Thread by @KDolgiy

The Tarim Mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, dating to 1800 BC. to the first centuries BC 2100 and 1700 BC. The people of Tarim, to which the earliest mummies belonged, were agricultural and lived around 2000 BC in what used to be a freshwater environment that has now become desert.

Tarim mummies is located in Continental
Location of Tarim mummies with other modern cultures ca. 2000 BC
Geographic range
Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin
Point
Bronze Age
give
in. 2100 BC - 1 BC
It precedes
Afanasyev culture
Following
Tocharians

The Xiaohe Mummy on display in the Xinjiang Museum is one of the oldest Tarim mummies dating back more than 3,800 years. Another mummy from the same place is "Princess Xiaohe".
A genomic study published in 2021 found that these early mummies (dated to 2135-1623 BC) had a high level of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry (ANE, about 72%), with a smaller admixture of Ancient Northeast Asians ( ANA, about 28%), but no provenance associated with the Western Steppe. They formed a genetically isolated local population that "adopted nearby pastoral and agricultural practices that allowed them to settle and thrive along the shifting river oases of the Taklamakan Desert." These mummified individuals were long suspected to be "proto-Tochorian pastoralists", the ancestors of the Tocharians, but this has now been largely discredited due to their lack of genetic connection to Indo-European migrants, particularly the Afanasyevo or BMAC. cultures

Archaeological record

The Tarim basin with the Taklamakan desert and some of the main sites of the Tarim mummies

Sir Aurel Stein in the Tarim Basin, 1910
In the early 20th century, European explorers such as Sven Gedin, Albert von Le Coq and Sir Aurel Stein reported on their discoveries of desiccated bodies while searching for antiquities in Central Asia. Since then, many other mummies have been found and analyzed, many of which are now on display in museums in Xinjiang. Most of these mummies were found in the eastern part of the Tarim Basin (around the area of Lopnur, Subeshi near Turpan, Lawlan, Kumul) or along the southern edge of the Tarim Basin (Khotan, Niya and Cherchen or Kiemo).

Some of the oldest Tarim mummies, found in Kavrigul (Gumugou) and dated to 2100-1800 BC, belong to the Caucasian physical type, which is most closely related to the Bronze Age population of Southern Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Lower Volga .

Notable mummies are the tall, red-haired "man of Charchan" or "Ur-David" (1000 BC); his son (1000 BC), a 1-year-old child with brown hair sticking out from under a red and blue felt cap, with two stones placed over his eyes; "Mummy of Hami" (c. 1400–800 BC), "red-haired beauty", found in Kyzilchok; and the "Subesha Witches" (4th or 3rd century BCE), who wore 2 ft (0.61 m) black felt conical hats with flat brims. A man with traces of a surgical operation on his stomach was also found in Subesh; the incision is sewn up with horsehair sutures.

The Taklamakan desert is very dry, which greatly helped in the preservation of the mummies.
Many mummies were found in very good condition due to the dryness of the desert and the desiccation of the corpses. The mummies have many of the typical Caucasian physical features (tall, high cheekbones, deep-set eyes), and many have physically intact hair that ranges from fair to red to dark brown, and is usually long, curly, and braided. Their costumes, and especially their fabrics, may indicate a common origin with Indo-European Neolithic clothing techniques or a shared low-level textile technology. The Chärchän man wore a red twill tunic and tartan leggings.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarim_mum…

Textile expert Elizabeth Wayland Barber, who has studied the tartan-style fabric, discusses the similarities between it and fragments found in salt mines associated with the Hallstatt culture. Due to the arid conditions and exceptional preservation, tattoos have been found on mummies from several sites around the Tarim Basin, including Qawrighul, Yanghai, Shengjindian, Shanpula (Sampul), Zaghunluq, and Qizilchoqa.

The fabrics found with the mummies have been argued to belong to an early European textile type based on their close resemblance to fragments of textiles found in salt mines in Austria dating to the second millennium BC. Anthropologist Irene Hood, a specialist in early Eurasian textiles, noted that the woven diagonal twill pattern indicates the use of a fairly sophisticated loom, and said the textile is "the easternmost known example of this type of weaving technique".

