From Living Practices to Archaeological Traces: A Case Study from Mimi, Nagaland

Akiyala Imchen

This paper places living spatial practices in dialogue with ancestral settlement remains to demonstrate how ethnography enables the identification of subtle activity areas and rethinks site formation processes. The paper presents ongoing research in Mimi village, a Yimkhiung Naga settlement in the uplands of Nagaland, alongside the abandoned ancestral settlement of Longpfütsü, the former habitation site of the present Mimi community. Drawing on participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and systematic spatial documentation, the study examines settlement construction along steep hill slopes, clustered layouts, terrace formation, hearth placement, cleaning and sweeping practices, and patterns of discard. These everyday practices structure the initial deposition and redistribution of materials across space. At Longpfütsü, processes of relocation, abandonment, soil erosion, slope dynamics, and forest regeneration further transform anthropogenic traces, highlighting the interplay between cultural practices and natural post-depositional processes in shaping the archaeological record.