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Northeast India is well known for the widespread megalithic structures found in different geographical and cultural contexts. Construction of megaliths is also a living tradition among many of the ethnic communities of this region. The dolmen, a megalithic structure made with a large undressed or roughly shaped stone slab supported by several upright stones at the base, is invariably found in all the megalithic cultural traditions across India. In the northeastern parts of India, dolmens are often constructed as resting and meeting places of a community. This paper presents the association of such dolmens with a traditional Raj Sabha (royal assembly) of the Khola king of the Tiwa community of Assam. The Raj Sabha, even today held annually at the Silchang megalithic site, is a unique tradition of a royal assembly functioning symbolically on a cluster of dolmens, and is significant to understanding the functional variability of the megaliths and the use of megaliths as a seat of power in an archaic society.

Mayong in Morigaon district of Assam is known as a land of black magic, witchcraft, sorcery and tantric practices, spiritual healing and indigenous medicinal system since the medieval period. The area is also extremely rich in terms of archaeological remains and sites of historical importance. With an objective of documenting and mapping the archaeological landscape of the region, an extensive field survey was undertaken during 2020-21. This survey has resulted in the discovery of diverse archaeological remains including polished stone tools, early and late medieval rock-cut sculptures and temple ruins, specimens of sculptures belonging to the Pala-Sena period, archaeological mounds with pottery, brick and terracotta architectural pieces, metal objects belonging to Vajrayana religious sect, inscriptions, engravings, mason marks, ancient stone quarrying, battle ground, ramparts, cannons and cannon balls, water tanks, manuscripts, bronze and bell metal sculptures, Vaishnavite Satras (monasteries), *Author affiliations can be found in the back matter of this article Naamghars (prayer halls) and Thans (sacred places). This paper discusses these archaeological remains and their relevance for understanding the ancient cultural development in Mayong and the Kalang-Kapili Valley. 2 Hazarika et al.