The cemetery in Yanbulak contained 29 mummies dated 1100-500 BC. e., 21 of which are Asiatic—the oldest Asian mummies found in the Tarim Basin—and eight of them belong to the same Caucasian Caucasian physical type, which was found in Kavrigul.

Genetic research

Caucasian mask from Lop Nur, China, 2000–1000 BC
In 1995, Meir argued that "the earliest mummies in the Tarim Basin were exclusively Caucasian or Caucasian", with East Asian migrants arriving in the eastern parts of the Tarim Basin around 3,000 years ago, and the Uyghur peoples arriving around 842 AD. To trace the origins of these populations, Victor Mayr's team hypothesized that they may have arrived in the region through the Pamir Mountains around 5,000 years ago.

Mair argued that:

The new findings also prompt a re-examination of old Chinese books that describe historical or legendary figures of tall stature, with deep-set blue or green eyes, long noses, thick beards and red or blond hair. Scientists have traditionally scoffed at this evidence, but it now appears that it may be accurate.

In 2007, the Chinese government allowed a National Geographic Society team led by Spencer Wells to examine the mummies' DNA. Wells was able to extract undegraded DNA from the internal tissues. Scientists have recovered enough material to suggest that the Tarim Basin has been continuously inhabited since 2000 BC. to 300 BCE, and preliminary results indicate that the people, rather than a single origin, originated in Europe, Mesopotamia, the Indus Valley, and other yet-to-be-determined regions.

Burial XHM66 from the Xiaohe Cemetery with a boat-shaped coffin and mummified remains dressed in woolen clothing.
A 2008 study by Jilin University found that the Yuansha population is relatively closely related to the modern population of South Central Asia and the Indus Valley, as well as the ancient Chawuhu population.

Between 2009 and 2015, the remains of 92 individuals found in the Xiaohe Tomb were analyzed for Y-DNA and mtDNA markers. Genetic analysis of the mummies revealed that the maternal lineage of the Xiaohe people originated from East Asia and Western Eurasia, while the paternal lineage originated from Western Eurasia.

Mitochondrial DNA analysis showed that the maternal lineage of people in Xiaohe included mtDNA haplogroups H, K, U5, U7, U2e, T, and R*, which are now most common in western Eurasia. Haplogroups common in modern populations from East Asia were also found: B5, D and G2a. Haplogroups that are now common among Central Asian and Siberian populations include: C4 and C5. Haplogroups later considered typically South Asian included M5 and M*.

Lee et al. (2018) found that almost all – 11 out of 12 men, or about 92% – belonged to the Y-DNA haplogroup R1a1-M17 (Z93-), which is now most common in northern India and eastern Europe; the rest belonged to the exceptionally rare K* (M9) paragroup from Asia.

The geographic location of this admixture is unknown, although it is likely Southern Siberia.

Mummy Xiaohe (not "Princess Xiaohe") on display in Xinjiang Museum - full view
Chinese historian Ji Xianlin says China "supported and admired" mummy research by foreign experts. “However, in China, a small group of ethnic separatists have taken this opportunity to cause unrest and are behaving like clowns. Some of them even called themselves descendants of these ancient "white people" in order to divide the homeland. . But these perverted actions will not succeed." Barber examines these claims, noting that “The Lulan beauty is hardly closer to a ``Turk'' in her anthropological type than to a Han Chinese woman. Body and facial forms associated with the Turks and Mongols began to appear in the Tarim cemeteries only in the first millennium BC, fifteen hundred years after this woman lived.' For "fear of fueling separatist currents," the Xinjiang Museum, regardless of dating, displays all their mummies, both Tarima and Han, together.

In 2021, the School of Life Sciences of Jilin University, China, analyzed 13 individuals from the Tarim Basin, dated to ca. 2100-1700 BC, and assigned 2 to Y-haplogroup R1b1b-PH155/PH4796 (R1b1c in ISOGG2016), 1 to Y-haplogroup R1-PF6136 (xR1a, xR1b1a).

