Dr. Queenbala Marak studies pottery in the west Garo hills, specifically in the regions of Siju and Nengkong. She began by describing the continuities in the tools used for pottery, based on archaeological finds and ethnographic studies. Pottery is an old practice, but she could not find many women involved in the practice (there were only six women potters in Siju). She spoke about the women of William Nagar in the east Garo hills (who had migrated from Siju), who used mortar and pestle and different sizes of beaters. They use the mold method, using the shape of old pots to make new ones. The clay in Siju is taken from a deep stratum. There is folklore about twelve women who dug a deep hole and were covered by a boulder, and how the villagers came to their grave and conducted a sacrificial ritual.

She described the process of pot making in detail – kneading the clay, beating the clay around a mold, making the surface uniform with cloth and water and keeping it to dry for two days. The pot is smoked before being fired in an open fire.

She spoke about the different types of pots – Medik (a pot with a neck), Samdik, Rongdik, and the Diku. The pots of the Garo hills are plain, with no decorations, and they largely fall into two categories – the ones with a neck, and the ones without neck. The Diku is the smallest pot with a neck, used for storing seeds. The Medik is used to cook rice, the Rongdik for storing rice, the Samdik to cook curry, and the Matchamdik and Sangko for larger functions (since they are big cooking pots). She concluded with a comment on ethnoarchaeology, pointing out, that while archaeological finds of handmade pottery are gritty, the handmade pottery in the contemporary context is less gritty.