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Shri Ashtapad Maha Tirth - II
make tents and clothing and even boats. The world's first known artistic tradition began at this time. In Europe walls of caves, as well as small artifacts, were painted and engraved, and small figurines were carved. Evidence from The Tibetan Plateau Stone tools found at Kokoshili in the north and Ding-ri in the south provide the earliest evidence of human habitation in Tibet. Those from Ding-ri are flake tools made with a stone hammer, while those from Kokoshili are more ancient crude pebble choppers. The tools are clearly from the Old Stone Age, the most ancient phase of human culture. This era extends from almost 2 million years ago until the end of the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago, and includes the tools made by all primitive humans as well as early modern man. Publications on archaeology from the Academia Sinica in 1980 have placed the Tibetan tools from Kokoshili in the Old Stone Age, without any specific estimate of date. Those from Ding-ri are put either in the middle part of the Old Stone Age, contemporary with the Neanderthals in Europe, or in the late Old Stone Age when modern man emerged 40,000 years ago. Where did the Stone Age inhabitants of Tibet come from? Did they develop from earlier, as yet undiscovered, primitive humans on the plateau? Did they migrate from some other homeland? Until additional research is done throughout Tibet, the age and origins of the people who made these tools thousands of years ago will remain uncertain. Evidence of early modern man has just recently been discovered on the Tibetan plateau in the Tsaidam basin west of Koko Nor lake. Archeological investigations reported in 1985 mention stone scrapers, knives, drills, and axes, together with tools made of bone and horn dated to 33,000 B.C. These artifacts were found at Xiaochaili lake in the center of Tsaidam where freshwater shells more than 38,000 years old were also discovered. Though Tsaidam is a dry, salty desert today, in ancient times it had abundant vegetation and animals, numerous freshwater lakes, and heavy rainfall - a suitable environment for human beings. Traces of Ancient Communities Knowing the Tibetan plateau was inhabited during the Old Stone Age, we might expect the descendants of these early peoples to be living in Tibet in later times. Along the eastern end of the g Tsang-po river and in the regions of Kong-po and sPo-bo, traces of primitive communities have been found, including both cave dwellings and "nest" dwellings. Archaeologists at work in Tibet have reported how these "nests" were built around a central wooden pole that supported a roof of bamboo and wood, while mats of straw plastered with mud formed the walls. Caves that appear to have been inhabited in ancient times have also been noted by Western explorers at Luk, IHa-rtse, Yar-'brog, Yar-lung, and in Byang-thang. The era when the "nests" and caves were inhabited has not yet been determined. In the future, intensive field work, especially along the gTsang-po and its tributaries in central Tibet, may allow a more detailed description of these early settlements. These regions in central Tibet are traditionally associated with the rise of Tibetan civilization. The first kings made their court in Yar-lung near the gTsang-po river, and the very first Tibetan tribes
Ancient Tibet
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