Origin from the ancient North Eurasians

A genetic study of the Tarim mummies in 2021 (13 mummies, including 11 from the Xiaohe cemetery, dating from 2135–1623 BC) showed that they were mostly descended from a population related to ancient North Eurasians, represented by the sample Afontova Gora 3 (AG3), genetically demonstrating "high affinity" with it. The genetic profile of the individual from Afontova Gora 3 represented approximately 72% of the ancestry of the Tarim mummies, while the remaining 28% of their ancestry came from ancient Northeast Asians (ANA, the Early Bronze Age Baikal population). Thus, the Tarim mummies are one of the rare Holocene populations that derive most of their ancestry from Ancient North Eurasians (ANE, particularly the populations of Malta and Afontova Gora), despite their distance in time (about 14,000 years). Tarim mummies, more than any other ancient population, can be considered "the best representatives" of ancient North Eurasians.

Frequency of Eurasian Ancestral Components in the Context of Early Tarim Mummies. The ANE-like ancestry, maximally expressed in the Paleolithic sample Afontova Gora 3, as well as in the "Tarim_EMBA1" samples, is shown in red.
Tests of their genetic heritage have also revealed that many groups in Central Asia and Xinjiang are descended to varying degrees from populations related to the Tarim mummies. The Tajiks show the relative greatest affinity with the Tarim mummies, although their main ancestry is linked to the Bronze Age steppe pastoralists (pastoralists of the Western Steppe).

Genetic origin and admixtures of ancient populations of Eurasia. Tarim mummies ( ) are not related to the Athanasian culture ( ). Instead, they are mostly descended from ancient North Eurasians (ANE, 72%), with relatively minor Baikalian EBA admixture (28%), and remain essentially in genetic isolation. "The so-called western physical features of the Tarim mummies are likely due to their connection to the Pleistocene ANE gene pool."

Established origins

"Tokharian Donors", with fair hair and light eye color, fresco of the 7th century. N. e., Kyzyl, Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China.
Mallory and Mair (2000) suggest the movement of at least two Caucasian physical types into the Tarim Basin. The authors associate these types with the Tocharian and Iranian (Saka) branches of the Indo-European language family, respectively. However, Professor of Archeology and Linguistics Elizabeth Wayland Barber cautions against suggesting that the mummies spoke Tocharian, noting the gap of about a thousand years between the mummies and documented Tocharian: "people can change their language at will without changing a single gene or freckle."

On the other hand, linguistics professor Ronald Kim argues that the amount of divergence between the attested Tocharian languages requires that Proto-Tocharian must have preceded their attestation by about a millennium. This coincides with the time frame during which the Tarim Basin culture was present in the region.

Map of Eurasia showing the location of the Xiaohe Cemetery, the Tarim Basin, and areas occupied by cultures associated with the settlement of the Tarim Basin.
B. E. Hemphill's biodistance analysis of cranial indices (cited in Larsen 2002 and Schurr 2001) questioned the identification of the Tarim Basin population as European, noting that the early population was closely related to the Indus Valley population and the later population to the Oxus River Valley Population . Because craniometry can produce results that make no sense at all (such as a close relationship between Neolithic populations in Ukraine and Portugal) [better source needed] and therefore have no historical significance, any putative genetic relationship has be consistent with geographic plausibility and be supported by other evidence.

Han Kangxin, who examined the skulls of 302 mummies, found the closest relatives of the earlier population of the Tarim Basin in the populations of the Athanasian culture, located immediately north of the Tarim basin, and the Andronov culture, which covered Kazakhstan and extended south to West Central Asia and the Altai.

Mallory and Mair (2000:294–296, 314–318) attribute the earliest Bronze Age settlers to the Tarim and Turpan basins specifically to the Athanasian culture. The Athanasian culture (ca. 3500–2500 BC) shows cultural and genetic links with Indo-European-related cultures of the Eurasian steppe, but predates the specifically Indo-Iranian-associated Andronov culture (ca. 2000–900 BC). BC), enough to separate the Tocharian languages from Indo-Iranian linguistic innovations such as satemization.

