Prehistory of Manipur

This article is about the prehistory of Manipur, India.

Comparing with other regions of the world, the development process of the archaeological work in Manipur is of recent times. The pioneering work  in archeology was initiated by O. Kumar Singh. Before his presence, there was little information on the existence of the stone culture of Manipur.
O. Kumar Singh is of the view that "Pre-Historic people used to settle in the hills during the paleolithic and mesolithic (Hoabinhian) culture while neolithic people lived in both hills and valley. They came down to the valley at least by about 2000&nbsp;BC." At the time of exploration, the nine types of artifacts discovered are: (1) Flake - 1, (2) Knife - 1, (3) Blade Hake - 3, (4) Point - 1, (5) Borer scrapper - 1, (6) Hand axe - 1, (7) Spilt pebbles - 1.
* Khangkhui cave - Located in Ukhrul district, the rock type found is of limestone Cretaceous origin. Discovered in 1969, there are four caves in the Khangkhui, two on the western slopes and two on the eastern slopes. Cave number 1 and 2 are on the western and number 3 and 4 on the eastern slopes. Numerous stalactites are found hanging on the roof of the cave. Exploratory work started in 1969-1972 but was abruptly stopped due to unfavorable circumstances. The tools discovered are of two types, limestone tools (96.4℅) and sandstone tools (2.2℅). Bone tools were significantly found in the cave no. 3, especially of Cervus, Sus and Bonvines. Though some suggest that the age of the earliest existence of the stone culture at the Khangkhui to be around 15,000&nbsp;BC, T.C. Sharma opined it to be around 30,000 BCE, belonging to the Upper or Late Paleolithic period.
* Nongpok Keithelmanbi - Discovered the stone culture in 1982-1984, the Nongpok Keithelmanbi is an archeological site of Paleolithic period and post Paleolithic period (Mesolithic period). The exploration site was classified into Locality-1 (Mesolithic), Locality-2 (Paleolithic) and Locality-3 (Paleolithic). The site is estimated to be of Upper or Late Paleolithic period. Most artifacts are made of Quartzitic sandstone pebbles and few of chert.

## 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.
These are (1) Napachik, (2) Laimanai,
* Laimanai - Excavation started in 1990 and discovered many more than 70 stone artifacts of Neolithic period.
* Phunan - Discovered in October, 1967, though some artifacts of Neolithic period were discovered so far, there is no official excavation took place till now.
* Nongpok Keithelmanbi - Besides having the existence during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic periods, this site also houses stone artifacts of Neolithic period, including the corded wares and ill fired potteries.

## Gallery 

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## Bibliography 
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## Other websites
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* 
* PREHISTORIC ARCHAELOGY. Course Name: PREHISTORY. Paper No. & Title: B.A. / B.Sc. Honours 5 TH Semester (Theory) Topic No. & Title: - PDF Free Download
* Cord-impressed Pottery in Neolithic-Chalcolithic Context of Eastern - &#91;PDF Document&#93; 
* youtube
* (PDF) Dikshit, K.N. and Manjil Hazarika. 2012. ‘The Neolithic cultures of Northeast India and adjoining regions: A comparative study’, Journal of Indian Ocean Archaeology, 7: 98-148.
* Manipur South The Earliest Archaeological Site
* Digging up Manipur archaeological past interaction with OK Singh Part 1 By Wahengbam Pathou
* Digging up Manipur archaeological past interaction with OK Singh Part 2 By Wahengbam Pathou
* Cultural Heritage Complex 1
* Cultural Heritage Complex 2
* Cultural Heritage Complex 3
* Cultural Heritage Complex 4
* Cultural Heritage Complex 5
* Cultural Heritage Complex 6
* Cultural Heritage Complex 7
* Cultural Heritage Complex 8

## References