| Original Message: Fossils from Tibet.......... |
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Your photo reminds me of similar objects from Tibetan culture called 'rangjung'. Rangjung means something like "spontaneously formed" - objects from nature not made by man. Rocks, fossils, and a myriad range of weirdly formed natural objects that often resemble deities, sacred destinations like Kong Rimpoche (Mt Kalias) or even familiar everyday objects. These will be familiar to you as the Thai & Burmese also embrace this concept in their amulets. Below is a group of rangjung I collected in central Tibet many of which are similar to the crinoid stems and brachiopods in this thread. I believe these fossils are not imported but are found on the Tibetan plateau by drokpa (nomad) herders locally at elevations most of which are 12,000 feet or more. Movement of tectonic plates in ancient times pushed the ocean floor up to form the Himalayas. Most of these have been ritually consecrated on alters and have the traditional smokey patina from butter lamps. All rights reserved by Bead Collector Network and its users |
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