134 PROCEEDINGS COTTESWOLD CLUB 1905 
The Hanbars, a primitive tribe of the Deccan, bury the 
dead and lay a heavy stone on the grave.’ The Gonds of 
the Central Provinces have a curious modification of the 
tumulus, circle, and menhir. They raise a square mound 
over the remains, plant wooden posts at each corner, 
round which they tie a thread encircling the mound, and 
finally set up a stone in the centre. * 
The question of burial in dolmen and kistvaen may be 
considered together. It has been suspected that it marks 
a higher stage than tumulus burial, where the primary 
object probably was to weigh down the ghost and prevent 
it from “ walking.” Now, in the kistvaen and dolmen we 
have the analogue to the primitive underground house, 
and the chambered barrow has been aptly compared with 
the form of dwelling now in use among the Lapps and 
similar tribes.3 The primary object here is to provide for 
the comfort of the ghost, and this is combined with the 
idea of repressing its malignity by the weight of the 
cap-stone which covers it. 
Another reason for the custom of house burial was the 
hope that the soul of the deceased might be reincarnated 
in the family ; and for this reason in the Punjab children 
are buried under the threshold, in order that as the women 
of the family step across it, they may conceive the spirit 
of the lost one. Many of the wilder tribes in India erect 
a shed or hut near the grave for the repose of the ghost. 
Thus, the Devangas, weavers in North Arcot, build a 
small hut made of milk-bush branches over the grave.* 
The Khyens -erect a hut near the tomb, in which the 
friends sit to scare away any evil spirit which might molest 
their ghost. The Garos build the funeral pyre close to 
the family house, obviously with the hope that the ghost 
1 “ Bombay Gazetteer,” xxili., 109. 
2 Hislop, “ Papers relating to the Aboriginal Tribes of the Central Provinces,” p. 19. 
3 A. J: Evans, “ Archzological Review,” ii. 314 f. 
4 Cox-Stuart, “ Manual of North Arcot,” i. 227. 
5 Dalton, Of. cét., p. 115. 
