Tarim mummies

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Taklamakan in the Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin in the 3rd century
Mask with European facial features from Lop Nur, China, 2000–1000 BC. Chr.
Sir Aurel Stein in the Tarim Basin, 1910
The Taklamakan Desert is very dry, which was very beneficial for conservation.

The mummies from the Tarim Basin are several hundred mummies that were found in various places in the Tarim Basin or the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang in what is now the People's Republic of China . They date from around 2000 BC. BC and AD 800

Tocharers

The mummies, especially the early ones with an appearance more reminiscent of Europeans , are, according to Chr. Baumer, associated with the Tochars , the speakers of the Tochar language in the Tarim basin, although this has not been clearly established and several centuries between these mummies and the first evidence of the Tocharian written language. The Tocharians are described as bearded, red-haired, or blond, with deep-set blue or green eyes and long noses.

Mummy finds

At the beginning of the 20th century, European researchers such as Sven Hedin , Albert von Le Coq and Sir Aurel Stein reported their discoveries of parched bodies in their search for archaeological objects in Central Asia. Since then, many more mummies have been found and examined. Many of them are now on display in museums in Xinjiang. Most were found at the eastern end of the Tarim Basin, in the area of Lopnur , Subashi near Turpan , Kroran in the Kingdom of Loulan , Kumul , or on the south side ( Hotan , Niya , and Qarqan or Qiemo ). All local mummies are naturally dried and have not been artificially mummified.

The oldest Tarim mummies found in Qawrighul, dating back to 1800 BC. They are tall (e.g. 1.76 m) with European features and light hair color. Their closest relatives in archaeological and cultural terms are the Bronze Age inhabitants of southern Siberia , Kazakhstan , Central Asia , in the Altai ( Afanassjewo culture ) and the lower Volga ( Yamnaja and Chwalynsk cultures ).

The Yanbulaq cemetery contained 29 mummies from 1100–500 BC. 21 BC looked East Asian and are the oldest mummies in the Tarim Basin and eight looked European like those of Qawrighul .

Notable mummies are the great red-haired " Chärchän-Mann " or the "Ur-David" (1000 BC); his son (1000 BC), a small one year old baby with brown hair oozing out from under a red and blue felt cap, with two stones on his eyes; the "Hami Mummy" ( circa 1400-800 BC), a "red-headed beauty" found in Qizilchoqa, and the "Witches of Subashi" (4th or 3rd century BC), who are two feet wore long black cone-shaped felt hats with a flat brim ("witch hat"). Also in Subashi, a man was found with traces of surgery on his abdomen; the cut is sewn with a seam of horse hair. Some female mummies carried pouches containing medicinal plants and a small knife, presumably to help them chop up.

origin

Both the archaeological findings of the material culture as well as anthropological and molecular genetic findings suggest connections in the Western Eurasian area. However, a final assessment is not possible. From post-Christian times, after the time of the last mummies, up to the threshold of modern times, written evidence has been preserved in the Tarim Basin, written in languages ​​that belong to the so-called Tocharian branch of the Indo-European language family . However, the ethnic background of the users of these languages ​​has not yet been determined beyond doubt.

Important sites

James P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair lead in their book The Tarim Mummies. Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples From the West on page 237 has a table with the most important localities. (Note: As is still common in some archeology, outdated race names are used. They are put in quotation marks)

Location Dating Number of skulls Type Affiliation, cultural background
Qawrighul 1800 BC Chr. 18 (11 m, 7 f) Proto- " Europid " Bronze Age South Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia, Lower Volga
Yanbulaq 1100-500 BC Chr. 29 "Mongolid" (21) Proto- "Europid" (8) (no information)
Shambabay 800-500 BC Chr. 1 Indo-Afghan? South Pamir (Saka)
Alwighul 700-1 BC Chr. 58 (33 m, 25 f) Indo-Afghan, Pamir-Ferghana, " Mongolid " (no information)
Charwighul IV 500–1 BC Chr. 77 (50 m, 27 f) Proto- "Europid" (no information)
Monggul Kura 400 BC Chr. - 200 AD 13 (7 m, 6 f) Pamir-Ferghana, "Mongolid" Central Asia (Saka)
Sampul 200 BC Chr. 56 Indo-Afghan? South Pamir (Saka)
Krorän 200 AD 6 (3 m, 1 f) Indo-Afghan? (5), "Mongolid" (1) South Pamir (Saka)
Charwighul III 200 AD 11 (9 m, 2 f) "Europid (Caucasian)" (no information)

See also

References

  1. a b c d e J. P. Mallory, Victor H. Mair: The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. P. 237, 2000.
  2. Nicholas Wade: A Host of Mummies, a Forest of Secrets The New York Times , March 15, 2010, accessed November 1, 2014
  3. Baumer (2000), p. 28.
  4. Victor H. Mair, "Mummies of the Tarim Basin," Archeology , vol. 48, no. 2, pages 28-35 (March / April 1995)
  5. "The Mummies of Xinjiang," Discover Magazine, April 1, 1994, accessed November 1, 2014
  6. Christopher P. Thornton and Theodore G. Schurr: Genes, language, and culture: an example from the Tarim Basin, in: Oxford Journal of Archeology , Volume 23 Issue 1, pp. 83-106, 2004

Web links