Final Proofs only. Submitted by Aryan Books International. 7 Of Dwarves and Dolmens: Tracking the “Little People” Legends of Megalithic South India Srikumar M. Menon and Samira Agnihotri Key Words: Megalith, dwarf, myth, Mμ ori, Pμ andava Megalithic monuments, which are sepulchral or memorial structures from prehistoric phases of human societies, are known to occur worldwide. Peninsular India has an especially dense distribution of megaliths, a cultural practice that is likely to have originated here in the Neolithic period, and persisted till as recently as the first few centuries of the Common Era. These megaliths range in structure from simple menhirs, to carefully crafted dolmens with elaborate surrounding structures. Since the 1800s, there have been sporadic reports of local residents near megalithic sites attributing the construction of these structures to a race of “little people”, with the terms “Mμ ori” or “Pμ andava” most commonly given to this race. In this paper, we attempt to map the geographical spread of this “little people” legend across south India, as well as speculate on the possible origins and spread of this legend in the region. Srikumar M. Menon is an architect by training. His doctoral thesis was on the astronomical alignments of south Indian megaliths. His academic interests are centred on aspects of monumental architecture in the Indian subcontinent, from prehistory to medieval times. He is the author of two books, one of which “Ancient Tone Riddles: Megaliths of the Indian Subcontinent” is a primer on megaliths. He works at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, currently. Samira Agnihotri has a Master’s degree in Wildlife Biology and Conservation from the National Centre for Biological Sciences and a Ph. D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, for which she spent seven years pursuing Greater Racket-tailed Drongos at the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve. She has also worked extensively in ethno- ornithology, in close contact with the Solegas of BRT. She has also worked as a postdoctoral associate at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.