Lake of Skeletons – Mystery of Roopkund skeleton lake
There is a lake named Roopkund in the Himalayan ranges, about 5000 meters above sea level in the state of Uttarakhand, India, which is famous for the name Lake of Skeletons. You will find skeletons of hundreds of humans in this lake. This is still a mystery. Who died in this lake, how did they die, and where did they come from?
This lake was discovered by a British forest ranger in 1941 and there are many theories about this lake. Earlier it was thought that perhaps it was a group of Japanese soldiers who might have come here during World War II and died due to cold. However, investigation revealed that these skeletons were even older.
Another theory says that a ritual suicide may have occurred, but the bones are spread throughout the lake and not collected in one place.
Image Source: CC BY-SA 4.0
Image Source: CC BY-SA 4.0
Image Source: CC BY-SA 3.0
In 2004, an Indian and European team discovered through carbon dating that these skeletons date back to 850 AD. Cracks were found in the back of some skulls, suggesting that they may have been attacked from behind.
The scientist has given another theory in this regard, it is possible that very big hailstones may have fallen, severe hailstones may have fallen and everyone may have died due to injuries.
Recently another theory has emerged from another discovery and it has been revealed that actually there are two different groups whose bones are present in this lake. These two groups are completely different genetically and there is a difference of 1000 years in their deaths. That means two separate incidents have happened here.
The interesting thing is that no weapons have been found here and there is no evidence that any war has taken place here, any ritual suicide has taken place, any murder has taken place, or any disease has spread here.
This truth is yet to come and there is still a big mystery regarding these skeletons.
