At the mysterious Skeleton Lake in northern India, the dead are talking, revealing surprises through centuries-old DNA. And it’s not what anyone expected.
New research suggests the site is not the scene of a single natural disaster that killed hundreds, as once thought. Skeleton Lake’s emerging truth is far more mysterious. The human bones littering its shores appear to belong to people from across Eurasia, who met their end in multiple incidents spanning a thousand years.
More than 16,000 feet above sea level, tucked between the Trisul Massif and another towering Himalayan peak, Nanda Ghunti, Roopkund Lake is a lonely place. It’s frozen most of the year. The nearest village is a three-day trek by foot.
Roopkund earned the name Skeleton Lake because it serves as the resting place for more than 200 people, their disarticulated bones visible for a brief period each summer when the snows recede.
The lonely lake is a well-known landmark along a multi-week Hindu pilgrimage, Nanda Devi Raj Jat. The pilgrimage, which winds across the mountainous region once every 12 years, dates back to perhaps the 16th century, and may have started as early as the 8th century. People living in the area have long known about Skeleton Lake.
