DZONG YUL BRAG: B-System (Troglodyte settlement of)
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Description
The eastern 'cave' cluster above Mebrak (note 1) is represented by six stories of badly preserved man-made 'cave rooms' (rock-cut chambers), some interconnected by interior tunnels. Some contain mud brick structures and two were found to furnish well preserved hearths. Several chambers were plastered with mud tempered with plant remains (several types of barley, wheat and buckwheat). The walls of one chamber show traces of painting (SÖHRING 1991), thus bearing witness of late Buddhist use of the cave dwelling as hermitages and/or retreats.
NOTE 1: The 'field' of Mebrak is a river terrace and pasture with abandoned settlement above the right (northern) bank of the Dzong Chu, and near the foot of the Dzong gYul Brag, a hill in the centre of the Muktinath Valley.