Kohima, Feb. 6: The discovery of World War II relics within a residential complex in this capital town has excited historians and archaeologists alike. Lanu Longkumer, an electrician at a government poultry farm here, found an exquisite glass and a spoon with Japanese markings beside the skeleton of a Japanese soldier, buried beneath what has been the veranda of a house at veterinary Compound for 26 years.
The skeleton was in good shape, albeit with powdered bones. Longkumer?s family disposed of the bones before the authorities came to know of the discovery.
Examining the spoon and glass, the joint director of the art and culture department could not contain his excitement. ?This is certainly Japanese,? Alem Longkumer said.
The official said helmets, weapons and ammunition had been found, too, but the glass and the spoon were ?unique?. The German silver spoon has ?Noritake 18-8 Japan? and an eagle, quite similar to the one typical of artefacts from the Hitler era, engraved on it. The other objects found beside the Japanese soldier?s skeleton include the remains of an explosive, a beret badge, two keys and a coin that has yet to be identified.
The artefacts will be shifted to the World War II museum that is being set up at Kisama. War relics are sent to laboratories elsewhere for authentication because Nagaland does not have an expert on the subject.
Longkumer?s wife Yangerla Lanu said her family decided to dig the mound in their courtyard when one of the children stumbled on the ?half-exposed glass?. The complete shape of the skeleton emerged after a little digging. Next to the unidentified soldier?s hip lay an aluminium water bottle and other paraphernalia. ?We were scared about the discovery until we saw the ?Made in Japan? written on most of the things,? Yangerla said.
Unaware of the magnitude of the discovery, which was made in late November, the Longkumers did not inform anyone about it. But when Asangla, a graduate in archaeology and a relative of the family, came to know that a skeleton had been found, she informed The Telegraph about it.
The soldier is believed to have been from the Japanese army?s 31 Division, led by Lt Gen. Kotuko Sato. The siege of Kohima by the Japanese had lasted two weeks.
In 2000, a resident of Kohima found three grenades a few metres from where the Longkumers stay. Trying to weld the bombs into a flowerpot, he lost one hand when a grenade exploded.
Kohima was the gateway for the Japanese to the British base in Dimapur and the plains of Imphal. ?The high school area (close to Veterinary Compound) was the logistics base of the Japanese,? the armed forces? public relations officer for Nagaland, Lt Col. M.K. Pal, said.