[SunkenCiv]

This is a gold/silver mask believed to cover the face of the adult in the coffin of the Samdzong 5 tomb complex, Upper Mustang, Nepal. [Credit M. Aldenderfer]

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Thanks. I'd never heard of the "Upper Mustang" region of Nepal. Wikipedia --> Mustang (from the Tibetan möntang (Wylie: smon-thang), Nepali: मुस्तांग "fertile plain"), formerly Kingdom of Lo, is a remote and isolated region of the Nepalese Himalayas. The Upper Mustang was a restricted demilitarized area until 1992 which makes it one of the most preserved regions in the world, with a majority of the population still speaking traditional Tibetic languages. Tibetan culture has been preserved by the relative isolation of the region from the outside world.

Sounds like a wonderful place to put on one's bucket list.

I was listening to the history of chromatography on the "In Our Time" podcast last week. The host, Melvyn Bragg, mentioned a book he was reading that discussed dyes around the time of these fragments. An illuminated manuscript in Europe had 90 different colors in it, all originating from plant dyes. It is remarkable how these people used intuitive chemistry to separate colors from pigments.