The Roopkund Skeletons
The Roopkund Skeletons – What do new studies based on biomolecular techniques tell us? Of late study of ancient DNA has been used to determine patterns of human migration in the ancient past. But ancient DNA can also throw light on other long standing mysteries, such as the one described in this thread. Roopkund is a small lake, about 40 m in diameter, located in the central Himalayas of Uttarakhand at an altitude of 5029 m (16500 ft). It is frozen most of the year and the ice melts only for a few days, between August and October. Roopkund Lake (Picture from Wikimedia Commons) In 1942, on an expedition to gather “Brahma Kamal” ( Saussurea obvallata ) flowers, Forest Officer Hari Kishan Madhwal and his team reached Roopkund. They saw a ghastly sight. Brahma Kamal Flower In Madhwal's own words: “The whole place was littered with scores of human bodies. Flesh like inflated rubber was sticking to most of the bodies. Their grinning faces made the scene stil...