Hyderabad: Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has finally solved the age-long mystery around the skeletons in Roopkund lake in the Himalayas. Ancient DNA obtained from the skeletons of the lake – representing the first ancient DNA ever reported from India — revealed that they derive from at least three distinct genetic groups.

“We first became aware of the presence of multiple distinct groups at Roopkund after sequencing the mitochondrial DNA of 72 skeletons. While many of the individuals possessed genetic information typical of present-day Indian populations, we also identified a large number of individuals with a genetic makeup that would be more typical of populations from West Eurasia” says Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj, chief scientist at CCMB.

The popular science journal Nature Communications published the findings of the CCMB study.

The presence of skeletal remains of ancient humans, scattered in and around the lake’s shores earned it the nickname Skeleton Lake or Mystery Lake. Local folklore describes a pilgrimage to the nearby shrine of the mountain goddess, Nanda Devi, undertaken by a king and queen and their many attendants, who were struck down by the wrath of Nanda Dev due to their inappropriate, celebratory behaviour. It has also been suggested that these are the remains of an army or group of merchants who were caught in a storm. Another view is that they were the victims of an epidemic! A large-scale study conducted by an international team of scientists has revealed that the mysterious skeletons of Roopkund Lake are genetically similar to Indian, Mediterranean and Southeast Asian populations. They found that the genetically distinct groups died in at least two episodes separated by one thousand years.

Thangaraj and Dr Lalji Singh (who is no more) had initiated the work more than a decade ago in an ancient DNA clean lab at CCMB.