An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6.32

v1.c9.s6.32

It would be seen that, with the exception of the Chota Nagpur region which may have some interrelationship. as yet unidentified, with the s., the early farming communities in each region were distinct from each other. Of these the Pakistan community seems to have been inspired from w. Asia, the n.-w. one from n.-e. and c. China and the e. one from S.-E. Asia, while the Chota Nagpur, mid-e. and s. ones appear to be autochthonous. At the same time it is observed that there is an apparent time-lag between the manifestations of the Neolithic economy in the former group of regions and their counterparts in the nuclear areas mentioned above; the mechanism of diffusion and also its extent remain to be ascertained. The appearance of the early farming communities or the transition from food-gathering to food-producing in India is shown to have come about palpably later than that in w. Asia and S.-E. Asia, which is rather difficult to explain at the moment but may have been conditioned by several factors, including the level of exploitative technology, environment, late continuance or survival of the Mesolithic economy, etc. It is also partly due to the fact that we have as yet not investigated the antecedent stages of the food-producing economy especially with reference to the domestication of animals and plants, climate, soil, relief, etc., which could, in the light of the present approach to the problem, push the story of early farming in India backwards.