In June, 2009, the Tibet Cultural Relics Preservation Institute and the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeologyn conducted a substantial investigation on cliffside images in Brag sGo bShad valley in Markam county of Qamdo Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. Cliffside images in the valley can be subdivided into three groups. The first group includes four figures: one Mahavairocana, two bodhisattvas, and one donor. All of them represent typical characteristics dating to the Bod period in the early 9th century. Although the iconographies of the second and third groups were dated to later period, they indicate a subsequent development and continuation of Buddhism in the valley and surrounding areas.
