View of Kathso Kaa cave, Chiphur
Lumami, July 20 (MExN): Archaeologists have discovered evidence of prehistoric human habitation in caves and rockshelters of the Naga Hills Ophiolite Belt in Nagaland’s Noklak district, with scientific dating showing the sites were used from around 3,500 years ago to the historical period.
A joint team from the Department of History & Archaeology, Nagaland University, and the Department of Art & Culture, Government of Nagaland, led by Prof Tiatoshi Jamir, undertook the first preliminary archaeological cave expedition in Noklak district in March this year.
The team included Dr Heme Lamthaiu, Dr Limasanen Longkumer, Khumeng T (ARO), Robinson Huidrom and Victoria Leyri from Delhi University, according to Peter Ki, Public Relations Officer, Nagaland University.
With assistance from the Chiphur Village Council, the researchers conducted intensive foot exploration of the limestone karst terrain of Chiphur area, identifying five caves and four rockshelters.
Excavation at the sites yielded cord-marked pottery, ground stone tools, hearth features and carbonised cereals, including foxtail millet (Setaria italica) and Job's tears (Coix sp.), besides wild faunal remains, Ki said.
Two Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) dates analysed by Beta Analytic Lab in Miami, Florida, showed the rockshelter Leilo Kaa dates back about 3,500 years, while the cave Kathso Kaa is around 1,000 years old, indicating continuous use of the sites from prehistoric to historical times.
He said the findings offer significant insights into the early history of agriculture and human habitation in Nagaland, and add to scientific understanding of Northeast India as a corridor of human migration.
The Naga Hills Ophiolite and the Naga Metamorphic Complex of the Chiphur and Mimi region, along the Indo-Myanmar mountain ranges, hold considerable archaeological potential for understanding the region's prehistoric past.
Scientific dating of such sites is gradually revealing a more holistic picture of the subsistence lifestyle, tool and ceramic technology, burial traditions and worldviews of the early inhabitants, Ki added.
The State Museum, Department of Art & Culture, Government of Nagaland, along with Nagaland University, plans to hold a public exhibition of the excavation finds in October this year, he said.
