The International Journal of Wood Culture ( IJWC) , September 2021 published an article by Mechtild Mertz about “Wood identification od Ancient Temple Structures in Ladakh, Located in the Western Himalayas”. The following is the abstract of the article: ”Microscopic wood identifications were performed on five Buddhist temple structures, three vernacular houses, two stupas, and two holy trees located in Ladakh, a region in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Western Himalayas. Leh is Ladakh’s capital and is located along the Indus River, the backbone of Ladakh. The vernacular buildings, stupa, and holy trees are located in Leh. Ladakh is a high -altitude desert with extremely scarce vegetation. Natural vegetation occurs mostly along the watercourses.
The temples are located in villages along the upper Indus river valley, or along confluent rivers. From the 110 wood samples, 4 wood species were identified: poplar, willow, juniper, and pine. Building type, local availability, specific physical and mechanical properties of the wood species, and religious considerations were apparently the leading criteria for timber selection.”

To read the article visit the following site: https://brill.com/view/journals/ijwc/ijwc-overview.xml?language=en