A large number of megalithic hat stones were found from a single site during a recent archaeological excavation conducted by the Kerala State Archaeology Department at Nagaparamba in Kuttippuram village, near Tirunavaya.
Key points
- Hat stones, popularly called Thoppikkallu in Malayalam, are hemispherical laterite stones used as lid on burial urns during the megalithic period.
- Archaeologists say it could arguably be the largest number of hat stones in an unprotected site in the State.
- Many hat stones are feared to have been destroyed inadvertently by the local people in recent times.
- Some of the local people say they had no idea about the archaeological relevance of the hat stones and many were destroyed when they cleared their land for house construction.
- Kudakkallu , commonly seen across the state, contains curvilinear blocks installed on the ground, with a hollow space in between and an umbrella-shaped rock atop.
- In the case of Thoppikallu burial, an umbrella-shaped rock will be placed over the ground. ‘Muthumakkathazhi’ or ‘Nannangadi’ (Burial urns) is another form of megalithic burial monument in which the corpse is buried in a big urn. These urns were unearthed in several coastal areas in Kerala.
