[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Reference works](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference) › [An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989) › v1.c9.s17.57 # An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s17.57 An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s17.57 - **Language:** English ### [v1.c9.s17.57](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c9.s17.57) Structurally the megaliths are divisible into (1) menhirs, (2) cromlechs, and (3) dolmeniod cists, of which the first are memorial stones and the last two are ossuaries where the bones of the dead are deposited. Menhirs are erected when the ceremony of depositing bones in the ossuaries is completed. They are large upright stones varying in height between 60 cm and 4·30 m; but in exceptional cases, e.g. the great monoliths at Nartiang, they are over 8 m in height and about 80 cm in thickness. The dolmens are composed of a flat table-stone resting on stone supports or uprights. The largest table-stones are to be seen at Nartiang in Jaintia Hills and at Laitlyngkot in Khasi Hills. The Laitlyngkot stone measures 8·69 × 4·20 m and that at Nartiang 5·03 × 4·50 m. - [Previous: v1.c9.s17.56](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c9.s17.56) - [Next: v1.c9.s17.58](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c9.s17.58) - [Up: v1.c9.s17](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c9.s17) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c9.s17.57](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.reference.ghosh-1989.v1.c9.s17.57) · Pramāṇa