In what could be an enormously significant finding for Buddhists around the world, archaeologists in China have unearthed an ancient ceramic box containing cremated human remains, which carries an inscription saying they belong to Buddha, also known as Siddhārtha Gautama. 
 
 Siddhartha Gautama, also known as the Buddha or “Enlightened One,” is probably one of the most influential individuals to come out of India through the founding of Buddhism. He is believed to have lived and taught mostly in the eastern part of ancient India sometime between the 6 th and 4 th centuries BC. According to the Mahaparinibbana Sutta of the Pali canon, at the age of 80, the Buddha announced that he would soon reach Parinirvana, or the final deathless state, and abandon his earthly body. 
 
 After his death, Buddha's cremation relics are said to have been divided amongst 8 royal families and his disciples. Legends say that, centuries later, they were enshrined by King Ashoka into 84,000 stupas. Many of the remains were supposedly taken to other countries. 
 
 The Death of the Buddha, a hanging scroll painting at the British Museum. Credit: Trustees of the British Museum 
 
 Gathering of the Buddha 
 
 Around 1,000 years ago, two monks named Yunjiang and Zhiming, spent two decades gathering together the remains of the Buddha, which had been distributed around India and other countries. 
 
 Live Science reports that the newly-discovered box, which was unearthed in Jingchuan County, China, came with an inscription dated to June 22, 1013. It states: 
 
 “The monks Yunjiang and Zhiming of the Lotus School, who belonged to the Mañjuśrī Temple of the Longxing Monastery in Jingzhou Prefecture, gathered more than 2,000 pieces of śarīra [cremated remains of the Buddha], as well as the Buddha's teeth and bones, and buried them in the Mañjuśrī Hall of this temple. 
 
 In order to promote Buddhism, they wanted to collect śarīra [Buddhist relics]. To reach this goal, both of them practiced the instruction of Buddhism during every moment of their lives for more than 20 years. Sometimes they received the śarīra from others' donations; sometimes they found them by chance; sometimes they bought them from other places; and sometimes others gave them the śarīra to demonstrate their wholeheartedness." 
 
 The ceramic box containing human remains believed to belong to Buddha. Credit: Chinese Cultural Relics 
 
 According to Live Science, archaeologists identified cremated human remains inside the ancient ceramic box, and while it is impossible to say with certainty whether they are indeed the remains of Siddhārtha Gautama, the 1,000-year-old inscription certainly suggests this is the case. 
 
 The discovery was first made back in December 2012 while a group of villagers were repairing roads. After years of archaeological excavations at the site, the historically significant finding was reported in Chinese in 2016. Now, the discovery has reached the English-speaking world for the first time in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. 
 
 Top image: A statue of Buddha ( CC by SA 4.0 ) 
 
 By April Holloway ||||| 1,000 years ago, a pair of monks from Mañjuśrī Temple of the Longxing Monastery in China's Jingzhou Prefecture reportedly spent two decades collecting bits of cremated bone from far and wide which they believed to be the remains of the man known as the Buddha. 
 
 And now, their collection has been found. 
 
 Whether the materials truly belong to the famous ancient philosopher is a mystery, and will probably stay that way. But in addition to the ossuary, archaeologists also found 260 statues – a discovery that's of cultural and historical significance regardless of the origins of the bones themselves. 
 
 The discovery was made by villagers repairing roads about five years ago, and reported in Chinese journals. The reports were recently translated into English in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. 
 
 Archaeologists report the inscription on the box says: 
 
 "The monks Yunjiang and Zhiming of the Lotus School, who belonged to the Mañjuśrī Temple of the Longxing Monastery in Jingzhou Prefecture, gathered more than 2,000 pieces of śarīra, as well as the Buddha's teeth and bones, and buried them in the Mañjuśrī Hall of this temple." 
 
 śarīra is a broad term describing any kind of relic claimed to be related to the Buddha – the famous "Enlightened One" who was born in what today is Nepal and travelled through the eastern parts of India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. 
 
 The story goes that on his death, the cremated remains of the man called Siddhartha Gautama – aka the Buddha – were divided up among royal families and disciples, and so were distributed far and wide. 
 
 Whoever Yunjiang and Zhiming were, they seemed to have been busy collecting 2,000 bits of burned tooth and bone and putting them into a box over the course of two decades. 
 
 Not unlike saintly fingerbones or true pieces of Christ's cross, Buddha's śarīra can have greater cultural significance than biological, with pearl-like pieces of bone revered in Buddhist shrines and temples across the world. 
 
 The archaeologists don't speculate on the actual origins of the bones, and aren't certain if the 2 metre (6.6 foot) high statues were buried at the same time as the box. 
 
 Crafted between the Wei dynasty (386 to 534 CE) and the Song dynasty (960 to 1279 CE), the stone blocks included a mix of depictions of Buddha himself, seekers of enlightenment, enlightened devotees, gods, and simple inscribed objects called steles. 
 
 Historically the inscriptions and assortment of statues provide insights into the history of the culture surrounding the religion. 
 
