II.1. Stelae and accompanying structures: Funerary and non-funerary structures

Doring NakkhaRdo ring nag kha

General site characteristics

Doring NakkhaRdo ring nag kha, a pillar erected inside an enclosure, is located on the right/south side of the A Ong TsangpoA ’ong gtsang po valley. The views to the north and northeast are the most open at the site, but they are not particularly expansive. The well-drained level terrain is sandy and gravelly. Both the enclosure and standing pillar are made of light-colored granite. According to an elderly woman (born circa 1929), who hails from the locale, there used to be three standing stones at Doring NakkhaRdo ring nag kha, but two of them were uprooted during the Chinese Cultural Revolution.

Oral tradition

None was collected.

Site elements

Enclosure

The incomplete enclosure is aligned in the cardinal directions and measures 4.6 m (east-west) by 2.9 m (north-south). Given that it contained three pillars, the enclosure may originally have been somewhat larger than this. No intact wall sections remain in the enclosure. The enclosed zone is covered in variable-length (primarily 20 cm to 40 cm long) stones embedded in the ground, which once must have been part of the perimeter walls. These stones protrude as much as 25 cm from the ground surface.

Pillars

The in situ pillar is 1.1 m in height and has a basal girth of 1.4 m. The broad sides of this highly worn stele are oriented north and south, as is normal in this type of monument. Some parts of the light-colored pillar have weathered to a reddish color. Near the site there is a dislodged pillar (1 m long).

Affiliated sites

It is reported that up the A Ong TsangpoA ’ong gtsang po valley from Doring NakkhaRdo ring nag kha there is a smaller pillar monument called Satra DoringSa bkra rdo ring.