(CNN) -- There are about 500 million Buddhists worldwide, but its unclear exactly when in history this religion began. The Buddhas life story spread first through oral tradition, and little physical evidence about Buddhisms early years has been found. Now, scientists for the first time have uncovered archaeological evidence of when the Buddhas monumentally influential life occurred. Excavations in Nepal date a Buddhist shrine, located at what is said to be the Buddhas birthplace, to the sixth century B.C. The research, published in the journal Antiquity, describes the remains of a timber structure about the same size and shape as a temple built at the same site in the third century B.C. Archaeologists also found reason to think that a tree grew at the center of this ancient structure, lending support to the traditional story that the Buddhas mother held onto a tree branch while giving birth to him. This is one of those rare occasions when belief, tradition, archaeology and science actually come together, lead study author Robin Coningham, professor at Durham University in the United Kingdom, said at a press briefing Monday. If this study is correct, the Buddhas actual life could have overlapped with a popularly recognized time frame of 563-483 B.C. But lots of other date ranges for the Buddha have been tossed around -- some scholars say 448 to 368 B.C., for instance. (The UNESCO website about his birthplace says 623 B.C.) We know the entirety of the shrine sequence started in the sixth century B.C., and this sheds light on a very long debate, Coningham said.
Posted on: Tue, 26 Nov 2013 11:55:45 +0000
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