back to the period of early Stone Age and Lower Paleolithic period. Mesolithic period The Mesolithic period (Hoabinhian period or post Paleolithic period or pre Neolithic period) has two remarkable archeological sites in Manipur. These are the Nongpok Keithelmanbi and the Tharon cave. Nongpok Keithelmanbi - The locality-1 out of the three localities (sections) of this site belongs to the Mesolithic period, while the others belong to the Paleolithic period. Most tools are made of the Quartzitic sandstone. Seventy nine artifacts of mesolithic period are discovered in this site. These are:- (1) Chisel edge pebble tools, (2) Round edge pebble tools, (3) Pebble pick, (4) Scrapper, (5) Blade, (6) Split pebble, (7) Pebble with batter marks, (8) Pebble with ground faces, (9) Flake and (10) Manu port. Approximate time dates back to 4460+-120 BP. Tharon cave - First exploration took place in 1979 by the State Archeology Department Government of Manipur, and again retaken in 1989, five caves were discovered so far. 39 mesolithic artifacts were discovered. These are:- (1) Chopping tools, (2) Hand adze, (3) Hand axe, (4) Pointed tools, (5) Scrapper, (6) Edge ground knife, (7) Quern, (8) Grinder, (9) twenty five unclassified ground pebbles. Neolithic period Multiple neolithic sites have been identified in Manipur; they include Nongpok Keithelmanbi, Napachik, Laimenai, Naran Siena, and Phunan. Considered to be part of a larger Southeast Asian complex, the identifications are primarily accorded on the basis of stone tools and pottery (esp. cord-impressed ware); characteristic cultural identifiers of the Neolithic (agriculture, animal rearing etc.) are yet to be located and their development chronology is subject of active research. Hazarika notes the Neolithic culture in Northeast to have begun some four thousand years after that in the Gangetic Plains. Meiteilon, lingua-franca of Meiteis belongs to the TB phylum. Hazarika notes the Manipuri sites to have an abundance of three-legged pottery and cord-impressed ware, very similar to the ones found in Southern China and Thailand, and hypothesizes that Manipur might have been the melting pot of Neolithic impulses from adjoining regions. Roger Blench, in agreement with George van Driem's reconstructions of archeo-linguistic history of Southeast Asia, proposes that Northeast India accommodated a diverse group of foragers since neolithic age, who learned agriculture and animal rearing c. 4000 B.C before migrating eastwards and establishing the Tibeto-Burman (TB) phylum. The Neolithic period is the last of the three Stone Age periods. It has 4 archeological