Imlisanen Jamir
At the New Phor site in Meluri, dated to the 3rd and 4th century BC, the expansion of the village is erasing archaeological evidence before it can even be excavated. At Ranya Khen and Tsie Khen, the cave sites in Kiphire district, graffiti has appeared on the walls and stalactites have been removed by visitors who likely had no idea what they were destroying. These are not distant risks described in a policy paper somewhere. They are happening now, while archaeologists at Nagaland University are still working through what these sites can tell us about the deep history of the region.
Prof Tiatoshi Jamir's recent lecture in Dimapur made clear how much is at stake in that history. Ancient DNA from the Photangkhun Longkhap rock shelter has begun to complicate a long-held theory in human genetics that the Northeast served as a barrier to early migration, and the findings are significant enough that a working paper is being prepared for journals such as Science or Nature. Alongside this, excavations across the state have turned up early evidence of mithun domestication in Meluri and iron smelting in Noklak district dating back centuries. Nagaland's soil holds material that speaks to the deep past of the entire subcontinent, and much of it is unprotected.
What stands out in Jamir's account is not just the threat but the makeshift nature of the response to it. Researchers are using total stations alongside old British-era maps to document sites before they disappear under new construction, which suggests that documentation currently depends on the initiative of individual archaeologists rather than on any established institutional process. There is a real difference between a state that discovers its history and a state that has built the means to protect what it discovers, and Nagaland at present sits closer to the former.
None of this is an argument against the expansion of villages or the development that communities are entitled to pursue on their own land. The people living near New Phor have as much claim to build and grow as any other community in the state. The argument is instead for sequencing: a requirement that land in areas of known or suspected archaeological value undergo survey and limited excavation before construction proceeds, so that development and preservation are not forced into competition. Other states and countries have developed frameworks along these lines, though the specifics of what might suit Nagaland's terrain and land tenure system would need closer study before any policy is proposed.
INTACH Nagaland has spent nearly two decades mapping cultural sites across the state, and the university's archaeology department has now produced findings of international significance. What is missing is the connective structure between that expertise and the everyday decisions being made about land use in villages like Meluri and Kiphire. A formal protocol, developed jointly by the state government, the university, and INTACH, would give researchers the standing they currently lack and give communities the certainty of knowing what their land holds before they build over it.
Comments can be sent to imlisanenjamir@gmail.com
