| caption: |
Description and preservation of Dimapur megaliths |
| text: |
To Jamuguri by road and thence by rail to Dimapur after seeing the stones there, now fenced and protected. The area cleared has been limited to the immediate vicinity of the stones round which a ditch has been dug. It is a pity that while they were about it they did not clear the whole of the area up to the encircling moat. It would have been only a little more to do. Many of the stones are still half buried, and those which have been face downwards are much better preserved. Many seem to be incised with a rough likeness of a bow and arrow, others with a double cross and one with a double cross and a little carving of a bird in relief. Possibly they are mason's marks. They appear to have no connection with the general design of the stone and look rather as if put on afterwards. The square pillars with holes in the top are again stated in the last issue of the Archaeological Survey of India to be socketed as mortises. I think this is all wrong. On the analogy of the Wakching and Kongan lists I suspect them of having contained skulls. If not they probably held libations. |
