An Encyclopaedia of Indian Archaeology v1.c9.s6.t4.1

v1.c9.s6.t4.1

E. India, as defined here, comprises the States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura sharing international borders and characterized physically by high mountains, large rivers with high floods, dense forests, excessive rainfall and severe earthquakes. It has a cultural individuality as well, being extensively inhabited by tribal populations. Worman, 1949, thinks that the region served as a corridor through which Neolithic celt-making techniques entered India from the e. According to Wheeler, 1959, systematic evidence from here would be crucial for the study of the development of the Indian Neolithic. Though the evidence of a Neolithic culture was reported by Lubbock as early as 1867, till the last decade research stood at the stage of surface collections and stray finds of ground and polished stone axes. These artefacts constituted the only source of the writings of Hutton, 1928, and Dani, 1960. A more systematic study in the form of organized explorations and limited excavations has been undertaken in recent years by the universities of Gauhati and Dibrugarh and other institutions.