Page 167 - Changing Living Spaces

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Traditional Pottery Making as a Local Asset
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for Sustainable Development in North East

India: Larnai Village, Jaintia Hills, Meghalaya

Laitpharlang Cajee Monica Mawlong
North Eastern Hills University, North Eastern Hills University,
India India
© 2024 Laitpharlang Cajee and Monica Mawlong
https://doi.org/10.26493/978-961-293-399-9.165-174

Traditional Pottery Making in North East India
Northeast India is one of the regions with diverse human-environment
relationships. Although the region is known to be rich in research results
in various fields of empirical science, it has not attained any importance
to date when it comes to thestudy of the production of pottery. The prox-
imity to the South Asian junction, East Asia and South Asian countries, as
well as the natural and cultural linkages, can explain the diverse culture
of the people living in this region. The unique climatic conditions favour
the region with high to very high rainfall (Mawsynram and Cherrapunji
in Meghalaya are known to be the wettest places in the world), along with
its diverse natural vegetation, natural resources, and various plant and
animal species. All of these shapes and influences the lives and culture of
the people of northeast India (Hazarika 2006, 25).
However, the northeast of India is destined to play a crucial role in shap-
ing India as a nation, especially in the eastern region of the country (Medhi
2003), as this area is referred to as ‘the great Indian means of access’. The
region lies between 20˚N and 29˚30’ N latitudes and between 89˚46’ E and
97˚30’ E longitudes, commonly known as the land of seven sister states,
namely Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland and Tripura, with the state of Sikkim being the most recent
addition. The area includes several geographical subdivisions , such as

Murayama, S., Ž. Lazarević, and A. Panjek, eds. 2024. Changing Living
Spaces: Subsistence and Sustenance in Eurasian Economies from Early Modern
Times to the Present. Koper: University of Primorska Press.

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