VOL. XV. (2) RUDE STONE MONUMENTS OF INDIA 137 
puzzling “open” dolmens in Madras. The custom of 
erecting family or tribal ossuaries is not uncommon. For 
instance, among the modern tribes we find that the Nagas 
of the Eastern frontier erect little huts close to their 
villages in which they preserve the bones of their dead; 
the Mundas of Chota-Nagpur bury the bones after 
cremation, and place a stone slab over the hole, not resting 
on the ground, but on smaller stones, which raise it 
a little. These stones may cover the graves of several 
members of a family: but the ghost of a Ho, an allied 
tribe who practise the same rites, likes to have a grave all 
to himself.‘ In the same way the Bhils of the West 
Central Hills have tribal or family cemeteries filled with 
small vessels containing ashes and bones. From this it is 
not a difficult step to the very remarkable structures found 
near Calicut by Mr Logan,” which contained underground 
chambers, couches, and a fireplace. It was apparently in- 
tended to serve as an ossuary, and, like the Egyptian 
tombs, was provided with all that was considered necessary 
for the comfort of the spirits of the dead. 
At the same time it is deserving of notice that while 
the circles and kistvaens almost invariably contain ashes, 
bones, and other funereal relics, the open dolmens contain 
nothing of the kind. Fergusson, who held the opinion 
_. strongly that these “open” dolmens were sepulchral, 
inclined to the idea that they had been rifled. If the 
dolmen was occasionally or permanently left open by 
_ accident or design, it is quite possible that the bones may 
_ have been removed by animals, and this is perhaps more 
possible on the supposition that it was merely a place in 
which bone-jars were stowed away. At the same time it 
is difficult to understand how all relics of the dead could 
completely disappear. Hence Mr Breeks® denies that they 
1 Dalton, Of. cit., pp. 40, 203. 
2 “Indian Antiquary,” vi., 309. 
3 OP. ctt., 105. 
K 
