History Hangs in the BalanceWith another skull in the background, veteran climber Pete Athans is seen recovering human remains from a severely eroded cliffside cave in Nepal's Mustang region last year (Mustang region map).The 1,500-year-old bones are among the remains of 27 human corpses—many of which had been stripped of flesh—found in the human-made cave system. The findings point to a previously unknown Himalayan death ritual, the team announced Friday.Because the caves—and the entire cliff face—are highly unstable, retrieving the remains could be done only by expert climbers.Read the full story: "New Death Ritual Found in Himalaya—27 Defleshed Humans."—With reporting by Ker Than
Photograph by Cory Richards

Pictures: Bones Evidence of Himalaya Death Ritual?

Found in dangerously high Himalayan cliff caves, newfound bones—many of which had been defleshed—point to an unknown ancient ritual.

March 1, 2011