IT is a discovery that could rewrite the history of one of the world's oldest religions.

Archaeologists Dr Robin Coningham and Dr Armin Schmidt, both from Ilkley, are awaiting results which they believe could settle a major dispute about where the Buddha, Gautama Siddhartha, grew up.

For the last four years the Bradford University academics have been

working on a UNESCO-funded dig at Tilaurakot, in Nepal.

Buddha was born in nearby Lumbini, and 19th Century archaeologists, using ancient scripture for guidance, believed that Tilaurakot contained the remains of the ancient settlement of Kapilavastu - Buddha's hometown.

But those claims were discredited in the 1960s, after an Indian

archaeological team's research

suggested the site's artifacts only dated back to 200 BC - at least 300 years after Buddha is believed to have lived.

But the UNESCO team, which worked alongside Nepal's chief archaeologist, Kosh Acharya, has found items including iron furnaces, terracotta crucibles, and fragments of painted bowls which suggests the ancient scripture was right.

Dr Coningham, who expects to receive the carbon dating results which will confirm his team's findings within weeks, compared the project with the search for major Christian sites like Nazareth.

He said: "Seldom has archaeology had such a superb opportunity to uncover the origins of one of the world's greatest religions.

"We are now quite certain that the excavated finds date back as late as the seventh or eight centuries BC, which certainly pre-dates the period when Buddha is thought to have lived."

Dr Coningham, 35, hopes the

discovery will help to attract tourists and investment back to Nepal.

The country's Buddhist sites have been relatively neglected compared to their high profile Indian counterparts.

India, however, may be less

thankful when the research is

published as - for the last 40 years - it has been marketing its own site at Pipprahawa as the home of the young Buddha.

The UNESCO team believes the Indian archaeological team dated the remains at Tilaurakot incorrectly because they chose to test only one section, and not the deepest, of the area.

Dr Coningham, who will fly back to Nepal in Easter for a new dig at a nearby Buddhist site, says the whole scheme has been a fascinating, and often curious, affair.

He said: "We had some Buddhist monks visiting when we were there asking to have some of the mud that was being excavated to use in a

ceremony, because the Buddha could have walked on it.

"I've also had some absolute nutters on the phone with questions about the origins of Buddha, so it's been a very interesting time."

Ilkley's answer to Indiana Jones hopes to have his team's findings

published soon.