Buthan-Swiss archaeology project 2013: Report on activities and outlook

Abstract

The Bhutan-Swiss Archaeology Project’s first phase (2008–10) was focused on the excavation of the Drapham Dzong ruins in the Bumthang valley (see corresponding SLSA annual reports). The second phase (2011–13) aims to achieve the implementation of the country’s first Archaeology Office under the Department for Conservation of Cultural Heritage Sites (Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs) as well as to complete the modular teaching program in practical archaeology, which was set up by the Department of Prehistoric Archaeology of the University of Zurich. Semiannually, archaeological surveys, practical field schools and small excavations as well as theoretical class room teaching modules have been conducted by Swiss experts (see corresponding SLSA annual reports). In the context of the project’s second phase, activities of many kinds took place in 2013.