The Temple Exploration

Katherine Hitchens, an archeologist of some renown, was now working as a professor at Cambridge. While she was a celebrity on campus and her classes were still full, it had been a few years since her last big find. The shine was starting to wear off.
When a letter arrived requesting that she lead an exploration of a recently cleared temple in India, she jumped at the chance. However, when flying over the site it was clear that the area had been bombed. The place was a wasteland. This job would not be as pleasant as Kate hoped. The temple was partially destroyed too.
The assembled team had a couple of good specialists she knew and a group of novices to do the heavy work. One area of the temple had been cleared already so she could get started right away. The temple was amazing! It contained statues and carved columns. Most impressive was the giant statue with implanted rubies. There was a plinth in front of it that appeared to be gold!
Katherine began doing her survey of the rest of the room. As she glanced up at the gallery, something caught her eye. The shining surface and smooth lines did not belong here. Her mind raced as she realized that it might be an alien artifact! How was that even possible...