▁Ind us ▁valley ▁where ▁the ▁oldest ▁meg al ith s ▁are ▁found , ▁while ▁those ▁in ▁the ▁east ▁are ▁of ▁much ▁later ▁date . ▁A ▁large ▁fraction ▁of ▁these ▁are ▁assumed ▁to ▁be ▁associated ▁with ▁bur ial ▁or ▁post ▁bur ial ▁rit uals , ▁including ▁mem orial s ▁for ▁those ▁whose ▁remains ▁may ▁or ▁may ▁not ▁be ▁available . ▁The ▁case - example ▁is ▁that ▁of ▁Bra hm ag iri , ▁which ▁was ▁exc av ated ▁by ▁Whe eler ▁( 1 9 7 5 ) ▁and ▁helped ▁establish ▁the ▁culture ▁sequence ▁in ▁south ▁Indian ▁pre history . ▁However , ▁there ▁is ▁another ▁distinct ▁class ▁of ▁meg al ith s ▁that ▁do ▁not ▁seem ▁to ▁be ▁associated ▁with ▁bur ial s . ▁ ▁In ▁South ▁Asia , ▁meg al ith s ▁of ▁all ▁kinds ▁are ▁noted ; ▁these ▁vary ▁from ▁Men h irs , ▁Rock - cut ▁bur ial , ▁chamber ▁tomb , ▁dol m ens , ▁stone ▁alignment , ▁stone ▁circles ▁and ▁anth rop omorphic ▁figures . ▁These ▁are ▁broad ly ▁class ified ▁into ▁two ▁( pot entially ▁over la pping ) ▁classes ▁( after ▁Mo ort i , ▁ 1 9 9 4 , ▁ 2 0 0 8 ): ▁Sep ul ch ral ▁( cont aining ▁remains ▁of ▁the ▁dead ), ▁or ▁mem orial ▁stones ▁where ▁mort al ▁remains ▁along ▁with ▁fun er ary ▁objects ▁are ▁placed ; ▁and ▁Non - sep ul ch ral ▁including ▁large ▁pattern ed ▁pla cement ▁of ▁stones ▁over ▁a ▁wide ▁area . ▁The ▁' non