These rites, in turn, may have transformed into, or inspired, the Tibetan sky-burial ritual. Zoroastrians, Aldenderfer said, "are known to have de-fleshed their dead and fed the flesh to animals."Īncient people living in the Upper Mustang region may have adopted funerary rituals of passing Zoroastrians as they traveled west, Aldenderfer said. The other funerary rite is older and hails from the Zoroastrian religion, which has its roots in ancient Persia (now Iran). Present-day Tibet is just 10 miles (16 kilometers) from the cave tombs. One, the Tibetan sky burial-thought to have originated several hundred years later-involves dismembering a body and exposing it to the elements and to scavengers such as vultures. (Related: "World's Biggest Cave Found in Vietnam.")Īldenderfer and his team think the practice of de-fleshing corpses and entombing them in caves might be a previously unknown bridge between two other known death rituals. "This would be their traditional burial place, and another family would have their own." "I would imagine that many of these mortuary caves are for large extended families," Aldenderfer said. Preliminary DNA analysis of some of the bones suggests the de-fleshing subjects were related. (The Society owns National Geographic News.) "This was done in a respectful fashion," added Aldenderfer, who received partial funding from the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration. There's nothing like that in any of the bone parts that we recovered. "In cannibalism, the base of the skull is often smashed, and bones are broken and twisted, usually for marrow. "When you're going for meat, you process a skeleton in a very different way than if you were trying to strip the flesh off," explained project leader Mark Aldenderfer, an archaeologist at the University of California, Merced. The team has, however, ruled out cannibalism. Little is known about the three ancient Himalayan groups that de-fleshed and entombed their dead in the high Mustang caves, making the motives behind the rite even murkier. (Related: "Himalaya Honey Hunters Cling to Cliffside Tradition.") I don't believe the tomb would've lasted one more monsoon." It is situated in a fragile rock matrix that has already collapsed some time in the past. "The cave tomb we found is under great threat. "Clues to when these caves were built, and by whom, are melting before our eyes," Athans said in a press statement. Since then, however, erosion has rendered the chambers accessible to only expert climbers, such as seven-time Everest summiter Pete Athans, who co-led the team. In ancient times, rock outcrops and probably ladders would have eased access to the caves. But due to centuries of exposure to the elements, the bones and bunks-and much of the caves themselves-had collapsed by the time the team entered the chambers.Īlso in the jumble: goat, cow, and horse remains-perhaps sacrificial offerings for the dead, though their purpose remains a mystery.ĭug into characteristically reddish cliffs of the Upper Mustang district, the human-made caves lie at 13,800 feet (4,200 meters) above sea level, high above the village of Samdzong ( Mustang region map). Nearly 67 percent of the bodies' had been defleshed, most likely with a metal knife, say the researchers, who found the remains in 2010.Īfter the de-fleshing process, the corpses had been neatly laid to rest on wide wooden shelves, the researchers speculate. The corpses-many of which had been stripped of flesh-were placed in the high mortuaries some 1,500 years ago, the team announced Friday. Many of the bones bear cut marks that point to a previously unknown Himalayan death ritual, experts say. The remains of 27 ancient men, women, and children have been found in cliffside caves in Nepal.
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