Hemphill & Mallory (2004) confirm a second Caucasian physical type at Alvigul (700–1 BC) and Croran (200 AD), distinct from the earlier one found at Kavrigul (1800 BC . e.) and Yanbulaku (1100–500 BC):

Tarim mummies have a strong genetic affinity with the ancient inhabitants of Northern Eurasia (represented here by human MA-1 of the Malta-Buret culture (c. 24,000 BC)
This study supports Hahn's [1998] claim that the inhabitants of Alvigul and Croran are not descended from proto-European steppe populations, but are most closely related to Eastern Mediterranean populations. Furthermore, the results show that such Eastern Mediterraneans can also be found in the urban centers of the Oxus civilization located in the northern Bactrian oasis to the west. The affinities are particularly close between Croran, the latest of the Xinjiang samples, and Sapalli, the earliest of the Bactrian samples, while Alvigul and the later Bactrian samples show a more distant phenetic relationship. This pattern may reflect a possible major shift in interregional contacts in Central Asia in the early centuries of the second millennium BC.

Mallory and Mair associate this later (700 BC–AD 200) Caucasian physical type with a population that brought the Saka Iranian language to the western part of the Tarim Basin.

Meir concluded:

From the available evidence, we found that during the first 1000 years after the Lulan beauty, the only settlers in the Tarim Basin were Caucasians. East Asian peoples began to appear in the eastern parts of the Tarim Basin about 3,000 years ago, Mayr said, while Uyghur peoples arrived after the collapse of the Orkon Uyghur kingdom, which was mostly based in what is now Mongolia, around 842.

Zhang et al. (2021) suggested that the "Western" features of the early Tarim mummies can be attributed to their ancient North Eurasian origin. Previous craniometric analyzes of the early Tarim mummies revealed that they formed a separate cluster of their own, which did not merge with either the European steppe herders of the Andronov and Afanasyev cultures, nor with the inhabitants of the West Asian BMAC culture or the East Asian population. further east.

Historical records and related texts

Chinese sources

Western Regions Protectorate

Mummy of baby Tarim, the son of a Cherchen man, approximately 1000 BC.
The Western Regions (Hsi-yu; Chinese: 西域; pinyin: Xīyù; Wade–Giles: Hsi1-yü4) is a historical name in China between the 3rd century BC and the 8th century AD. for regions west of the Yumen Pass, including the Tarim and Central Asia.

Some peoples of the western regions are described in Chinese sources as having thick beards, red or blond hair, deep-set blue or green eyes, and high noses. According to Chinese sources, the city-states of Tarim reached the peak of their political power during the 3rd-4th centuries AD. e., although this may actually indicate an increase in Chinese involvement in Tarim after the collapse of the Kushan Empire.

Yuezhi

The reference to the name Yuezhi was probably made around the 7th century BC by the Chinese philosopher Guan Zhong, although his book is generally considered a later forgery.: 115–127 Guan Zhong described a group called the Yuzhi 禺氏 or Niuzhi 牛 氏 as a people from the northwest who supplied jade to the Chinese from the nearby Yuzhi Mountains 禺氏 in Gansu.

After the Yuezhi suffered a series of serious defeats at the hands of the Huns, during the 2nd century BC, a group known as the Great Yuezhi migrated to Bactria, where they founded the Kushan Empire. By the 1st century AD, the Kushan Empire had expanded significantly and may have annexed part of the Tarim Basin.

Tokharian languages

A wooden tablet with an inscription showing the Tocharian B in its Brahmic form. Kucha, China, 5th-8th century (Tokyo National Museum)
The degree of differentiation between the language known to modern scholars as Tocharian A (or by the endonym Ārśi-käntwa; "language of Ārśi") and Tocharian B (Kuśiññe; [adjective] "from Kuchi, Kuchi"), as well as the less attested Tocharian C (which associated with the city-state of Kroran, also known as Lulan), and the lack of evidence for their existence beyond Tarim generally indicates that a common Proto-Kharic language existed in Tarim in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. The Tocharian language is attested in documents between the 3rd and 9th centuries AD, although the first known epigraphic evidence dates from the 6th century AD.

Although the Tarim mummies predate the Tokharian texts by about 2,000 years, their shared geographic location and ties to Western Eurasia have led many scholars to suggest that these mummies were related to the Tokharian peoples.

