This publication reports the results of the archaeological investigation of the prehistoric burial cave Mebrak 63 in Dzong valley, a high mountain valley in the Nepal Himalayas. 15 authors describe the excavation and present the interpretation of the complex archaeological findings and remains in ten chapters. In the appendix primary data are included: tables, the catalogue and plates of the archaeological finds. The intense co-operation between archaeology and anthropology, textile archaeology, archaeo-botany and dendro-archaeology made it possible to reveal to a great extent the meaning of the prehistoric grave chamber and to come close to the people who were entombed in the collective burial cave in the last millennium before the Christian era. The analysis of the findings which, due to their preservation, are so far unique, provides insight into the way of life and the wide spread exchange and trade links of the prehistoric pastoralists.

Autorentext
Simons, Angela
Angela Simons: Studium der Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Ethnologie an der Universität zu Köln, davor Studium der Chemie an der Rheinisch Westfälischen Technischen Hochschule Aachen. Von 1990 bis 1996 Leiterin des Nepal-Projekts des Instituts für Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Universität zu Köln im Rahmen des Nepal-German Project on High Mountain Archaeology: Untersuchungen in Höhlensystemen im Himalaya, 1995 Ausgrabung der prähistorischen Mumien-Grabhöhle Mebrak 63. Danach bis 2018 Projektmanagement in der Archäologischen Denkmalpflege in den Niederlanden. // About the editor Dr. Angela Simons: Studies of prehistory and social anthropology at the University of Cologne, prior to that degree in chemistry at the Technical University of Aachen. From 1992 to 1996 director of the Nepal project at the Institute for Prehistory at the University of Cologne as part of the Nepal-German Project on High Mountain Archaeology: investigations in cave systems in the Himalayas, 1995 excavation of Mebrak 63, the prehistoric burial cave with mummified bodies. Then, until 2018, managing projects for the Archaeological Heritage Conservation in the Netherlands.