会议名称：2023世界木材日研讨会暨第五届国际林联（IUFRO）林产品文化研究组讨论会
会议时间：2023年3月21日

报告嘉宾：Mechtild Mertz
嘉宾简介：法国国家科学研究中心(CNRS) 研究员

摘要：

Temples and their wood species had been studied and microscopically identified in the Eastern and Western Himalayas. The Eastern Himalayas are under the influence of the monsoon, that bring a lot of heavy rain periodically. Whereas the Western Himalayas are considered a dessert area with little rain. In both areas the wood of Buddhist temples were studied microscopically. The temples were under the influence of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism evolved as a form of Māhāyāna Buddhism. It thus preserved many Indian Buddhist tantric elements.
As for the Eastern Himalayas Mechtild Mertz investigated five temples and one vernacular house in the Indian country of Sikkim in order to understand, which wood species were used, as for the Western Himalayas she studied the wood species also of five temples, two stupas and three vernacular houses.
In Sikkim, twenty wood species were identified, while in the Western Himalayas, or Ladakh area along the Indus River, only four wood species were identified. Wood samples were collected from main pillars and important beams from each building. In the case of Sikkim in the Eastern Himalayas, 2700-3200 mm of annual rainfall is normal, while in the Western Himalayas, along the Indus basin, the annual rainfall is up to 100 mm.
The areas in Sikkim range from tropical, temperate to alpine vegetation, as Ladakh is a more dessert-like, cold area. Most buildings are in Ladakh’s capital Leh, that is around 3500 m high; the tree species identified are Michelia doltsopa similar to Magnolia sp, Shorea robusta, and Picea sp.
In the Western Himalayas, along the Indus River, the main wood species identified are Populus sp. and Salix sp.
For more information, please look at:
• Mertz, M. “Wood Identification of Ancient Temple Structures in Ladakh, Located in the Western Himalayas”. International Journal of Wood Culture, 2021, 1 (1), pp.3-27.
• Mertz M., Gupta S., Yutaka H., De Azevedo P., Sugiyama J. “WOOD SELECTION OF ANCIENT TEMPLES IN THE SIKKIM HIMALAYAS”, IAWA Journal, 2014, 35 (4), pp. 444-462.

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