The Megalithic Culture of Khasi-Jaintia Hills: An Ethno-Archaeological Perspective
Contents: Preface, 1. Megalithic Culture: Meaning and Concept. 2. Khasi-Jaintia Hills: The Land and its People. 3. Classification of Megalithic Monuments in Khasi-Jaintia Hills. 4. Ethnographic Survey and Mortuary Practices in Umniuh-Tmar Village. 5. Megalithic Cluster Sites in Khasi-Jaintia Hills. 6. Stone Jars of Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya. 7. An Overview. Conclusion. Appendices. Bibliography.
The Hynniewtrep or the Khasi-Pnar community of Meghalaya are known for their Megalithic practice which is a living tradition. The vast array of Megalithic monuments which till recent past littered the landscape of the hills, bear testimony to the sense of memorization though stone monuments permeating on every facet of the people's lives and culture. While a number of these stone monuments have crumbled and some vandalized, there are still many which still stands in the nook and corner of the Khasi-Jaintia hills and helped carry a direct relationship with the past. The book is an effort to provide meaning to these monuments and tries to reconstruct the interaction of the Hynniewtrep with their landscape as reflected in stones. An effort is also made here to create an inventory on the Megalithic clusters found across the hills with an aim to encourage the conservation and documentation of the ones that have not been recorded in this book.
The second part of the book unveils the lesser-known prehistoric monuments known as the Stone Jars which are found in the eastern parts of Jaintia hills. Similar stone jars are found in the state of Loas which have been researched upon right from the 1950's and today the stone Jar sites have become one of UNSCO's Heritage sites. The stone Jars of eastern Jaintia hills on the other hand are still unheard of in both academic and public circles. This book provides a chapter on the Stone Jars of Jaintia hills based on the small-scale excavation conducted by the author.
The overall rendering of the book is to provide an overview understanding of the Megalithic culture of Khasi-Jaintia hills from an archaeological and ethnographical perspective.
