Tarim mummies
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
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Nicholas Wade: A Host of Mummies, a Forest of Secrets The New York Times , March 15, 2010, accessed November 1, 2014
- ↑ Baumer (2000), p. 28.
- ↑ Victor H. Mair, "Mummies of the Tarim Basin," Archeology , vol. 48, no. 2, pages 28-35 (March / April 1995)
- ↑ "The Mummies of Xinjiang," Discover Magazine, April 1, 1994, accessed November 1, 2014
- ↑ 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
- Long nose, fair skin
- "Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age" Li et al. BMC Biology 2010, 8:15.
- High resolution images of the Tarim mummies
- Images of the Tocharian mummies Contains the face of the "Beauty of Loulan", reconstructed by an artist
- The Takla Makan Mummies . PBS. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
- Genetic testing reveals awkward truth about Xinjiang's famous mummies ( AFP ) Khaleej Times Online, April 19, 2005; dead link !?
- The Dead Tell a Tale China Doesn't Care to Listen To The New York Times , November 18, 2008
- 'A Host of Mummies, A Forest of Secrets' , Nicholas Wade, The New York Times , March 15, 2010.
- The Mummies of East Central Asia by Victor H. Mair PDF file 2101 kB