The archaeological excavation of the Drapham Dzong in Bumthang has been put to halt as the Department of Culture is waiting for a report on the excavation works from the Basel University in Switzerland.
The findings from the ruins of the Dzong have been sent to the University for carbon dating. Carbon dating is a method to estimate the age of materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years. Animal bones, ceramic pieces, bangles, bullets, arrow heads and broken clay pots were some of the findings from the ruins.
And after the report comes through, the Department of Culture will promote the excavated portion of the Dzong as a museum. They are expecting the report to come through by next summer.
The Department of Culture in collaboration with Swiss-Liechtenstein Archaeological Foundation in Switzerland has been excavating the ruins of the Drapham Dzong in Chhoekhor gewog for almost three years.
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The Director General of Department of Culture, Dorjee Tshering, said excavated portion of the Dzong will not be a museum in a true sense. “We won’t have a built structure. The site will itself become a museum,” he said.
Since the excavation of Drapham Dzong was the first archaeological project to be taken up by the Government, Dorjee Tshering said, they faced several challenges. One of the challenges was the lack of trained manpower. Lack of funds was another challenge. “Also, finding people to work on the site, providing them menial labor is a challenge. We were fortunate to have Swiss-Liechtenstein Archaeology foundation interested in the site,” said Dorjee Tshering.
According to the history, the dzong was the residence of Chhoekhor Deb who ruled the Chhoekhor valley some 600 years ago. Besides Drapham Dzong, the government has undertaken several archaeological excavation projects in Lhuentse, Monggar, Sarpang and Paro.
