SHILLONG: Queenbala Marak of the Department of Anthropology, North-Eastern Hill University-Shillong, believes that Garo Hills might have had a factory site in the prehistoric Stone Age.
Currently undertaking a systematic exploration in the Rongram-Ganol river valleys, Marak says there are many sites in the area where a number of finished stone tools, waste products and cores are found. The finds of cores (from which the stone tools are made) and waste flakes (which are byproducts of tool making) are indications of a factory site in the past.
Till date, of all the sites in Rongram-Ganol valley, Marak says the largest concentration is seen at Mishimagre village. In fact, there could have been as many as six factory sites in this region and possibly these finished stone tools could then have been transported to other places in Garo Hills.
To understand more about the time-frame and the behaviour of prehistoric people and their movement, she believes more research is required. The exploration team consists of Marak as the team director and Gangotri Bhuyan, Milan Meitei and Tengnang D. Sangma as team members. They believe that public awareness is required for maintenance of these sites since they are stakeholders as well as custodians of the region.
