The Indian Siwalik Hills are globally significant due to their diverse eco-geographic regions full of fossiliferous and implementiferous localities. Although there have been sporadic discoveries of Palaeolithic remains, a considerable portion of the area remains unexplored, including the Seer Khad River Basin (SKRB) in Himachal Pradesh. The present study aimed to explore the archaeological landscape of the SKRB, focusing on fresh data from newly discovered lithic assemblages. The preliminary findings of the present study highlight the variability of the lithic assemblage found under the core and flake lithic traditions, showing numerous technological and typological features that reflect the cognitive level of the prehistoric population. The lithic assemblages in SKRB also reveal that the prehistoric population preferred water sources and locally available quartzite and sandstone as raw materials for stone tool-making, which reflects general Palaeolithic occupational behaviour. Moreover, the study sheds light on post-Siwalik depositions in the study area. The lithic artefacts exhibit different spatial distribution patterns, frequencies, and typo-technological patterns, assumed to originate from a range of chronologies no younger than the Middle Pleistocene. The study also focuses on the local geomorphology, lithology, and drainage network of the basin. The data presented in this paper will aid in further refining regional studies to understand the changing nature of the Siwalik Frontal Range during the post- iwalik period. Overall, this study provides valuable insights into the prehistoric population’s behaviour and technological advancements, contributing to a better understanding of the area’s history and evolution.

Keywords: Siwalik Hills, Seer Khad River Basin (SKRB), Geomorphology, Drainage, Lithic artefacts, Typo-technology, Raw material exploitation

The desert of Thar is popular as Great Indian Desert. This is the most populated desert of the world. The hot and dry environment of this desert has never acted as a hostile feature for the travelers and the dynasties. This desert has been attraction for many royal dynasties to come up in this intense desert and set up kingdoms. The desert has served as a natural border for these kingdoms. The desert is devoid of the water sources so the economic orientation was not at all agricultural. The main source of the income for all the dynasties of Thar desert was the tax levied on the routes (rahdari). This desert had a dense network of the trade routes which were used by the travelers, traders, pilgrims and even the raiders. Being on the routes most of the times all the travelers were depending on the local communities for crossing this desert safely. This requirement made them to connect more well with the routes and all the day to day necessities that emerged on the routes led to the building of many structures for the help of the travelers. The routes were thickly populated with the traders and nomads who participated in the business. The most fascinating community who travelled through these desert roads was of the banjaras. The banjaras were the traders and they acted as the transporters to the armies as well. While travelling through routes they made many other day to day exchanges also and formed part of the popular imagination of the desert. Many spiritual journeys and the cultural encounters and cultural exchanges happened in the Indian subcontinent due to their travelling. Even now the traces of the same are visible. The presence of these nomads on the routes and the inability of the John Company to surveillance them has pushed the colonial masters to draft and execute ‘The Criminal Tribes Act 1871’. This paper would like to bring forward the dimensions of the Indian medieval trade in Thar desert and further effort will be made to understand the elimination of the trade routes which were routes of cultural exchange and economic development during the medieval times.

Keywords: Thar, nomads, trade, animals, breeding, pastorals.

In this paper, we present the archaeological findings from the western region of Manipur, specifically the Tamenglong and Noney districts, which are characterised by hilly terrain and are inhabited mainly by the Rongmei, Liangmai, Zeme, Inpui, and some other tribes like Hmars, Thadous, Gangte and Chirus. Fieldwork was conducted during the dry winter seasons of 2021 and 2022. The findings highlight the strong connection between the megaliths and the traditional religious and social practices of “headhunting”. The presence of flat stones for placing decapitated heads and fortified village gates in every Naga village indicates the prevalence of these practices across different tribes. The exploration documents (n=145) megaliths (mostly standing stones and sitting platforms) along with the engravings. Engravings found on the megaliths and the natural rock surfaces encompass symbols, including footprints, counting symbols, animal depictions, human figures, etc. However, many of these megaliths are in poor condition, with weathering and human vandalism contributing to losing their original meanings. The study also proves the preservation of these megalithic localities by educating the local population about their cultural heritage and encouraging community engagement to ensure their protection for future generations.

Keywords: Naga Tribes, Manipur, Megaliths, Petroglyphs, Headhunting, Cultural Heritage

The Ahoms ruled over the Brahmaputra Valley between the 13th century CE and the 19th century CE. During this period, they used various types of swords. Some of these were forged by them, while others were collected as war booty during armed conflict. Talwar was one such sword that the Ahoms collected as war booty during the Ahom-Mughal conflict. However, apart from the name and its acquisition as war booty, there is no other information about it. Hence, to mitigate the knowledge gap, ten Talwar, preserved and displayed in the Assam State Museum in Guwahati, the District Museum in Tezpur, the District Museum in Mangaldoi, and the Ahom-Tai Museum in Sivasagar are documented, and their details furnished. Along with the descriptive study and analysis of Talwar, the paper also provides an overview of the Ahom-Mughal conflict to understand how and in what instances the Ahoms collected Mughal Talwar. Besides that, the issue of whether collected Talwar can be classified as Ahom weapons is also dealt with in the paper. This has helped to bridge the knowledge gap and enhance understanding of Ahom-edged weapons.

Keywords: Ahom, Ahom-Mughal conflict, Brahmaputra valley Documentation, Museum, Talwar

Although cremated bones can provide valuable information on the ancient people’s life, very few anthropological analyses were conducted on the burnt bones from archaeological sites in South Korea. As for the ancient (Pyeongtaek) bones (8th to 6th BCE), we conducted anatomical and histological analyses to estimate the cremation pattern of the Bronze Age in Korea. In this report, we can show that the Bronze Age bones were cremated before burial and different morphological changes occurred in the bones during the cremation, due to varying ranges of the heat that were not acting evenly across the bones. We speculate that cremation technology had not yet reached a high level during the Bronze Age of Korea, which must be further proven by archaeological works in the future.

Keywords: Cremation, Scanning electron microscopy, Histology, Bronze Age, Korea