A 10,500-Year-Old Camping Site Was Excavated In Ladakh By Archaeological Survey Of India

A 10,500-Year-Old Camping Site Was Excavated In Ladakh By Archaeological Survey Of India

While Dr. SB Ota, Joint Director General of Archeological Survey of India (ASI), was exploring the Nubra Valley of Ladakh in 2015, he noticed a small flat area with “snow-covered extremes” on dry barren land and loose rocks all around a gushing stream, within the western gorges.

Doesn’t this sound like a beautiful camping spot?  Well, he thought the same. After exploring the site, he collected charcoal samples and sent it to BETA LAB in Florida for radiocarbon date determination.

The result wasn’t only unexpected but it opened a pathway back to 10, 500 years, as it turned out the camp site dated back to 8500 BC. Having chanced upon a discovery that was a first for that region, ASI team began further exploring the site in July 2016.

As per an ASI press release, the team collected more charcoal samples and bones, which dated further back to 7500 BC. “The discovery is significant because the site is known as a ‘dry snow desert,’ an area where temperatures sway between -30 to -40 degree Celsius. There’s barely any vegetation and survival is difficult. The discovery is historical because it proves that man could negotiate such a difficult terrain, while we thought otherwise,” said Ota to DNA.

No traces of a human settlement were found, but human activity in that space was corroborated by the findings of the archaeologists at the site that is said to have lasted an approximate 800 years.

With the dates going back to the Neolithic age, the time when technology, of sorts, came into human life, ASI plans to continue  their research in order to understand the camping pattern, culture and tools. This discovery is significant for the study of human migratory patterns in the region that go back as late as 11,000 years ago; we can hardly wait to see the future outcomes of ASI’s field work and visits to this new excavation site.

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