| Abstract: |
Introduction: The prehistory of Assam is still poorly represented in the larger knowledge of India. Neolithic tools, including ground stone "neoliths" and pottery, are found throughout Assam
inquiry into these artifacts began during the British regime. During the 1960s and 1970s, three important excavations were carried out, one in the North Cachar Hills (1961-1963) and two in the district of Kamrup (1972-1974). These excavations authenticated the neolithic assignments of ground stone tools and pottery. Older extant resources for the study of the Assam Neolithic include artifacts collected by British military and administrative officers and now held in the Pitt Rivers Museum, the Oxford Museum and, in India, the Assam State Museum. The journals of the Asiatic Society of Bengal and the Assam Research Society have published a variety of accounts of neolithic archaeological materials. A coherent inquiry into the prehistory of Assam faces a problem, in spite of the wealth of information available. The territory has been in recent political turmoil, and we must define the range of our areal interests. The original state of Assam now includes Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh (formerly NEFA), and Meghalaya
now they, and Tripura, are known as Northeast India (Fig. 1). In understanding identities, one cannot ignore each region's special geographical and cultural characteristics. Prehistoric cultural diversity throughout Assam is to be expected and sought archaeologically. Archaeologists undertaking new research face a variety of problems, both political and environmental. Natural hazards include frequent flooding by the rivers that abound locally, by the processes of siltation associated with flooding, and by related human-induced erosion. The plains are the most troublesome, yet the hills have their own problems. Swidden cultivators have for years had an impact on archaeological sites, by the chance excavation of ground celts, which are then used as "thunder stones" in religious rites. This article, then, is a survey of research into the prehistory of the neighboring states of the Assam region. I will also consider the prehistory of the entire region.
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