Quarrying and transportation of megalith monuments in Willong Khullen village in Manipur, Northeast India
As an ethnographical insight into South Asia
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12911399 |
|---|---|
| Authors | O P Singh (0000-0001-6726-6899, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-19 |
| Publication date | 2026-02-23 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Time and Mind (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1751-696X • E-ISSN: 1751-6978 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1751696x.2026.2632574 |
| OpenAlex | W7133894787 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
This paper fills a research gap on the quarrying, transportation, and erection of megaliths among the Naga communities of Northeast India and South Asia. I draw insights from a megalith-building event documented in 2020 at Willong Khullen, a Maram Naga village in Manipur. In this case, a quarry crew spent 16 days extracting a stone and transporting it approximately 42 kilometres. Contemporary practices combine modern and traditional methods, yet indigenous knowledge shows that villagers once quarried and transported stones on wooden sledges. Survey findings lead me to argue that small-scale traditional societies in the highland regions of South Asia could not have transported stones over long distances. Instead, they transported stones only over shorter ranges – typically less than five kilometres – because of rugged terrain and dense vegetation. I further argue that both the availability of suitable stone and the ability to mobilise a workforce played a decisive role in megalith construction among the Naga communities.
Ethnography · Plucking · Prehistory · South asia · Southeast asia · Indian and Buddhist Studies · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · South Asian Studies and Diaspora
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |