LYMBIT, Lyngshing (Krem)

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

A cave in sandstone (Breitenbach 2009.04.22 Mss: Khasi; BREITENBACH et al 2009: 2; 2010: 51) or, to be precise, apparently in a kind of sandstone, which is relatively very soft and possibly calcareous but not tested (note 1). ETYMOLOGY: The Khasi noun -ka lymbit- (SINGH, N 1906: 124) or -ka lyngbit- (SINGH, N 1920: 124: 38) signifies not only a bat (Zoologically: Chiroptera) but is also the word for the mica (a shiny silicate mineral with a layered structure). Both of these words are related to the Khasi adjective -lymboit- signifying almost naked (SINGH, N 1906: 124). I cannot identify -lynshing- (note 2) but the Khasi -lyngdoh- (noun) signifies a priest (SINGH, N 1906: 122) and is also the name of a Khasi kur (clan). SITUATION: Near the steep southern rim of the Meghalaya Plateau and in a spatial relation (note 3) to one village of Lyndoh (BREITENBACH et al. 2009) or Lyn(g)doh (BREITENBACH et al. 2010: 51) in a certain the Lum Lyngdoh area (BREITENBACH et al. 2010: 51), which lies a what once had been a travelling distance of 3 hrs by car from Shillong, initially east and south-east towards Jowai but at an unidentified spot off to the -right-hand side- (probably south or south-west) via unidentified villages (without names and GPS positions) in truely beautiful -scottish- landscape (note 4). At a closer look, the entrance to this cave lies in one way or another near (sic!) one Lynshing village (note 5) and in an unspecified Lum Lyngdoh area (Breitenbach 2009.04.22 Mss: Khasi). POSITION: The cave entrance to Krem Lymbit (Bat Cave) was GPS-positioned near (±4 m) 25°24'03.3”N: 92°00'01.9”N: 1524 m asl (WGS84). However, … when these coordinates are cross-checked using Google Earth® they appear to be too far south, and 25° 24' 39.14” N and 91° 59' 59.49” E is closer to the Google Earth coordinates (BREITENBACH et al. 2010: 51). CAVE DESCRIPTION 2009: The cave IS more voluminous than a confessional (Breitenbach 2009.05.04 Mss: Re Höhlenlokationen). CAVE DESCRITION 2010: Krem Lymbit’s entrance is a c. 2.5 m-high opening in a sandstone cliff. It is a relict cave, aligned and developed along tectonic faults and/or joints in the sandstone, which consists of fine- to coarse-grained (0.2 to 1 mm diameter), relatively clean quartz sand. The sandstone’s whitish-yellow colour might point to it being the Langpar Sandstone (Late Maastrichtian to Early Paleocene) of Medlicott (1869), lying just below the Cherra Beds. In both caves, several centimetre-thick ribs of harder, well-cemented brown sandstone have resisted erosion better than the main sandstone mass, and these now protrude from the cave walls, reflecting the original bedding (see profile in the Fig.5 inset). Erosion has produced beach-like sand deposits, which cover the caves’ floors. These two small caves are clearly remnants of a cave of originally far greater extent that has been eroded away by the Umiar River, which drains into the Um Thangphor River. However, it remains problematical to ttempt to assign a date to the cave collapse without additional geological and geomorphological investigation in the valley of the Um Thangphor. By its surviving shape an overhanging rock shelter indicates its origin clearly, as part of a much larger (and now unroofed) cave. Several additional grottos are also found along the rock cliff, and these must all have belonged to one and the same cave system in the distant past. Further evidence for this assumption is provided by large blocks and boulders of sandstone, probably remnants of the collapsed ceiling of the great ancient cave, now lying strewn at the foot of the sandstone cliffs. The main passage of Krem Lymbit stretches almost horizontally from the main entrance in a southwesterly direction. It has developed along a fault and opens into a chamber about 3 m wide. From there a second passage leads northeastwards and ends as a second entrance/exit. Another narrow passage leads southwestwards, but after a few metres it becomes too retricted for human access. The total length of Krem Lymbit amounts to 68 m. Bamboo sticks with burned ends and leaves are strewn across the sandy floor, indicating that the cave is