Modern reuse of ringstones: a case study from Eastern India

This study addresses issues related to the modern reuse of prehistoric ringstones in the Bargarh district, Odisha, India. Drawing on ancestral knowledge, ringstones are today used in a medicinal context by some agro-pastoral communities to heal cattle. Surveys of ten villages in a study area, which also includes two archaeological surface sites (Dekhulia and Kumbho), allowed investigations of the properties of ringstones and the ritualised context of their modern reuse.