The old Indian skeleton is still waiting for permanent address

A 1000 year old human skeleton buried sitting with crossed legs in India is still without a museum to house it because of bureaucratic fight, six years after it was excavated.

Archaeologist Abhijit Ambekar made the important discovery in 2019, when he saw what seemed to be at the top of a human skull in the state of West -Gujarat.

While his team groats deeper, they found the well -preserved remains in a well in what seemed to be a meditative attitude. Similar remains were found at just three other locations in India.

But officials are still arguing about who should take the lead over the skeleton. It remains in an improvised hiding place – not far from a new museum of local archeology.

Abhijit Ambekar says that the skeleton – found in the city of Vadnagar – will probably belong to the Solanki period. The Solanki dynynasty, also known as the Chaulukya dynynasty, ruled on parts of the contemporary Gujarat between 940 and 1300 CE.

The right arm of the skeleton rested on his lap and the left arm was hung in the air, as if he was resting on a stick.

“The skeleton is an extremely valuable find, not only for Vadnagar, but also for the entire country. It can help us understand how our ancestors lived, and reveal details about the past that are still unknown,” says Dr. Ambkar, who led the archeology of India (ASI) division in Mumbai that the team and the team that.

That it still has to be a good resting place, despite the archaeological meaning, seems to come down on bureaucracy.

Ambekar says that the Government’s plan for all artifacts that were excavated from Vadnagar would be to place them in local museums.

He says that around 9,000 artifacts, including the skeleton, which were dug up by the ASI from Vadnagar between 2016 and 2022 and were transferred to the Gujarat government placed in local museums – except the skeleton.

However, the state government says that the skeleton is still in possession of the ASI.

“As the right process was not followed, it was not placed in the museum (the skeleton),” Pankaj Sharma, director of the Archeology and Museums of the State, told the BBC.

Yadubir Singh Rawwat, director -general of the ASI, did not respond to the questions of the BBC about this issue.

M THENNARASAN, main secretary of the Sports Department, Youth and Cultural activities of the State, said the BBC, that the authorities worked to move the skeleton to a museum as quickly as possible.

The excavation of the skeleton was a time -consuming process, Mr Ambkar says, adding that it took two months to complete. Various tools were used to carefully clean the ground and free the skeleton from the old grave.

It is currently housed in a Tarpaulin shelter in Vadnagar, unprotected by guards and exposed to natural elements. Local residents sometimes bring family members and friends to see the skeleton – a curiosity that has brought the city to the attention, who is also the birthplace of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

What is interesting is that only a short distance is the new archaeological experience museum – inaugurated by the Indian Minister of the Interior in January.

According to a press release from the government, the museum was built for an amount of $ 35 million and is spread over 12,500 m². It claims that the “Vadnagar’s 2500-year-old history with more than 5,000 artifacts, including ceramics, coins, tools and skeletal residues” shows.

Although the museum has a huge framed photo of the skeleton, it does not accommodate the actual remains.

Vadnagar is a historically significant region in Gujarat and excavations by the ASI have found traces of human settlements that date more than 2000 years ago. Mr. Ambkar says that parts of an earthen ramparts that are believed to have been built by the first settlers of the region, even today, exists.

DIGS have also revealed remains of old Buddhist monasteries and stupas. These findings and others – such as terracotta sculptures, coins, shell jewels and brick and copper plate inscriptions – have helped archaeologists to establish seven cultural sequences or phases in the area, starting from the 2nd century BC. And dating until the 19th century CE.

Mr Ambekar says that the age of the skeleton he and his team found was estimated on the basis of a DNA analysis of his teeth and a stratigraphic study of the excavation location. Stratigraphy includes studying rock reddiments or layers of the earth to determine their age. This is then used to determine the chronology of historical events or the estimated age of artifacts.

“The DNA analysis tells us that the skeleton is of local origin and is of a man in the forty, but more studies must be done to understand his diet and lifestyle, which in turn will give us a better understanding of the region,” he says.

It can also shed light on the phenomenon of “Samadhi Burials” – an old funeral practice under Hindus where respected figures were buried instead of being cremated, says Mr Ambekar.

He adds that the skeleton has succeeded in surviving the passage of time because the soil around it had remained undisturbed and features that prevent skeletal decay.

Liberating the skeleton of the site and moving to the current location was not an easy task. First a block of the earth with the skeleton was cut in it cut out of the ground around it. The skeleton and the bottom were treated with different chemicals to consolidate their structures. The block of the earth was then placed in a wooden box filled with wet mud and a tap was used to move the box to the current site.

The entire operation lasted six days to complete, says Mr Ambekar.

He hopes that the skeleton will soon find a place in a museum. But it adds that it must have mechanisms to control the temperature and humidity of the room to prevent the skeleton from dissolving.

Locals The BBC spoke with similar feelings and blamed “bureaucracy” for the back and forth over the skeleton.

“We are proud of the old history of Vadnagar, but this treatment of a 1000 -year -old skeleton is deeply worrying. What is the point of building a museum if the most unique antiquity is left under a plastic roof?” Said the inhabitant of Vadnagar Jesang Thakor.

Another resident, Bethaji Thakor, said he believed that the skeleton could go to Vadnagar from all over the world.

“Where else will you see something like that?”