1200-year-old skeleton discovered in Upper Mustang

Researcher and producer of the Mountain World Productions Jake Norton taking pictures of a 1,200 years old skeleton of a person, in Samdzong, Mustang. Photo courtesy: Liesl Clark

Recentfusion.com–Pokhara: Researchers have found a 1,200 year old human skeleton in Nepal’s Upper Mustang the month before.

The skeleton which is believed to be a young man was recovered in cave tomb from Samdzong of Mustang district in mid Nepal. Lead researcher Mark S Aldenderfer who is the Dean of the School of Social Science at the University of California claimed that the found skeleton is that of an adult male, around 20-34 years.

Publishing an exclusive report Nepal’s leading English daily The Himalayan Times reports that the age and sex were estimated using methods in Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains while genetic sex was estimated by comparing the ratio of DNA sequences aligning to the X and Y chromosomes, Aldenderfer said. “Radiocarbon dating was also used to place their findings in time.”

Researchers included archaeologists, human osteologists, specialists in the analysis of ancient DNA, specialists who examine human genomes and specialists who engage in ancient textiles and metals. The scientists have researched dozens of cave in that region where the skeleton was found.

The Samdzong which is also a burial site was determined in 2010, consists of 10 shaft tombs remaining both individual and collective burials. The remains of sheep and goat and two horses were also found in these grave sites, Rajan Pokhrel reports for THT.

Scientists say the skeletal find is in great disparity to the remains of the other 104 people found in the Samdzong tombs since 2010. “Among 10 shaft tombs, most of the chambers were communal in nature, as they housed multiple individuals, while Samdzong had a single interment,” said Aldenderfer.

 

Published on: September 7, 2016 7:55 am

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