Officials of the archaeology department dig the site where the fossil was found. A Telegraph picture

Imphal, Feb. 14: The discovery of the fossil of an elephant inside Imphal’s historical Kangla Fort and a coffin-like box with some decorative items dug out in the courtyard of a government employee in Imphal East have sent archaeologists and researchers into a flurry of analysis.

Construction workers digging for renovation of the southern wall of the anci- ent palace inside Kangla stumbled upon the fossil of the head of an elephant with its two tusks intact.

“The workers first found the head with tusks. We believe the whole body of the elephant is lying buried. We are making a larger pit to recover the whole fossil,” an official of the state archaeology department, who is supervising the digging operation, said.

He said the fossil was first detected on February 10 under the base of the citadel wall. The bone was very fragile and began crumbling into dust, he said.

Historians said the citadel wall was constructed during the reign of King Khagemba about 300 years ago.

They, however, declined to make any guesses on the significance of the recovery at the moment.

Meitei kings used elephants during wars and tours. Archaeology department officials said it could be an elephant buried by a king after its death.

The discovery came at a time when the International Council for Monuments and Sites is reconstructing the ancient Kangla Fort, the seat of power of Meitei kings.

The palace inside the Kangla Fort was destroyed by the British after they defeated the Meiteis in 1891.

To prevent further damage to the fossil, the officials are now keeping the exposed head of the elephant covered with a thin layer of dust while digging around it.

“We cannot say anything at this moment. We will first date the fossil and seek expert opinion and consult historians,” the official said.

A similar digging operation at the private residence of a government employee in Imphal East drew a large crowd today after the family recovered an ancient wooden table, a walking stick, some decorative items, two bone-like articles and a coffin-like box while digging a pond.

Laishram Modhumangol, a field assistant in the veterinary department, recovered the items while digging a pond at his Porompat home yesterday afternoon.

The coffin-like box is still lying deep under the earth and efforts were on to retrieve it.

He also recalled recovery of some gold beads by his immediate neighbourhood about 20 years back.

A few officials of the archaeology department visited the Porompat site this afternoon but declined to comment.

But Gyaneshore Singh, director of a private research group called Tribal Museum, said the materials found could date back to 1891.

“The items found do not belong to Manipur. These are foreign items. The items include China clay,” the researcher said.