In 2002 and 2004, the archaeologist team from the Prehistory Branch of the Archaeological Survey of India, Nagpur, again found a few interesting Neolithic materials around the Rumtek-Martam area. The team led by P.K. Mishra, Superintendent Archaeologist, ASI, Nagpur, surveyed around Martam, Adampool, Rumtek, Samdur, and Sajyong areas in the East district. 29 Neolithic agriculture tools, along with other objects, were recovered from these areas. The most excellent part of the exploration was the discovery of a fossilised antelope horn in the Sajyong area near Rumtek that was reported to be about 150,000 years old.
The complete excavation report had been published in a book called "Archaeological Exploration in Sikkim," written by Dr. PK Mishra. The book provides the report of the excavation done in the years 2002 and 2004 at Sikkim by the team led by Dr. Mishra from the Pre-historic Branch of the Archaeological Survey of India. The book also illustrates photographs with information about early human artefacts discovered at over two dozen Neolithic sites in North and East Sikkim.
Dr. Mishra writes that those tools recovered from Sikkim were collected from the fields, under step cultivation, and even from the local people, who thought that those were "Chattang ko Dunga" or the "Vajra Dunga" stone from heaven. This reminded me of an interesting point from the well-read book "Lepcha – My Vanishing Tribe" by AR Foning. The author, AR Foning, writes about his experience with "Sadaer Longs," the so-called thunderstones that the old folks used to say were blessed by the Thunder God.
According to "Archaeological Exploration in Sikkim," "An interesting aspect of the excavation done at Sikkim pushed a significant breakthrough in the world of archaeology. The scholars consider the region of Sikkim as a corridor through which the Neolithic Celt-making techniques entered India from South East Asia. The tools found in Sikkim were derived from dolerite, shale, slate, and fossil woods. "The typological analysis of the tools suggests two phases in their development, which forms the basis for a twofold schema that has been introduced for their identification. These phases are: (i). Early phase with tools being wholly chipped and the edge ground. (ii). Later phase with pecked and edge ground and fully ground tools. Using this schema, the early phase shows common features with the Hoabihian Culture of South East Asia, dated to 10,000 B.C., and the later phase, assignable to 8000 B.C., shows a close affinity with that of South China and South East Asia."
I am sure these findings trace the origin of the land of Sikkim way back, as we had never thought of it. I still remember a news article published in ‘Now’ (Feb 19–25, 2003, Sarikah Atreya) newspaper covering this very excavation that said the most excellent part of the exploration was the findings of a fossilised antelope horn in the Sajyong area near Rumtek that was reported to be about 150,000 years old. But somehow nothing more is written about the fossilised horn in any of the pages of the "book." The other major breakthrough of the excavation was the carbon dating of one of the Neolithic tools dating back beyond 2,500 BC in the East District of Sikkim.
Of course, in order to ascertain the route through which Neolithic culture entered Sikkim, further work has to be conducted. Several research projects on various subjects are planned for Sikkim, which could place the state's age at the stage of early primitivism. A study on Sikkim Primitive, a fossilised maize variety found in Sikkim in the 1950s, has made Sikkim the secondary origin of maize after Mexico. Instead of being surrounded by myths, much-talked-about human footprints scattered in places like Sikkim could provide ample opportunities for finding early man's footprint. The presence of one of the oldest molar teeth of human ancestors on the planet discovered in Nepal, the results of Neolithic tools discovered around Kalimpong, and Peking Man discovered in China may cause a ripple of the presence of more traces of the early men in Sikkim!
Published in Sikkim Express - 28. 06. 2020
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