Production and Exchange Networks of Cord-marked Pottery from Oinam Village in Manipur, Northeast India: An Ethnoarchaeological Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe production of cord-marked pottery in the village of Oinam, located in the Indian state of Manipur, is practiced by the women potters of the Poumai Nagas, an Indigenous Tibeto-Burman ethnic community. A two-week ethnographic study was conducted in 2021 among the Poumai Nagas to document the dynamics of the production process and oral accounts of the potters and other villagers including residents from the non-pottery-producing Naga villages. While there is decreasing demand for earthen vessels today, the survey's outcome suggests a large exchange network and interaction in the Naga Hills centered on the pottery of Oinam. This network facilitated trade and fostered political and economic alliances among the Naga communities. The study also supports the claim of regional exchange networks in the region in the past and further documents that cord-marked pottery formed a significant trade item.KEYWORDS: Ethnoarchaeologycommunity-based researchcord-marked potteryPoumai NagasNaga HillsManipurNortheast Indiatradetradition AcknowledgmentsI want to thank Bowang Kho and Dr. Nathan Kho from the village of Oinam for their help and support during the research. Thanks are also due to the villagers of Oinam for their keen support during my field survey. I also extend my thanks to the anonymous reviewers for providing their insightful comments on the earlier draft of this paper. All illustrations and photos are by the author unless otherwise noted.Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingI received no funding for the research presented in this article.Notes on contributorsOinam Premchand SinghOinam Premchand Singh is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Mangolnganbi College in Manipur, India. He holds a doctorate degree (2023) in archaeology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His Ph.D. work was on megaliths in the Naga Hills of Manipur. He also has a keen interest in visual anthropology and has conducted archaeological and ethnographic surveys in the Naga-inhabited areas of Manipur.