Despite the appeal published in 1978 by Giuseppe Tucci, the famous Italian Tibetologist, inviting the archaeological community to explore the Himalayas in the footsteps of mountaineers in order to discover original cultures and gain a better understanding of the spread of Buddhism in Asia, little archaeological work was carried out in this high-mountain region until the mid-2000s. It was only in 2020 that, thanks to multi-year funding, a research team dedicated to Himalayan archaeology was created.
In archaeological literature, mountains are traditionally portrayed as boundaries between inhabited areas. As a result, until the last twenty years or so, high-mountain regions were largely overlooked by archaeologists. However, recent projects carried out in Europe, in the Alps and the Pyrenees, have revealed complex ancient landscapes shaped by human activity. In other parts of the world, such as the Andes in South America, archaeologists have also recently taken an interest in high-mountain areas.
‘High-mountain archaeology’ or ‘high-altitude archaeology’ involves specific fieldwork and research strategies. It involves viewing high altitudes as an adaptive choice for ancient peoples and perceiving mountainous landscapes as crossroads. The Himalayas, the world’s largest and highest mountain range, are set to play a key role in this new development in archaeological research.
A five-year international research programme (2020–2024), led by Laurianne Bruneau and based at the Centre for Research on East Asian Civilisations (Paris), focused on the Western Himalayas, where altitudes range from 1,500 metres in the lower valleys to 4,500 metres on the highest plateaus. Whilst the hostile environment of this part of High Asia is undeniable, the notion that it was a human desert serving as a frontier must be deconstructed. This view is largely a legacy of the colonial era. In the 19th century, the British and Russian empires were engaged in a political and diplomatic confrontation known as the ‘Great Game’, in which the Himalayas served as a buffer zone, thus demonstrating its highly strategic importance at the heart of Asia.
Geographically speaking, the Western Himalayas lie at the heart of three of Asia’s major cultural spheres. They provide an ideal setting for the long-term study of cultural interactions – the exchange of goods and ideas – between South Asia, Central Asia and Tibet. The Himalayas were also home to ancient local cultures, prior to the advent of Buddhism and Islam, about which very little is yet known. The project has contributed to a better identification and understanding of the ancient mountain cultures of the northern South Asian subcontinent through the lens of archaeology.