Arguments of cultural transmission from the West to the East

The presence of speakers of Indo-European languages in the Tarim basin is possible until about 2000 BC. e. can, if confirmed, be interpreted as evidence that cultural exchanges took place between Indo-European and Chinese populations at a very early date. It has been suggested that techniques such as chariot warfare and bronze making may have been carried eastward by these Indo-European nomads. Mallory and Mair also note that: “By about 2000 B.C. e. finds of metal artifacts in China are extremely few, simple and, surprisingly, already made of copper alloy (and therefore questionable).

Mummy of the " Beauty

Noting that the debate over whether bronze technology made its way from China to the West or whether "the earliest bronze technology in China was stimulated by contacts with western steppe cultures" is far from settled in scholarship, they suggest that the evidence currently favors the latter scenario . However, culture and technology in the northwestern Tarim Basin region were less developed than those of East China's Yellow River Erlitou (2070 BC ~ 1600 BC) or Mazjiao (3100 BC) cultures ~ 2600 BC), of the earliest bronze culture. using cultures in China, meaning that the northwestern region did not use copper or any other metal until bronze technology was introduced to the region by the Shang Dynasty around 1600 BC. The earliest bronze artifacts in China are found at the site of Mazjiao (between 3100 and 2700 BC), and it is from this site and time period the Chinese Bronze Age spread. Bronze metallurgy in China originated in a period called the Erlitou (Wade-Giles: Erh-li-t'ou), which some historians believe places it within the range of dates controlled by the Shang dynasty. Others believe that the Erlitou sites belong to the earlier Xia dynasty (Wade-Giles: Xia). The US National Gallery of Art defines the Chinese Bronze Age as “the period between about 2000 B.C. and 771 BC,” which begins with the Erlitou culture and ends abruptly with the collapse of Western Zhou rule. While this provides a concise frame of reference, it overlooks the continued importance of bronze in Chinese metallurgy and culture. Since this was much later than the discovery of bronze in Mesopotamia, bronze technology may have been imported rather than an independent discovery in China. However, there is reason to believe that bronze production developed within China, separate from external influence.

Chinese official Zhang Qian, who visited Bactria and Sogdiana in 126 BC. e., made the first known Chinese account of many regions west of China. He believed that he had noticed Greek influence in some of the kingdoms. He named Parthia "Ānxī" (Chinese: 安息), which is a transcription of "Arshak" (Arsak), the name of the founder of the Parthian dynasty. Zhang Qian clearly identified Parthia as an advanced urban civilization that cultivated grain and grapes, produced silver coins and leather goods. Zhang Qian equated Parthia's level of development with the cultures of Dayuan in Fergana and Daxia in Bactria.

The supply of jade from the Tarim Basin to China is well known since ancient times, according to Liu (2001): “It is well known that the ancient Chinese rulers were very fond of jade. All of the jade wares excavated from the Shang Dynasty Fuhao Tomb of Zheng Zhengxiang, more than 750 pieces, were from Hotan in modern-day Xinjiang. As early as the middle of the first millennium BC, the Yuezhi were engaged in the jade trade, the main consumers of which were the rulers of agricultural China."

According to a 2008 New York Times article by Ed Wong, Mair was actually banned from leaving the country with 52 genetic samples. However, a Chinese scientist secretly sent him half a dozen, on which the Italian geneticist conducted tests.

Since then, China has banned foreign scientists from studying mummies. According to Wong, "Despite the political problems, the excavation of the burial sites continues."

Lulan Beauty (楼兰美女) or Lulan Beauty (other aliases: Middle-Aged Woman Lulan (楼兰長女)) is a preserved corpse of a woman who lived around 1800 BC in the Xinjiang region of China.

Beauty Lulan
The extremely well-preserved body was discovered in 1980 by Chinese archaeologists along with several other mummies. The body is not of Chinese appearance, which has led to the popular opinion that the woman was of Uyghur origin. The Chinese government banned the study of the mummies, but in 1993 specimens were smuggled out of the country and tested for evidence of European origin. These findings were confirmed by further studies by Chinese researchers in 2007 and 2009. Since then, the mummy has been on display. in museums.

