Rare Iron Age structures noticed at Gudipalli, Nalgonda

Raised on a two-course rubble wall on either side, the boulder was shifted from the surroundings and arranged as a capstone

NALGONDA: Rare iron age structures, which are left uncared for, were noticed on the outskirts of Gudipalli, a mandal headquarters in the district on Sunday.

Based on the information given by Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam Member B Srinivasa Reddy, noted Archaeologist E Sivanagireddy explored in and around Gudipalli. As a result, he noticed menhirs (huge stones planted vertically to commemorate the dead) and a rare dolmen (a memorial structure raised to deposit the mortal remains of the dead).

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Sivanagireddy said that these Iron Age monuments are endangered by the quarrying and active agricultural operations in the region. “Among the two categories of monuments, the dolmen is unique. It carries a huge boulder as a capstone against the usual practice of keeping a rectangular slab as a capstone. Hence, bears a lot of archaeological significance” said Sivanagireddy.

Raised on a two-course rubble wall on either side, the boulder was shifted from the surroundings and arranged as a capstone, which reveals the collective effort of the Iron Age folk between the period from 2000 to 1000 BCE, he said.

Sriramoju Haragopal and Dr Bhadragirish, convenor and co-convenor, Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam also stressed the need to conduct further explorations at Gudipalli to determine the cultural sequence of the place, besides declaring it as protected monuments by the Government.