A.D. 200 -80 0 AFGHANISTAN
Archaeologists hope to
excavate a spectacular Buddhist
complex before it’s obliterated
by a huge copper mine.
third to the eighth centuries A.D.,
Mes Aynak was a spiritual hub
that flourished in relative peace.
At least seven multistory Buddhist
monastery complexes form an arc
around the site, each protected by
watchtowers and high walls. Cop-
per made the Buddhist monks here
wealthy, and colossal deposits of
slag—the solidified residue from
smelting—attest to production on
a major scale.
Much is known about ancient
Buddhism’s links to trade and com-
merce, but little is known about
its relationship to industrial pro-
duction. This is where Mes Aynak
could one day fill in important
blanks, hinting at a more complex
economic system than has been
understood previously.
Puzzling out the full meaning of
Mes Aynak will require decades of
research. Archaeologists can only
hope that time is on their side—
and that they get the chance to
reveal more of this little-known
chapter from Buddhism’s glory
days in Afghanistan.AN HOUR’S DRIVE ALONG THE GARDEZ HIGHWAY SOUTH OF
Kabul, there is a sharp left turn onto an unpaved road. The
path continues along a dry riverbed, past small villages, para-
military roadblocks, and sentry towers. A little farther on, the
view opens over a treeless valley creased with trenches and
exposed ancient walls.
In 2009, a team of Afghan and international archaeologists
and local laborers began to uncover thousands of Buddhist
statues, manuscripts, coins, and holy monuments at this epic
site. Entire monasteries and fortifications have come to light,
dating back as far as the third century A.D. The excavation was
by far the most ambitious in Afghanistan’s history.
A fluke of geology put these cultural treasures in jeopardy,
though. Mes Aynak means “little copper well” in the local
dialect, but there is nothing little about it. The lode of cop-
per ore buried below the ruins is one of the world’s largest
untapped deposits, an estimated 12.5 million tons. In 2007,
a Chinese consortium won the rights to extract the ore on a
30-year lease. The company made a bid worth more than three
billion dollars and promised to provide infrastructure for this
isolated, underdeveloped district.
Before the deal with Chinese interests became public, arti-
facts already were in danger of being plucked out piecemeal
by looters and lost to science. Afghan cultural heritage advo-
cates demanded that the treasures be excavated and recorded
properly before open-pit mining began.
Originally projected to begin in 2012, the mining project
was stalled by contractual disputes, sagging copper prices,
and Afghanistan’s conflict with the fundamentalist Taliban.
Now that the militants control the country, the future of the
site is even more uncertain.
The past archaeologists have revealed presents a stark
contrast to the violence and disorder of today. From the
Copper brought
wealth to this religious
and industrial site.
Excavators have uncov-
ered thousands of
rare treasures, including
the oldest known
complete wooden
Buddha, dating from
A.D. 400 to 600.
SIMON NORFOLK