Discovery

The mummy was discovered on April 1, 1980 near the Silk Road in Xinjiang by Chinese archaeologist Mu Shuning (穆舜英) and members of the Archaeological Institute of the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. This is one of the Tarim mummies, named after the place where they were found, the Tarim Basin.

For years, the Chinese government banned mummy DNA testing over fears it would help Uyghur nationalists. In 1993, Victor H. Mayr and Italian geneticist Paolo Francalacci were able to test some tissue samples, and although the Chinese government confiscated the samples, Mayr claims that the Chinese scientist later "slipped into their hands" while they were on their way. They came to the conclusion that the ancestors of the beautiful Lulan came from Europe. Later, in 2007 and 2009, scientists from China's Jilin and Fudan Universities examined the samples and confirmed the findings, suggesting that her ancestors may have traveled to Xinjiang via Siberia. After concluding that the body was not Uyghur, the Chinese government allowed the beautiful Lulan to be exhibited in museums.

In 1980, it was restored by a Japanese artist named Yamaguchi Terunari (山本耀也). Since 2008, the mummy has been exhibited on the second floor of the Xinjiang Museum, the "Hall of Mummies" (古尸馆). The Chinese government has not allowed further access to the mummies by scientists outside of China.

Beauty Lulan

The mummy is wrapped in woolen cloth, oxhide and linen. She wears leather shoes. A few clay articles and some grain were found nearby.

Unlike the Egyptian mummies, which were preserved on purpose, the beauty of Loulan and the other Tarim mummies were preserved unintentionally. The beautiful Lulan was buried near a salt lake in the desert, where the arid and dry conditions preserved even the smallest details of her face, such as her eyelashes.

According to estimates, the woman was about 40 years old at the time of her death. Body height 152-155 cm, blood type O[citation needed].

The researchers verified that her shoes and clothes were worn and repeatedly repaired. Her hair was infested with lice. She inhaled large amounts of sand, dust and charcoal and may have died of lung problems. She lived around 1800 BC.

Significance

After its discovery in Xinjiang, it is widely believed that the mummy, which did not appear to be Chinese, was actually Uyghur. A popular song was written about her. If true, this would provide evidence of a Uyghur presence in Xinjiang approximately 1,200 years before the current historical estimate and would negate China's claims based on the Han dynasty's ~200 BCE conquests.

Taken together, the Tarim mummies provide evidence of the settlement of East Asia by people with European genetic markers much earlier than previously thought. In his 2007 paper on the mummies, Jin Li, a scientist at Fudan University, also claimed to have found evidence of South and East Asian genetic markers among the set, although Victor H. Mair disputes this finding. Elizabeth Wayland Barber examined the fabrics preserved with the mummies and argued that they indicated connections with the Caucasus and even Scotland.

Princess Xiaohe

Not to be confused with Beauty Xiaohe.
Princess Xiaohe (Chinese: 小河公主) or Little River Princess was found in 2003 at the Xiaohe Cemetery in Lop Nur, Xinjiang. She is one of the Tarim mummies and is known as M11 because of the tomb in which she was found. She was buried about 3,800 years ago and has European features, like many other mummies in this complex. She is remarkably well preserved, her clothes, hair and eyelashes still intact.

Princess Xiaohe

Discovery

Map of the Tarim basin and its surroundings. Xiaohe is marked in red near the center of the map.
Princess Xiaohe was discovered by archaeologists from the Xinjiang Institute of Archeology at Xiaohe Cemetery No. 5, Tomb 11, 102 km west of Loulan, Lop Nur, Xinjiang, in 2003. They named her Princess Xiaohe because of the state of her security. that beauty, not her social status; there is no reason to believe that she was more important than the other mummies buried in the complex. It was part of the Xiaohe culture and was buried about 3,800 years ago. She is extremely well preserved, with long eyelashes, clothes and hair. Archaeologists attribute this to the dry, salty conditions of the desert and the tightly closed coffins, which were wrapped in oxhide before burial. When the cowhide dried, it shrunk, closing the coffins. Her body was not embalmed before death, but mummified naturally due to the climate and burial method.