occasionally visited by the local people, who use the bamboo sticks as torches. The cave is also inhabited by bats and large spiders (BREITENBACH et al. 2010: 51). Both caves [the other being the 2nd Krem Lymbit, Lyngshing] show signs of standing and running water from the latest monsoon season. No speleothems are deposited, pointing to a limited carbonate content in the sandstone and to undersaturation of the infiltrating waters with respect to CaCO3 (BREITENBACH et al 2010: 52). CAVE POTENTIAL: In addition to the 2nd Krem –>Lymbit, Lyngshin, two other caves in the vicinity were mentioned by the local guides, but shortage of time precluded their location and exploration (BREITENBACH et al. 2010: 51). CULTURAL HISTORY - hide-out: There is a fable that the Royal Family of Wan Kiri Syiem, the Ministers and theElders together with their soldiers had taken shelter in a Rock Cave in the Village Lynshing. … Thereafter, so says the story that they had shifted to a Village known as Nongkhlieng - the place which can be seen to the far eastsouth direction, till the time that everyone which included the Ministers and the Elders etc decided to shift their base to Langkyrdem (sites.google.com/site/langkyrdem/laitshyng-iar accessed 2013.01.30). VEGETATION: The vegetation immediately around the cave consists of evergreen jungle, commonly with dense bamboo thickets, although grassy pasture dominates the landscape in the general area, the latter possibly human-induced (BREITENBACH ET AL. 2010: 51). CAVE LIFE: In April 2009, Breitenbach (2009.04.22 Mss: Höhlenlokationen) observed the presence of spiders (Arachnidae: Aranea: Sparassidae: conf. Heteropoda sp.) and bats (Chiroptera). Breitenbach (2009.05.04 Mss: Re Höhlenlokationen) told me about the presence of -really large spiders, apparently the same as hose in Krem Umsynrang but large- (wirklich grosse Spinnen, die gleichen wie in Krem Umsynrang, nur grösser) -- possibly female Heteropodae. BREITENBACH et al (2010: 52) confirm again the presence of bats and spiders.Elders together with their soldiers had taken shelter in a Rock Cave in the Village Lynshing. … Thereafter, so says the story that they had shifted to a Village known as Nongkhlieng - the place which can be seen to the far eastsouth direction, till the time that everyone which included the Ministers and the Elders etc decided to shift their base to Langkyrdem (sites.google.com/site/langkyrdem/laitshyng-iar accessed 2013.01.30). VEGETATION: The vegetation immediately around the cave consists of evergreen jungle, commonly with dense bamboo thickets, although grassy pasture dominates the landscape in the general area, the latter possibly human-induced (BREITENBACH ET AL. 2010: 51). CAVE LIFE: In April 2009, Breitenbach (2009.04.22 Mss: Höhlenlokationen) observed the presence of spiders (Arachnidae: Aranea: Sparassidae: conf. Heteropoda sp.) and bats (Chiroptera). Breitenbach (2009.05.04 Mss: Re Höhlenlokationen) told me about the presence of -really large spiders, apparently the same as Elders together with their soldiers had taken shelter in a Rock Cave in the Village Lynshing. … Thereafter, so says the story that they had shifted to a Village known as Nongkhlieng - the place which can be seen to the far eastsouth direction, till the time that everyone which included the Ministers and the Elders etc decided to shift their base to Langkyrdem (sites.google.com/site/langkyrdem/laitshyng-iar accessed 2013.01.30). VEGETATION: The vegetation immediately around the cave consists of evergreen jungle, commonly with dense bamboo thickets, although grassy pasture dominates the landscape in the general area, the latter possibly human-induced (BREITENBACH ET AL. 2010: 51). CAVE LIFE: In April 2009, Breitenbach (2009.04.22 Mss: Höhlenlokationen) observed the presence of spiders (Arachnidae: Aranea: Sparassidae: conf. Heteropoda sp.) and bats (Chiroptera). Breitenbach (2009.05.04 Mss: Re Höhlenlokationen) told me about the presence of -really large spiders, apparently the same as hose in Krem Umsynrang but large- (wirklich grosse Spinnen, die gleichen wie in Krem Umsynrang, nur grösser) -- possibly female Heteropodae. BREITENBACH et al (2010: 52) confirm again the presence of bats and spiders.