that this book will be of interest to students and professionals within the discipline of prehistory and will assist to live in excellent life.

I express my profound sense of gratitude and indebtedness to my esteemed teacher Prof. Kim Byung Mo and Prof. K.P. Rao, under who's erudite and scholarly guidance, this research is pursued. It is his encouragement, affection and confidence to me that made it possible for me to complete this book. I am ever grateful to him for all his suggestions and guidance. During the course of my research work, I have interacted with several academicians and scholars from whom I benefited immensely. I am thankful to Prof. Atlury Muralli, and to my teachers Prof. Aloka Parasher Sen, Prof. R.L. Hangloo and Dr M.N. Rajesh.

I must also thank to my wife, Christine Kang, Young Ju, and also Paula, Paulina, Pauline, and Paul, for helping me through a period of seemingly interminable preparation. Lastly, I am always thankful to my Lord, because He is my way, in truths and forever life.

Introduction

Life and death are the most mysterious aspects of the human beings than anything else in the world. Everyone wants to live in eternal and immortal life, so that they would remain like unchangeable stones. Stones in the Bible symbolize the stable eternal life, so that people can avail stones in the funerary rites. Megalithic monuments, which are primarily constructed out of stones, have worldwide distribution. These monuments are prevalent in great number in Asia. Megalithic monuments from this vast area show innumerable variety in types and chronology. Though, to a great extent, the practice of constructing megalithic monuments is given up by most communities, there are some tribal communities in Asia, who still practice megalithism.

Despite their worldwide distribution, the megalithic monuments from far off places show similar characteristics in construction and burial artifacts. In Europe, megalithic structures such as dolmen, menhir and alignment have been found in England, France, Sweden, Portugal, Denmark and Netherlands. In these regions, dolmens are concentrated along the Mediterranean coast.¹ In Africa, dolmens have been reported in Ethiopia and Sudan, but they are found in some parts of Asia. It appears that some sort of trade, contact and migration was prevalent among the megalithic communities located at distant places.

Etymologically speaking, the term 'megalith' is compounded from the Greek words Megas' (great) and `lithos' (stone). This was originally introduced by the antiquaries in the middle of the nineteenth century to describe certain ancient stone monuments, although many people had been interested from the beginning of antiquarian speculation in the sixteenth century.² Subsequently, it has been extended to cover far more miscellaneous collection of stone monuments. Megalith is a large stone used as part of or as a structure or monument. It describes a building made partly or entirely of such massive stones or boulders.

Strictly speaking, this term is a purely descriptive one and has no cultural meaning. The people who had no connections with one another used large stones for buildings at different times in many parts of the world.³ There are many monuments and structures of stone throughout the world. They are called as 'megalithic' by the people, which are of different ages. In a broader sense, a megalithic structure consists of any structure or a building made of large stones. But, the term 'megalith' in modern archaeological usage is generally restricted to a series of funerary stone structures found chiefly in Asia, Africa and particularly in Europe.

Megaliths can be defined as graves or memorial stones, which are erected over the funerary assemblage. Thus, it appears from the word that the megaliths are essentially connected with some lithic appendage.⁴ But megalithic monuments are not always in stone. Due to the specific features, graves without lithic appendage can also be included in this category. In Asia, the urn and pit burials are sometimes found without any lithic appendage. Thus, the terms 'megalith', 'megalithic' and `megalithism' in their broader perspective has been used to refer to a particular culture in this book.

**Contents and Sample Pages**