Posted on 11/07/2004 8:13:34 AM PST by aculeus
For 60 years the skeletal remains of more than 200 people, discovered in 1942 close to the glacial Roopkund Lake in the remote Himalayan Gahrwal region, have puzzled historians, scientists and archaeologists. Were they soldiers killed in battle, royal pilgrims who lost their way and succumbed to hypothermia, or Tibetan traders who died of a mysterious illness?
Now, the first forensic investigation of one of the area's most enduring mysteries has concluded that hundreds of nomads - whose frozen corpses are being disgorged from ice high in the mountain - were killed by one of the most lethal hailstorms in history.
Scientists commissioned by the National Geographic television channel to examine the corpses have discovered that they date from the 9th century - and believe that they died from sharp blows to their skulls, almost certainly by giant hailstones. "We were amazed by what we found," said Dr Pramod Joglekar, a bio-archaeologist at Deccan College, Pune, who was among the team who visited the site 16,500ft above sea level.
"In addition to skeletons, we discovered bodies with the flesh intact, perfectly preserved in the icy ground. We could see their hair and nails as well as pieces of clothing."
The most startling discovery was that many of those who died suffered fractured skulls. "We retrieved a number of skulls which showed short, deep cracks," said Dr Subhash Walimbe, a physical anthropologist at the college. "These were caused not by a landslide or an avalanche but by blunt, round objects about the size of cricket balls."
The team, whose findings will be broadcast in Britain next month, concluded that hailstones were the most likely cause of the injuries after consulting Himalayan historians and meteorological records.
Prof Wolfgang Sax, an anthropologist at Heidelberg University in Germany, cited a traditional song among Himalayan women that describes a goddess so enraged at outsiders who defiled her mountain sanctuary that she rained death upon them by flinging hailstones "hard as iron".
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the heaviest hailstones on record weighed up to 2.2lb and killed 92 people in Bangladesh in 1986.
The National Geographic team believes that those who died at Roopkund were caught in a similar hailstorm from which they were unable to find cover. The balls of ice would have been falling at more than 100mph, killing some victims instantly. Others would have fallen, stunned and injured, and died soon afterwards of hypothermia.
"The only plausible explanation for so many people sustaining such similar injuries at the same time is something that fell from the sky," said Dr Walimbe. "The injuries were all to the top of the skull and not to other bones in the body, so they must have come from above. Our view is that death was caused by extremely large hailstones."
The scientists found glass bangles, indicating the presence of women, in addition to a ring, spear, leather shoes and bamboo staves. They estimate that as many as 600 bodies may still be buried in snow and ice by the lake.
Bone samples collected at the site were sent to the Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit of Oxford University, where the date of death was established about AD 850 - 400 years earlier than supposed.
The team has yet to resolve the identity of the nomads. DNA from tissue samples suggested that the group was closely related. One match pointed to a community of high-caste Brahmins in central India.
The investigators agreed that the victims were Hindu pilgrims from the plains, rather than the mountains, because of their large size and good health.
"The skeletons are of large and rugged people," said Dr Dibyendukanti Bhattacharya of Delhi University. "They are more like the actors John Wayne or Anthony Quinn. Only a few have the characteristics of the Mongoloid hill people of the Himalayas."
Information appearing on telegraph.co.uk is the copyright of Telegraph Group Limited and must not be reproduced in any medium without licence. For the full copyright statement see Copyright
Global cooling caused by Jinjis Kahn.
Just D-mn
Nope. It was aliens that did it. /tinfoil
Wait a minute . . . this phrase sounds like something written up in the Weekly World News!
And still the little critters rub their back legs together to make noise.
Kinda describes a......rock....duh!!
ROFL.. cricket balls, oh my goodness. LOL thanks.
This time of year I'm a little afraid to drive down the backroads when it's windy. We have a lot of osage orange trees around here. For those who don't know what an osage orange is, Imagine a walnut the size of a softball.
I know what you mean about osage oranges. I'm getting ready to go take a walk and they are out there waiting. Of course, I remember 30 years ago, sleeping outdoors in a hammock in a coconut plantation.. I kid you not and then deciding that it was not a good idea after the first night when I lay awake listening to the coconuts fall.
round objects about the size of cricket balls
And still the little critters rub their back legs together to make noise.
Crickets are harmless little critters that rub their legs together and make a lot of noise. I'm thinking we should stop calling the french "frogs" and call them crickets.
You have a future in wit, laughter and comedy.
I was thinking Hollywood is missing a bet here for a new
SCI-FI flick! Or possibly, a new James Bond flick with
the Eevil SPECTRE launching yet another weather assault on the world!
Why would aliens bean 'em with huge hail instead of just using their alien death rays?
That's "hail of a way to die".
I've read that the Earth is still adding 1,000 tons of meteor dust a day. And also, that water-ice from comets could have been the major source of water on our planet.
Won't work, crickets have balls.
Around here, the thing is to NOT drive around in a convertible (top in either position, open or closed) or the moonroof open on a windy day....big ole heavy and sharp palm fronds can come flying down from those 60 or 70 foot tall trees and do a number on ya.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.