The three hares riddle has puzzled archaeologists and scientists for many years. (Reuters)
British researchers are heading to a remote part of western China to try and unravel one of archaeology's most puzzling mysteries.
They plan to find out why the same sacred symbol has been found in apparently unconnected ancient sites around the world.
Academics have long been baffled as to why the circular motif became prominent in Christian, Islamic and Buddhist cultures separated by such great distances and times.
In each place the depiction of the hares, chasing each other in a circle with the ears touching each other's heads, is virtually identical.
A British research team, led by an archaeologist, will travel to the town of Dunhuang in the western Chinese province of Gansu next month to examine caves which might shed light on the mystery, the report said.
More than 1,000 years ago, Dunhuang was a key staging point on the Silk Road - the famous network of trading routes which linked China with Central Asia and Iran with branches into Tibet and South Asia.
