Skeleton Lake of Roopkund, India. The Surprise Is What Killed Them …

Started by jimmy olsen, May 30, 2013, 03:43:29 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

jimmy olsen

Damn, what a pitiful way to go.

Click for pics
http://www.slate.com/blogs/atlas_obscura/2013/05/24/an_indian_lake_surrounded_by_hundreds_of_ancient_skeletons_the_surprise.html?wpisrc=obinsite
QuoteSkeleton Lake of Roopkund, India. The Surprise Is What Killed Them ...

By Atlas Obscura
Posted Friday, May 24, 2013, at 7:30 AM

In 1942 a British forest guard in Roopkund, India, made an alarming discovery. More than three miles above sea level, he stumbled across a frozen lake surrounded by hundreds of human skeletons. That summer, the melting ice revealed even more remains, floating in the water and lying haphazardly around the lake's edges.

Since this was the height of World War II, there were fears that the skeletons might belong to Japanese soldiers who had died of exposure while sneaking through India. The British government, terrified of a Japanese land invasion, sent a team of investigators to determine whether this was true. Upon examination they realized these bones weren't Japanese soldiers at all, but of a much much older vintage. But what killed them? Many theories were put forth, including an epidemic, landslide, and ritual suicide. For six decades, no one was able to shed light on the mystery of "Skeleton Lake."

In 2004 a scientific expedition offered the first plausible explanation of the mysterious deaths. The answer was stranger than anyone had guessed.

All of the bodies were dated to about 850 AD. DNA evidence indicated that there were two distinct groups of people killed near the lake: one a family or tribe of closely related individuals, and a second, shorter group. Rings, spears, leather shoes, and bamboo staves were found, leading experts to believe that the group was comprised of pilgrims heading through the valley with the help of local porters.

Analysis of skulls showed that, no matter their stature or position, all of the people died in a similar way: from blows to the head. However, the short, deep cracks in the skulls appeared to be the result not of weapons but of something round. The bodies had wounds only on their heads and shoulders, indicating the blows came from directly above. The scientists reached an unexpected conclusion: The hundreds of travelers all died from a sudden and severe freak hailstorm.

Hail is rarely lethal. But trapped in a valley without shelter, the 9th-century travelers could not escape the sudden barrage of rock-hard, cricket-ball-size spheres of ice. Twelve hundred years after the storm, the green-tinged bones of the hail victims still ring the lake, preserved alongside their tattered shoes

More photos of Skeleton Lake can be seen on Atlas Obscua.

It is far better for the truth to tear my flesh to pieces, then for my soul to wander through darkness in eternal damnation.

Jet: So what kind of woman is she? What's Julia like?
Faye: Ordinary. The kind of beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you just can't leave alone.
Jet: I see.
Faye: Like an angel from the underworld. Or a devil from Paradise.
--------------------------------------------
1 Karma Chameleon point

Caliga

0 Ed Anger Disapproval Points

Brazen


Darth Wagtaros

PDH!

Razgovory

I guess it's impossible for human beings to make something round to crash someone's skull.
I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

Valmy

Quote from: Razgovory on May 30, 2013, 06:54:46 AM
I guess it's impossible for human beings to make something round to crash someone's skull.

True but drop them directly from above?  Perhaps a Dark Ages Airforce of some sort :P
Quote"This is a Russian warship. I propose you lay down arms and surrender to avoid bloodshed & unnecessary victims. Otherwise, you'll be bombed."

Zmiinyi defenders: "Russian warship, go fuck yourself."

DGuller

WTF?  It wasn't surprise that killed them, it was hailstorm.

merithyn

Quote from: Razgovory on May 30, 2013, 06:54:46 AM
I guess it's impossible for human beings to make something round to crash someone's skull.

They would have to be large, dense rocks, and they would be scattered around the bones. Since they aren't, one has to guess that whatever was large enough and dense enough to kill them (and that came from above) was also something that could fade away... or melt.
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...

lustindarkness

Grand Duke of Lurkdom

Malthus

Quote from: lustindarkness on May 30, 2013, 09:36:18 AM
That is irrefutable proof of ancient aliens.

Naw, it's time-travelling Japanese soldiers. Sneaking into India more than a millenia before WW2.  :D
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

lustindarkness

Quote from: Malthus on May 30, 2013, 09:43:08 AM
Quote from: lustindarkness on May 30, 2013, 09:36:18 AM
That is irrefutable proof of ancient aliens.

Naw, it's time-travelling Japanese soldiers. Sneaking into India more than a millenia before WW2.  :D

And where do you think the Samurai learned how to make such advanced weapons and armor? Ancient Aliens! :duh:
Grand Duke of Lurkdom

viper37

Quote from: Valmy on May 30, 2013, 08:47:06 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on May 30, 2013, 06:54:46 AM
I guess it's impossible for human beings to make something round to crash someone's skull.

True but drop them directly from above?  Perhaps a Dark Ages Airforce of some sort :P
flying dinosaurs surviving in a remote valley and domesticated by human beings intent on protecting their secret at all costs.
Hail storm, pfft.  Why invent such things when there are more plausible theories?
I don't do meditation.  I drink alcohol to relax, like normal people.

If Microsoft Excel decided to stop working overnight, the world would practically end.

The Brain

Surely alien worlds have their own "extinct" dinosaur equivalents? Most likely one of those did it.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Razgovory

Quote from: merithyn on May 30, 2013, 09:09:35 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on May 30, 2013, 06:54:46 AM
I guess it's impossible for human beings to make something round to crash someone's skull.

They would have to be large, dense rocks, and they would be scattered around the bones. Since they aren't, one has to guess that whatever was large enough and dense enough to kill them (and that came from above) was also something that could fade away... or melt.

I've given it serious thought. I must scorn the ways of my family, and seek a Japanese woman to yield me my progeny. He shall live in the lands of the east, and be well tutored in his sacred trust to weave the best traditions of Japan and the Sacred South together, until such time as he (or, indeed his house, which will periodically require infusion of both Southern and Japanese bloodlines of note) can deliver to the South it's independence, either in this world or in space.  -Lettow April of 2011

Raz is right. -MadImmortalMan March of 2017

merithyn

Impressive that someone (or someones) could rain those down and kill hundreds of people at once, and then go pick them up so that no one would know what happened.
Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there
He wasn't there again today
I wish, I wish he'd go away...