Posted on 03/19/2005 3:48:39 PM PST by blam
The Sand Dune Forgotten by Time
Archaeologists working in the extreme desert terrain of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have moved a step closer to unraveling the mystery of a 40-century-old civilization.
They unearthed 163 tombs containing mummies during their ongoing and long excavation at the mysterious Xiaohe tomb complex.
And it's all thanks to the translation of a diary kept by a Swedish explorer more than 70 years ago.
"We have found more than 30 coffins containing mummies," said Idelisi Abuduresule, head of the Xinjiang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute and the excavation team.
The complex is believed to contain 330 or so tombs buried in several layers within a 2,500-square-meter sand dune.
"Most of the items are in the original state of the time when they were buried, and that will help reveal a lot of information about the society and life style of the people of that time," said Idelisi, during his trip back from the desert dust and heat to the autonomous region's capital Urumqi to record the finds, and store the artifacts.
The Xiaohe tombs are believed to have been the burial site of the mysterious Loulan Kingdom, which disappeared without historical trace about 15 centuries ago.
Today's archaeologists are following in the footsteps of Swedish explorer Folke Bergman, who in 1934 ventured south along a river in Lop Nur Desert in the eastern part of Xinjiang.
He said on his return that he'd discovered a dune harboring over 1,000 coffins that date back 4,000 years ago.
He named the place Xiaohe (small river) tombs.
But the river he used to navigate to this ancient site dried up and the dune and its tombs were forgotten about for decades.
In the late 1990s, however, Chinese sociologists translated Bergman's records on archaeological exploration in the area into Chinese and the hunt for dune and its mysteries was once again underway.
In addition to burial articles such as bent wooden blocks and straw baskets, Idelisi's team has found in some coffins wooden figures wrapped in leather instead of mummified bodies.
A bird's-eye view of Xiaohe tombs shows the oval-shape dune taking on the appearance of dumpling pricked full of chopsticks.
Above every coffin protrudes two thick wooden stakes, a symbol some believe of ancient worshiping.
"Considering the scale of the burial site and the mysterious cultural signs, the analyses of the relics are going to yield some exciting results," predicted Idelisi.
The State Administration of Cultural Heritage approved excavation of the Xiaohe tombs in 2003.
(China Daily March 19, 2005)
Looks like the climate in that area changed radically over the last 4,000 years.
High altitude Peruvian mummy wasn't it?
It looks like the horse was domesticated, wheels and pants were invented in this area. It was impossible for these people to travel the deep steppes without the horse and wagons. The oldest bronze smelting site ever discovered is in Thailand.
"Mummies of Urumchi (by Elizabeth Wayland Barber) is where I got the info the leads me to think this."
Barber makes a firm connection between these people and the Celts at Hallstatt, Austria...5,000 miles and 1,000 years apart.(give or take some)
I suggest you read, The Tarim Mummies, by Victor Mair for a much fuller picture of this whole story.
Also, maybe these people were moving in the opposite direction than believed by most...think about that some.
I'm beginning to think that both the Caucasians and Mongoloids split from the Jomon - Ainu types who appear to have dominated large areas of Asia 10k+ years ago.
Yes, very much. There are graveyards in the area that have large concentric circles of tree logs planted upright. There were many trees there at one time. These valleys leading into the Tarim basin were fed by streams from the melting glaciers that had accumulated during the Ice Age...when the glacier ice ran out, this whole area dessicated, even the large lakes that were there. The people must have had to move on...Mongoloid skeletons began appearing in the area around 100-200BC...and then mixtures. There were still pure Caucasian grave sites in the area all the way up to the 1300's AD.
Lots of salt left in the area and I do make note that the European Celts were settled around a lot of the salt mining areas in Europe.
Yes. An apparent sacrifice, frozen.
"Prussia didn't come into existence until the late medieval period"
Think regional.
And Scythians were Indo-European CELTS. You're thinking strictly in the Brittany-Irish celts. There were even Iberian Celts (until the arabs came to Spain)
The Indo-Europeans were largely Celtic, and had the same social structure. I don't know where you got your deffinitions.
That was a =really= interesting post. I musta missed it back in 2001. Thanks for posting. How the heck do you keep track of all that????
A worthwhile inquiry is whether these are remnants of what became a vast Celtic civilization, given many of the observed characteristics of these tombs and remains.
It ain't easy friend.
All I can add is that when I visited Xian in 1983 and walked amongst the clay soldiers, some of them difinitely looked Caucuasian. The uniforms and facial hair and eyes were different. Since the statues were thought to be modeled on real humans, I can only surmise that there were men of many races in that emporor's army. I also recognized friends (Chinese) that I had known back in California among the soldiers -- looked so much like them that they could have been direct ancestors. Eerie and quite wonderful.
"I'm beginning to think that both the Caucasians and Mongoloids split from the Jomon - Ainu types who appear to have dominated large areas of Asia 10k+ years ago."
Completely valid. I agree it's possible, almost probable.
"Also, maybe these people were moving in the opposite direction than believed by most..."
Interesting. Maybe originated from the Chinese highlands? Though the quest begs then... what wiped them out of thaty region for several generations?
"The Indo-Europeans were not largely Celtic, the largest numbers of Indo-Europeans were Aryans"
The Aryans (Indo-Europeans) had the caste system that the Celts (not the Slavs nor the Germanics tribes) used. It was the same social structure, same origins, similar language. This cannot be said of the Germanic tribes.
The Celts didn't ONLY settle in Brittany region, but the Irish and Brittany Celts you are reffering to were the only celts to do so.
You seem to forget the "Celtic" at this time period refers to almost 5 different groups. Brittany being one. (Made up Brits and Welsh) Irish being another (Irish and Scottish) Iberians (Spain) Then there were the Gauls and one whose names elude me. The first lived on the northern border of the Alps, the second lived on the western border of the Russian Steppes (Prussia) and made up a substantial portion of the "scythian" tribes. The last tribe is likely to have come (or at least have bloodlines into) the mongol hordes.
The Gauls also made the Galatians (from which we get the name of a book in the Bible.)
I seem to be crossing modern terms with the historical ones.
Should drop "arab" and place "semites" instead.
Before the Romans invaded (indeed, at a time when the Celts had made it to Rome) it was Celtic in tounge, culture, and genes. They had silver mines in the region when the Romans first encountered the Celts. The first Celts they met where the indeed Iberian.
What region and what time? I'll work on it if I don't already know. Thanks.
marking
There is little doubt that the Black Sea shallows could have held a considerable civilization before it flooded. That wouldn't imply that it was the seat of that civilization nor the origin. The residents of the regions of Asia north of the huge Asian mountain range (does it have a single name?) have a considerable tradition of migrating.
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