During phase3, it turned out to be impossible to resume excavations at Leh Choskor site in Ladakh as initially planned.
From autumn 2021 onwards, the mission assessed the potential for extending its activities to neighbouring regions. Two missions to Lahul and Spiti (2022 and 2023) have enriched the data in the Himalayan Rock Art Database (HiRADa) mentioned at the end of phase 2. This database forms part of an ambitious Digital Humanities project dedicated to Himalayan rock art.
With fieldwork in India still suspended for 2021, the interim mission management team on the French sid decided to continue devoting its scientific efforts to the Himalayan Rock Art Project and the associated handbook for rock art recording. As well as proposing a methodology, this handbook aims to give an account of the controlled vocabulary used for the database in the form of an illustrated thesaurus.
The year 2022 marks a return to normality in the conduct of the mission’s activities. Laurianne Bruneau took over as co-director on the French side and the scientific cooperation agreement between EPHE and the Centre of Central Asian Studies at the University of Kashmir (Srinagar) was renewed for a period of 5 years (2022-2027).
2022 was also marked by a new field campaign. In connection with the Himalayan Rock Art Project, a first visit took place in the Spiti valley at the invitation of the Rock Art and Historical Society of Spiti (RAHSS). A visit was also made to Lahaul at the invitation of an independent researcher from the region. These field visits enabled us to assess the importance of the rock art heritage of these regions bordering Ladakh, as well as its content and distribution.
In 2023, MAFIL changed its name to MAFHI (French Archaeological Mission in the Indian Himalayas) to better reflect its new field activities. A field campaign in Spiti and Lahaul made it possible to document ten rock art sites. In Zanskar, the findings are alarming: of the 12 rock art sites in the Lungnak Valley, 8 have suffered significant damage and 4 have been completely destroyed, mainly due to the construction of new roads. An illustrated thesaurus specific to Himalayan rock art has been published, and part of the Himalayan Rock Art Database (HiRADa) dataset—comprising around 14,000 images—has been made available in Open Access on the Nakala repository. One of the mission members undertook a research visit to Canada to contribute to the development of a thesaurus dedicated to the petroglyphs of the Pakistani Upper Indus Valley. Finally, an international workshop on Himalayan archaeology was organised at the Louvre Abu Dhabi, bringing together researchers from Asia and the West.
The year 2024 marks the end of fieldwork activities after twelve years. Laurianne Bruneau decided not to submit a new funding application, due to the unpredictable political and security conditions in the Kashmir region, despite the cooperation agreement signed between the EPHE and the CCAS of the University of Kashmir, which remains valid until 2027. The second part of the Himalayan Rock Art dataset, comprising around 11,000 images, has been published in Open Access on the Nakala repository. A first version of the HiRADa database (accessible internally only) has been finalised. It comprises 165 rock art sites across India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, over 17,500 motifs and nearly 1,500 scenes: it will be made available to all in 2026. In November 2024, a closing event was held in Paris, featuring a lecture on community archaeology in the Himalayas by Dr Abdul Hameed (researcher in residence at the Institut d’Études Avancées de Paris) and a photographic exhibition entitled ‘Speaking Stones – Rock Art of Ladakh” by Indian photographer Ahtushi Deshpande at the Edmond Rostand Media Library in Paris. An international symposium on Himalayan rock art also brought together around thirty researchers at the Condorcet Campus. The MAFHI intends to continue collaborating with its partners in others ways, notably through Summer and Winter schools and South-North exchange programmes.
