NIANGTOH (Krem)
25.207100,92.061200
Description
A relatively »large surface pot 30 m diameter« (Boyes, P W 2000.02.20 Mss), which probably occupies a subterranean space and consists of a pothole, which, on the one-hand side, connects to the alternatively daylight-lit and moonlight-lit surface in the plain air and, on the other, is not only characterised by sharply eroded flaky limestone but also used in Pagan religion as a sacrifice pit for animal offerings. Compare the elusive Krem –>Ammuloi (Krem Chi'tkur, Chitkur, Sib-Thakur, Sitthakur). ETYMOLOGY: The meaning and origin of the cave name "Krem Niangtoh" (note 1) was understood to remain in the dark (Boyes, P W 2000.02.20 Mss: Krem Niangtoh) but the Khasi "niang" (noun) is not only an abbreviation of the word "sniang" for »pig« (SINGH, N 1906: 140, 206) but also an abbreviation of the word "khñiang" signifying »an insect, a worm« (SINGH, N 1906: 34, 140). The verb "toh" means »to peck, to bite« (SINGH, N 1906: 235). SITUATION: The entrance to this cave was understood to lie (note 2) at an unspecified distance of »250 m« either along a winding route or in a direct line more or less »west of IB at Nongtalang« (note 3) but also »south of [the road? from] Nongtalang to Jowai, surrounded by trees [note 4]« (Boyes, P W 2000.02.20 Mss: Krem Niangtoh). CAVE DESCRIPTION: »Length 94 m. Depth / Verticle [sic!] Range 81 m [without any survey]. Large surface pot 30 m diameter and 24 m deep … sharply eroded, flaky limestone. Open pot with further underground pitches descending from south wall for a depth of [an estimated?] 50 m to gravel floor« (Boyes, P W 2000.02.20 Mss). TACKLE: »25 m rope for surface pitch. 50 m + 15 m ropes for underground pitches, slings and karabiners« (Boyes 2000.02.20 Mss). CAVE POTENTIAL: At a first glance noticed were relatively »small side passages [with fully unidentified dimensions] 6 m up from floor« (Boyes 2000.02.20 Mss). CULTURAL HISTORY - human use: Body disposal, either dead or alive: The sacrifice pit »surrounded by trees« lies in the sacred lawkyntang (note 4). Boyes, P W (2000.02.20 Mss: Krem Niangtoh) and BOYES, P W (2000 s.a.: 8-9) mistook the sacrifice pit for an animal carcasses disposal (note 5). CAVE CLIMATE: Boyes, P W (2000.02.20 Mss) had the impression of feeling an unspecified air current (air flow) without identified direction at an unidentified time on 20th February 2000 and recorded, literally quoted: »Good draught but lost at base of under ground pitch.« CAVE LIFE: Boyes, P W (2000.02.20 Mss) mentions not only an unidentified »number of spiders« (unspecified Arachnidae: conf. Araneae) but also »one small bat« and leaves us alone when it comes to decide if he meant one single, relatively small bat of unidentified size or one relatively small species of bat (Chiroptera) without comparison for scale.
NOTE 1: The Khasi noun "ka 'niang" (feminine) and "u 'niang" (masculine) is an abbreviation of "sniang" and the word for »a pig« (SINGH, N 1906: 140, 206) but "ka 'ñiang" (feminine) and "u 'ñiang" (masculine) is an abbreviation of "khñiang" and the word for »an insect, a worm« (SINGH, N 1906: 34, 140). "doh" (Khasi; transitive verb), binomial imitative: ”doh dait” (SINGH, N 1906: 70) »to kiss« (SINGH, N 1906: 70; SINGH, N 1920: 280; BLAH, E 2007: 162; OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxiv). "toh" (Khasi, verb, intransitive), also found spelled "doh" (BLAH, E 2007: 218), »to peck; to bite« (SINGH, N 1906: 235); »to peck« (SINGH, N 1920: 369). "tuh" (Khasi, verb, transitive), binomial imitative: ”tuh - thiem” (SINGH, N 1906: 236) »to steal« (SINGH, N 1906: 236; SINGH, N 1920: 495; BLAH, E 2007: 287; OLDHAM, T 1854 / 1984 appendix C: lxv). NOTE 2: The GPS position »092°03.859' East 25°12.389' North« (unidentified precision error, »India/Bngldsh« geodetic datum = Everest 1830, anonymous recorder Jon Whitely, undated 2000.02.20), which has been recorded for the cave entrance to »Krem Niangtoh« (or so), indicates a spot near 25°12.425'N: 92°03.671'N (WGS84) and near 25°12'25.5”N: 92°03'40.3”E / 25.20708333°N: 92.06119444°E (WGS84). NOTE 3: The Nongtalang Inspection Bungalow has been GPS positioned near (unidentified precision error) 25°12'24.7”N: 92°03'49.4”E (WGS84 modified from the originally recorded Everest 1830 geodetic datum, Boyes 2000.07.21 Mss) and is indicated near (±500 m) 25°12'25”N: 92°04'15”E: 615 m asl (WGS84 modified from 25°12'25”N: 92°04'25”E: 2115 feet, Everest 1830) on the Survey of India Half-Inch series sheet 83-C/SW (edition 1922). NOTE 4: We can safely assume that it is rather the cave entrance than the district capital »Jowai, [which is] surrounded by trees« (Boyes, P W 2000.02.20 Mss: Krem Niangtoh). NOTE 5: The Khasi "ka 'láwkyntang" is the short form of "ka khlawkyntang" and signifies »a sacred grove« (SINGH, N 1906: 111). Compare: RODGERS, W A (1994): The sacred groves of Meghalaya.- Man in India: Journal of Anthropology. ISSN 0025-1569 (Ranchi: Man in India Office / New Delhi : Serials Publications), vol. 74: 339–348. NOTE 6: It may have slipped from the attention of Peter W Boyes, F.R.G.S., that some decision makers had argued in favour of not missing the chance of seeing a decapitated head offered.
Histoire
EXPLORATION HISTORY: 2000.02.20: Jon Whitely and Paul Wilkinson descended, followed by Peter W Boyes, F.R.G.S., Geoff Smith, Lindsay B. Diengdoh and Brian Johnson, while Lizzie [Elizabeth] Elvidge guarded the rigging: »Our efforts to impress the locals with SRT skills were totally outdone by the incredible [sic! qua: quite natural] free climbing skills of the local young men. On one occasion we were staggered when after descending an overhanging shaft the locals shinned down over 20 m of flexible green bamboo and lianas« (WILKINSON 2000: 47).