| GEO Amazing and Insteresting | | Roopkund skeleton lake: A Himalayan mystery | Updated at: 1211 PST, Saturday, May 15, 2010
 NEW DELHI: Roopkund, better known as “Skeleton Lake,” is one of those enticing, far away places with mysterious, strange-sounding names. Located in the Indian state of Uttarakhand in an uninhabited corner of the Himalayan Mountains, the area is known for its enormous grave of between 300-600 skeletons, which carbon-testing originally dated back to the 12th to 15th centuries.
First discovered by a park ranger in 1942, this frozen lake has since been revisited in recent years, when a team of European and Indian scientists converged on the area at the behest of the National Geographic Channel. The site is so isolated that it requires about four days travel from the nearest human settlement.
Their research has uncovered new theories and facts. DNA testing placed the dead into two distinct physical categories; one of short stature and the other significantly taller (perhaps royalty). Their findings also contradicted earlier radio-carbon testing, as it is now known that the skeletons are even older than previously thought, ascribed to the 9th century.
While Roopkund is nowhere near any trade routes, scientists now believe that the location may well be along the path of a religious procession known as “Nanda Jaat Yatra,” which is held every twelve years.
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