Seven Years Later, ASI Sends Tehri's Mysterious Ancient Weapons For Scientific Analysis
Ancient weapons were found during road construction in Tehri's Pepola Dhung in 2017. Seven years later, Archaeological Survey of India is conducting a scientific study.
Published : April 2, 2025 at 8:39 PM IST
Dehradun: More than seven years after the discovery of dozens of mysterious ancient weapons in Uttarakhand's Tehri district, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has finally initiated steps to carry out a scientific study of the weapons.
The results of the study, expected to reveal the origins, age and historical significance of these artifacts, will be out in a month, sources said.
Back in June 2017, as many as 84 ancient swords, spears and daggers were unearthed during road construction work in Pepola Dhung village of Tehri district. For a long time, questions were being raised about why no formal study was conducted in this regard. After repeated queries regarding the status of these artifacts, ASI Dehradun has started thorough examination to find out the secrets.
Speaking to ETV Bharat, ASI Director Manoj Saxena stated that the organisation has begun analysing the weapons. "The weapons were unearthed before my tenure, but as soon as I came to know of it, I initiated action. After finishing all formalities, the weapons are now being sent to the Science Branch of ASI for examination," said Saxena.
The findings will be made public once the study concludes, he added.
According to Saxena, the structural analysis of the weapons will be conducted at the Superintendent Archaeological Chemist’s office in Dehradun, and the entire study is expected to take nearly a month.
"Investigation of such artifacts sometimes requires specialised equipment from Delhi, but since the chemist’s office is based in Garhi Cantt, Dehradun, the process is likely to be completed soon," he asserted.
The weapons were discovered in June 2017 during excavation work for a road project near remote village of Pepola Dhung in Tehri. While locals then speculated that the artifacts might be linked to royal history and past battles that took place in the region, no official statement was received from the ASI which took possession of the artifacts without revealing any details about their origin.
After this, for seven years, there was no update by ASI on the study of these weapons. When historian Raju Gusain filed an RTI application seeking clarity on the matter, it was revealed that no formal action had been taken to analyse the weapons. "All the remains are kept safe in the office of ASI, Dehradun circle. Carbon dating of iron weapons/tools cannot be done. Final report of the recovered weapons haven't been published," the RTI report stated.
A frustrated Raju Gusain expressed concerns how the weapons were stored at ASI's Dehradun office for so long without any study being conducted. Seven years have passed, but no carbon dating has been done on these iron weapons, and no official report has been published, he criticised.
He said Pepola Dhung village had been waiting for road connectivity for a long time. In June 2017, when work was underway on the 1.2 KM stretch of the Champtok-Pepola road project, these ancient weapons were discovered. Since then, they have been in custody of the ASI without any progress. "If ASI has not conducted any research on the weapons discovered, why are they not returning those to the villagers?" Gusain questioned.
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