Xiaohe

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A map by Folke Bergman from 1935 with the main archaeological finds by Sven Hedin, Aurel Stein and the Sino-Swedish expedition 1927–1933 in the Lop Nor desert in Xinjiang, China.
Translations: Ruiner = ruins of settlements and fortresses from the time before 330. Gammalt vakttorn = ruins of signal towers of the Great Wall of China. Gravar = graves from the time 2000 BC BC to 330. Bulak = well (dried up since 1971). Ördeks necropolis = Xiaohe. Nya Lop-nor = Lake Lop Nor, which existed in the years 1921–1971, was measured by the Sino-Swedish expedition and then dried out. In the southern part of the former lake, the Helix has dried up since 1971.

Xiaohe ( Chinese  小河 墓 , Pinyin Xiao He Mu  - "Tombs on the Small River") is an important Early Bronze Age necropolis from around 2000 BC. In Qakilik County in the Mongolian Autonomous District of Bayinguoleng in Xinjiang in western China . The same reference my name and the former Ördeks necropolis , Ördeks necropolis , Cemetery 5 and burial No. 5 . Xiaohe is located 175 km west of Loulan , 36 km northeast of the city of Alagan Zhen and 60 km south of the Kum-darja river in the Lop Nor desert near the dried up "Little River" (Chinese xiao he ), which gave the site its name Has.

Find history

The Uyghur Ördek discovered the site in 1924. Ördek had accompanied Sven Hedin on his second expedition from 1899 to 1901 and came across the ruins of Loulan . When he found out that Sven Hedin had returned to the Lop Nor desert on his Sino-Swedish expedition in 1934 , Ördek visited him and informed him of his discovery of the necropolis. Sven Hedin writes the following about Ördek's report: His last hike about ten years ago, i.e. in 1924, took him east over my old lake Awullu-köl, which was discovered in 1896 but now dried up. A day's journey far into the desert, Ördek had found wonderful things. At one point he had seen a city of the dead, where innumerable coffins made of solid wood were piled up in two layers. He had opened several coffins. The insides were richly carved and painted. In addition to the well-preserved corpses clad in splendid silk robes, the coffins also contained a number of sheets of paper with strange writing and brightly colored ornaments. In the distance he had seen a house with the door open. Through a window opening he noticed a blinding light and was so startled that he did not dare to go any closer.

According to Ördek's discovery report, the Swedish expedition members Folke Bergman and Georg Söderbom found next to other graves at the Small River (Chinese: Xiaohe) in 1934, Cemetery 5 , which was later called Xiaohe by Chinese archaeologists . A long-term effect of the excavations in Ördek's necropolis resulted from Bergman's publication 7 in the reports : Archaeological researches in Sinkiang. Especially the Lop-Nor region .

When this volume had been translated into Chinese after decades, Chinese archaeologists from the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute and Jilin University carried out numerous excavations between 2002 and 2005 at the sites discovered during the Sino-Swedish expedition and documented by Folke Bergman were. During the excavations, they uncovered early Bronze Age cemeteries with mummies up to 4,000 years old in their coffins . This confirmed Folke Bergman's assumption that the eastern Tarim Basin was settled over 4000 years ago by people with a European appearance ( "Caucasian race" ), the later Tocharians , whose Indo-European ancestors came from Europe.

This excavation was one of the top ten archaeological finds in China in 2004 .

As predatory excavations are constantly being carried out in the Lop Nor desert, which cannot be prevented, the Chinese government focused its archaeological research here from 2006 onwards , in order to dig, secure and document the other 80 sites described by Folke Bergman. This is a belated success of Folke Bergmann's research.

swell

  1. ↑ Sven Hedin: The wandering lake . FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1937. 2nd edition 1938: p. 65.

literature

  • Sven Hedin : The Wandering Lake . FA Brockhaus, Leipzig 1937. 2nd edition 1938: p. 27 illustration by Ördek , p. 28ff Ördek, p. 64ff discovery of Xiaohe by Ördek, p. 167ff discovery of Xiaohe by Folke Bergmann and his excavations.
  • Folke Bergman : Archaeological Finds. In: Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen 1935, Gotha 1935, pages 292-293.
  • Folke Bergman: Archaeological Researches in Sinkiang. Especially in the Lop-Nor region. (Reports from the Scientific Expedition to the Northwestern Provinces of China under the Leadership of Dr. Sven Hedin / Scientific Expedition to the North-Western Provinces of China: Publication 7). Thule, Stockholm 1939 (English; the fundamental work on the archaeological finds in the Lop Nor desert with important maps; this work was only translated into the Chinese language around the year 2000 and then became important for Chinese archeology in Xinjiang).
  • Sven Hedin and Folke Bergman: History of an Expedition in Asia 1927–1935 . Reports: Publication 25: Part III 1933-1935 , Statens Etnografiska Museum, Stockholm 1944.
  • Folke Bergman: Travels and Archaeological Field-work in Mongolia and Sinkiang: a Diary of the Years 1927-1934. In: Sven Hedin and Folke Bergman: History of an Expedition in Asia 1927–1935 . Part IV: 1933-1935. General reports, travels and field work. (Reports: Publication 26.), Statens Etnografiska Museum, Stockholm 1945. The find of Cemetery 5 with photographs (Xiaohe): "The Motor-Car Expedition 1933-1934" page 174–186.
  • VH Mair: The rediscovery and complete excavation of Ördek's Necropolis. In: Journal of Indo-European Studies 34, 2006, Issue 3/4, pp. 273-318 (basic excavation report in English).
  • Alfried Wieczorek and Christoph Lind: Origins of the Silk Road. Sensational new finds from Xinjiang, China. Exhibition catalog of the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums, Mannheim. Theiss, Stuttgart 2007. ISBN 380622160X (page 106-133 with references.)
  • Christoph Baumer : The “Thousand Coffins Necropolis” of Xiaohe: The rediscovery of an important Bronze Age burial ground in the Lop Nor Desert (China) raises many new questions. In: Ancient World . 2006, Edition 37, No. 6, pp. 39–49.

Web links

Coordinates: 40 ° 20 '  N , 88 ° 40'  E