Neolithic-Chalcolithic Cultures of Eastern India

In general archaeological parlance, Neolithic culture is characterized by polished stone tools, pottery, horticulture and/or domestication of animals. In other words, it is believed to have marked not only the end of Stone Age, but also the beginning of agricultural activity. Neolithic culture in India appeared quite late – though now there is a feeling that its beginnings, at least in several parts of the country, could be older than what is perceived at this stage.

Even if the northeastern India is one of the comparatively little-known areas, it holds out endless possibilities of archaeological research. Being a contact zone of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asian countries, the region has enormous diversity of cultural material dating from prehistoric times. The Neolithic culture of the region did not seem to support the basic subsistence economic patterns including, notably, pottery, animal husbandry, and agriculture. The earlier researchers were content with the discovery of stone tools and pottery – for they didn’t have the paraphernalia of modern studies like, for instance, analysis of phytoliths, or residual carbonized grains.

With a stocktaking exercise of the past archaeological studies, this volume is intended to gauge the current status of Neolithic-Chalcolithic researches, carried out so far in Eastern India – covering Eastern UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, and West Bengal; besides the seven northeastern states (called ‘seven sisters’). Putting together the papers presented at the Annual Conference of the Indian Archaeological Society, besides several ‘invited’ papers, the volume examines various issues relevant to Neolithic-Chalcolithic cultures of the region, as a whole. Contextually, the papers also take a look at specific problems of several eastern Indian states/areas, like Manipur, Meghalaya, Bihar, Odisha, Middle Ganga Plain, and Jharkhand.

This Annual Conference of the Indian Archaeological Society, collaborated by the Indian Prehistoric Society and Quaternary Society, and Indian History and Culture Society, was organized by the Department of Culture and Archaeology and Orissa State Museum in Bhubaneswar, on 29-31 December 2008.