 For many Buddhists, whatever the true nature of the bones, the discovery of this incredible collection from a millennium ago could have immense spiritual significance. ||||| Cremated human remains were found inside this ceramic box. An inscription found nearby says that they were buried Jun. 22, 1013 and belong to the Buddha. It is not certain if the statues were buried along with the remains. 
 
 The cremated remains of what an inscription says is the Buddha, also called Siddhārtha Gautama, have been discovered in a box in Jingchuan County, China, along with more than 260 Buddhist statues. 
 
 The translated inscription on the box reads: "The monks Yunjiang and Zhiming of the Lotus School, who belonged to the Mañjuśrī Temple of the Longxing Monastery in Jingzhou Prefecture, gathered more than 2,000 pieces of śarīra [cremated remains of the Buddha], as well as the Buddha's teeth and bones, and buried them in the Mañjuśrī Hall of this temple," on June 22, 1013. At the site where the statues and Buddha remains were buried, archaeologists also found the remains of a structure that could be from the Mañjuśrī Hall. [See Photos of the Buddhist Statues and Cremated Remains of Buddha] 
 
 Yunjiang and Zhiming spent more than 20 years gathering the remains of the Buddha, who is also sometimes referred to as Gautama Buddha, the inscription notes. "In order to promote Buddhism, they wanted to collect śarīra [Buddhist relics]. To reach this goal, both of them practiced the instruction of Buddhism during every moment of their lives for more than 20 years," the inscription says. "Sometimes they received the śarīra from others' donations; sometimes they found them by chance; sometimes they bought them from other places; and sometimes others gave them the śarīra to demonstrate their wholeheartedness." 
 
 The inscription does not mention the 260 Buddhist statues that were found buried near the remains of the Buddha. The archaeologists aren't sure whether or not the statues were buried at the same time as the cremated remains, wrote the team of archaeologists, who were led by Hong Wu, a research fellow at the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, in two articles published recently in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. 
 
 The archaeologists did not speculate on whether any of the remains are actually from the Buddha who died around 2,500 years ago. Previous archaeological discoveries in China have also revealed human remains with inscriptions that claim that they belong to the Buddha the archaeologists noted. These include a skull bone, supposedly from the Buddha, found inside a gold chest in Nanjing. 
 
 The statues, which are up to 6.6 feet (2 meters) high, were created between the time of the northern Wei dynasty (A.D. 386 to 534) and the Song dynasty (A.D. 960 to 1279), the archaeologists wrote. During that time, Jingchuan County was a transportation hub on the eastern end of the Silk Road, archaeologists said. 
 
 The statues include depictions of the Buddha, bodhisattvas (those who seek enlightenment), arhats (those who have found enlightenment) and deities, known as heavenly kings. Some of the statues only depict the head of the individual, while others are life-size, with some even showing individuals standing on platforms. A few of the statues are steles, which are stone slabs that have a carving within them. Steles are sometimes considered to be a form of statue. 
 
 Few of the statues have any writing on them. One holds the date corresponding to May 26, 571, with inscriptions that mention a "disciple Bi Sengqing," who may or may not have created the statue. 
 
 "[I] realized that I am confused (…) everyday, because of my admiration of the wisdom of the Buddha, [I] contribute my daily expenses as a tribute, to sculpt a statue of Śākyamuni Buddha, praying for greater longevity, and … reads the inscription, whose next line is not visible. 
 
 Villagers discovered the statues and Buddha remains while repairing roads in December 2012 at Gongchi Village in Jingchuan County. Over the following year, archaeologists excavated the remains, detailing their findings in Chinese in 2016 in the journal “Wenwu”. Both articles were recently translated into English and published in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics. 
 
 Originally published on Live Science.
– When Siddhartha Gautama, aka the Buddha, died 2,600 years ago, legend has it that he was cremated and his remains split up among eight royal families, then eventually dispersed to several different countries. Now scientists in Jingchuan County, China, say they've found a box with thousands of pieces of his "sarira" (cremated remains, including teeth and bones) with a message inscribed from a pair of monks who'd embarked on a 20-year-plus mission to collect as much of the famous ascetic's remnants as they could find, Live Science reports. Those two holy men, Yunjiang and Zhiming, apparently buried the box more than 1,000 years ago, in June 1013. The translated inscription on the container explained whose remains they believed they'd found and how they'd "buried them in the Manjusri Hall of this temple." Also found at the same site: pieces of a structure that scientists speculate could have been from the aforementioned Manjusri Hall, as well as 260 statues that depict the Buddha, various gods, people who'd sought enlightenment (and those who'd found it), and carved stone slabs known as steles—a "discovery that's of cultural and historical significance regardless of the origins of the bones themselves," per a release. All were originally found in 2012 by villagers fixing roads in the area, but the discovery was just this year translated into English in the Chinese Cultural Relics journal. Scientists aren't sure if the statues were buried at the same time as the box. They also note other remains marked as being the Buddha have been found previously in China; they don't indicate whether they believe these are the real deal. (A mummified man was found in an ancient Buddha statue.)