Dead Sea Scrolls Sect

Dharwad's puzzle

PTI

One of the many human skulls that were found at Annigeri when workers were digging the area to build a drain.

SOME of the most significant archaeological discoveries have been made by sheer accident. The Dead Sea scrolls were discovered by Bedouin shepherds when they went in search of a missing goat in some abandoned caves in the Bethlehem area. Archaeology thrives on such moments of serendipity. Also, such casual finds have had great implications for the history of humanity.

Annigeri, a town in Dharwad district in north Karnataka, was the venue of one such accidental discovery. On August 28, 2010, a burial site with more than 600 skulls was discovered there. Although the implications of this find are yet to be evaluated as archaeologists and historians continue to debate its relevance, experts agree that nowhere in India has such a burial site been discovered before.

Located in Navalgund taluk, the small, vibrant town of Annigeri is a short drive away from Hubli and has a population of around 30,000. The burial site was discovered when municipal workers began digging the area to build a drain. At first a few skulls were exposed.

The workers thought they had stumbled upon an old cemetery and went ahead with their work. But soon more skulls came out. The surprised workmen left the site. A JCB (a mechanical excavator which derives its name from its eponymous manufacturer) was brought to the site. As the machine removed more soil, damaging some skulls in the process, many more skulls became visible.

The Deputy Commissioner of Dharwad, Darpan Jain, and the local office of the State Archaeology Department were alerted. The discovery began to attract attention locally, and theories began to circulate about the strange find. And a few more surprises were in store. It rained heavily a few months later and the loosened soil got washed away with the runoff, revealing hundreds of skulls.

In all 600 skulls were found and they were arranged neatly in six or seven rows. From a distance, they looked like prehistoric eggs in their dirty white colour; at close quarters they looked macabre with their empty eye sockets and open-mouthed toothy smile.

The State Archaeology Department excavated the area around the site but found no clues to unravel the mystery. The site, which began to attract curious onlookers, was declared out of bounds and a temporary structure was built with bamboo and tarpaulin to cover it.

The Pocket Guide To Sheds - Are sheds just for men?

The Pocket Guide To Sheds continues where the original shed classic 'Men And Sheds' left off. I don't know where the text for the Pocket Guide to Sheds was discovered

The text for the Pocket Guide To Sheds may have been discovered on the window ledge of a barn, covered in cobwebs and mouse droppings in the year of our Lord 2011. Authorship of these texts has been attributed to Gordon Thorburn, widely known as the father of Sheddism.

The text may be of a similar importance to followers of the cult of sheddism as an earlier work by Thorburn, entitled - Men and Sheds. Men and Sheds set the scene on how a small section of society, mainly male, were taking time out of mainstream society and indulging in arcane interests in small, often timber buildings.

The Pocket Guide To Sheds delves much more deeply into the cult of Sheddism and reveals that this sect is more widely spread in society than previously thought. It is not just men who indulge their darkest passions, hobbies and businesses within these spaces, women have a need for their own shed space too!

As well as not just being limited to the male sex. Members of the Sheddici are found to be spread over a much wider area than just the Northern part of England.

Earlier historic texts had focused on the cult of sheddism within these small islands off the coast of Northern Europe. However it is revealed that human nature is far more universal and this latest text shows that there are members of the Sheddici cult on at least three of the world's continents (Europe, North America and Australasia).

These are not people who have indulged in this one of their primary needs by just visiting their local 'big box' diy store for a bit of cheap storage. The structures that enclose these rugged individuals' passions have been crafted from whatever materials are to hand, with the greatest skill and care. Examples of Sheddici structures include yurts in Alaska, half boat sheds, sheds with chandeliers and Botticelli inspired artwork. The cultural range is huge and seems to be adapted to the prevailing local or regional environment.

The sheds are not just described with Thorburns' eclectic prose. There are pictures too, however these do seem to have suffered an aging process.

The text of the Dead Sea Scrolls was written in Iron Gall ink. This ink was found to fade quickly when the parchment was removed from their linen wrappings. A similar phenomenon seems to have occurred with the Pocket Guide to Sheds. Pictures once in glorious technicolour have faded to the tones of black and grey. However despite this, the authenticity of the stories within this important text shines through.

The Dead Sea scrolls, a college textbook and a study guide

Understanding the Dead Sea scrolls, a reader from the Biblical archaeology review

The Dead Sea scrolls in their historical context

The Dead Sea scrolls as background to postbiblical Judaism and early Christianity, papers from an international conference at St. Andrews in 2001

The Dead Sea scrolls, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts with English translations