Appearance and inventory

The princess has fair hair and long eyelashes, and some facial features more closely resemble Indo-Europeans than the modern people of the region in which she was found, such as high cheekbones and pale skin. She seems to be smiling a little. Her height was 152 centimeters. She was buried in a white felt hat, a white woolen cloak with tassels and a thong skirt, with fur-lined leather boots on her feet. She had a red rope necklace and a bracelet with a single jade necklace on her right arm. She was buried with wooden pins and three bags of ephedra. Twigs and branches of ephedra were placed next to the body. Grains of wheat and millet, threads made from animal tendons, and animal ears were scattered over her body. A wooden phallic object was placed between her breasts. Like the other mummies in Xiaohe Cemetery, she was buried in a boat-shaped coffin with a wooden pole above it. Her grave had been untouched since her burial, when archaeologists found it in 2003.

Bits of cheese were found on her neck and chest, possibly as food for the afterlife. At first, archaeologists were not sure what the lumps on her body were. However, a 2014 study led by Andriy Shevchenko showed that it was cheese. The cheese found on mummies in this cemetery is the oldest surviving cheese in the world, probably made from kefir sourdough. Her whole body and shoes were also covered in a white substance, probably also a dairy product, but of unknown origin as yet.

Princess Xiaohe

Not to be confused with Beauty Xiaohe.
Princess Xiaohe (Chinese: 小河公主) or Little River Princess was found in 2003 at the Xiaohe Cemetery in Lop Nur, Xinjiang. She is one of the Tarim mummies and is known as M11 because of the tomb in which she was found. She was buried about 3800 years ago and has European features, like many other mummies in this complex. She is unusually well preserved, her clothes, hair and eyelashes are still intact.

Princess Xiaohe

Opening

Map of the Tarim basin and its surroundings. Xiaohe is marked in red near the center of the map.
Princess Xiaohe was discovered by archaeologists of the Xinjiang Institute of Archeology at Xiaohe Cemetery No. 5, Grave 11, 102 km west of Loulan, Lop Nur, Xinjiang, in 2003. They named her Princess Xiaohe because of her state of preservation. and beauty, not her social status; there is no reason to believe that she was more important than other mummies buried in the complex. She was part of the Xiaohe culture and was buried about 3,800 years ago.

She is unusually well preserved, with long eyelashes, clothes and hair. Archaeologists associate this with the dry, salty conditions of the desert and the tightly closed graves, which were wrapped with oxhide before burial. When the cowhide dried, it shrunk, closing the graves. Her body was not embalmed before death, but mummified naturally due to the climate and burial method.

Appearance and inventory

The princess has blond hair and long eyelashes, and some features of the face are more like Indo-Europeans than modern people of the region where she was found, for example, high cheekbones and pale skin. She seems to be smiling slightly. Her height was 152 centimeters. She was buried in a white felt hat, a white woolen cloak with tassels and a thong skirt, with leather boots on fur. She had a red rope necklace and a bracelet with a single jade bead on her right hand. She was buried with wooden pins and three bags of ephedra. Sprigs and branches of ephedra were placed next to the body. Grains of wheat and millet, threads made from tendons of animals, and ears of animals were scattered over her body. A wooden phallic object was placed between her breasts. Like other mummies in the Xiaohe cemetery, she was buried in a boat-shaped coffin with a wooden pole above it. Her grave has not been touched since her burial, when it was found by archaeologists in 2003.

Pieces of cheese were found on her neck and chest, possibly as food for the afterlife. At first, archaeologists weren't sure what the lumps were on her body. However, a 2014 study led by Andriy Shevchenko showed that it was cheese. The cheese found on the mummies in this cemetery is the world's oldest surviving cheese, probably made from kefir sourdough. Her entire body and shoes were also covered in a white substance, probably also a dairy product, but of unknown origin.

Some of the oldest Tarim mummies, found in Kavrigul (Gumugou) and dated to 2100-1800 BC, belong to the Caucasian physical type, which is most closely related to the Bronze Age population of Southern Siberia, Kazakhstan, Central Asia and the Lower Volga .

Notable mummies are the tall, red-haired "man of Charchan" or "Ur-David" (1000 BC); his son (1000 BC), a 1-year-old child with brown hair sticking out from under a red and blue felt cap, with two stones placed over his eyes;