An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v2.c39.1

v2.c39.1

**Machad** (10°12'; 76°12'), Dt Trichur, in Manalithara village, with five Megalithic monuments [4.17.11], of which four are cist circles and one an urn burial, each indicated by circles of undressed laterite blocks of various sizes and shapes. One of the cist circles, with a diameter of 9 m but with the capstone missing, and the urn burial were excavated by the M.S. Univ. Baroda in 1974. Fronted by an antechamber of smaller orthostats, but with no capstone or floor, the four orthostats of the main cist arranged in a *svastika* pattern vary in length from 1 to 2.90 m and in height from 1·75 to 2·35 m, the e. one having a circular hole closed from the antechamber side by a small flat slab. The main cist is 2·80 m long e.-w., 2 m wide and 2·1 m deep. The cist is horizontally bisected at a depth of 90 cm by a slab supported by two vertical ones, thus dividing the lower part of the cist into three small cells, all sharing a horizontal floor slab. These cells contain pottery, iron objects, bones and beads.