| Abstract: |
The traditional shifting cultivation (or slash and burn) being practiced in the Garo Hills has a prehistoric base. The hoe and axe continue as the principal tools, operated exclusively by human energy. We cannot say whether the people of the culture under the study are the descendants of the neolithic population, but analogy between the material cultures of the past and present should not be ignored. Chronologically the culture under the study is modern, but economically neolithic. There are differences in the raw material of the tools. Formerly they were made of stones, at present they are iron. Such a difference does not result in a major variation in the quantity of production between past and present. The hoe and axe have inherent limitations in working capability. Such a technology, under the given ecological conditions, can support only 4 to 5 persons per square kilometer. Under the traditional agricultural system, intensification contributes little to improvement, as was the case during neolithic times as well.
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