(DailyDig.com) – In 1942, the bones of somewhere between three and eight hundred people were discovered scattered around and in a lake in the Himalayan mountains of India.
Roopkund Lake is near the Indian and Nepal border, where a British ranger discovered the shocking scene. The discovery led the lake to be called either “Lake of Bones” or “Skeleton Lake.” For nearly 70 years, the mystery and theories about what may have happened have baffled researchers and scientists.
Early research revealed that there were approximately 500 individual human bones found along the shores and in the lake. Scientists have speculated that there may be about 400 additional human bones buried near the lake.
The freezing weather and rough, secluded area of the lake are difficult to traverse; it takes nearly five days to hike to the destination. One theory regarding the bones suggests that a pilgrimage from and to unknown locations resulted in a disaster that claimed the lives of those involved.
Nature Communications, a scientific journal, published a fairly recent study in 2019 that revealed some intriguing data that might shed some light on the site.
During their study, scientists tested the bones for DNA and sorted the bodies into three possible groups. Scientists identified one group as potentially the ancestors of today’s residents of South Asia. The second group consisted of people from Southeast Asia, and the third group gave the surprising result of being from the Eastern Mediterranean area.
Regarding the carbon dating results, the most striking finding suggested that solving the puzzle may never be possible. They divided these results into two groups, ranging in dates from 800 AD to 1800 AD.
Kathleen Morrison, an anthropologist from the University of Pennsylvania, said that the results are similar to what is known about the area’s history. She claimed that the Greeks, people from the Mediterranean, lived in India around 180 BC. She believes that the lake and surrounding area was used as a graveyard.
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