Important Evidence of Ancient Trade

This story presents important news about a possible trading connection between Turkey and China hundreds of years before Silk Road contact (circa 200 BCE), which is generally considered the first contact between East and West. But that "contact date" has been pushed WAY back, because of unique wheat and barley grains discovered in archaeological an dig two years ago, grains that are from Turkey, and date to 2650 BCE. This discovery, evidence of some kind of contact between two distant cultures, dates to approximately the time the beautiful wooden game boards of twenty squares were buried in the tombs at Ur, to be excavated by Woolley in the 1930's. The article mentions the Tarim Basin mummies discovered in 1987 as evidence of Caucasian people with dress similar to that worn in Turkey at the time, the mummies dating back to at least 2,000 BCE and quite possibly beyond. Some of the mummies had red hair and blonde hair, they were also tall - much taller than the "indigenous" Chinese, and they had high-bridged noses. Textile studies have pretty much conclusively confirmed that the Tarim Basin people were immigrants from the west, who arrived before 2000 BCE, using the same weaving techniques and patterns that were prevalent in eastern Europe. (See recommended reading: "The Mummies of Urumchi"). Goddesschess is always interested in news about ancient trade connections because trade is an obvious way to transmit board games from one culture to another. Where people interacted, they spoke, ate, laughed, drank, shared stories. They exchanged gifts, played games, made love and married, in addition to bartering, buying and selling goods of all kinds. As people moved across the lands, they took their culture - and their games - with them. From Archaeology News (a report from Radio ABC Australia): Ancient wheat suggests early China, Middle East trade Last Updated 06/12/2007, 16:12:40 Wheat grains nearly 5,000 years old found at a Chinese archaeological site two years ago, have revealed that western man travelled to China much earlier than previously thought. The research, published by Professor John Dodson and Professor Xiaoqiang Li, shows there are no modern wild varieties of the wheat and barley, which were found in the region in a domesticated form, and carbon dated to 2,650BC. It is now thought they originated in the Middle East, which showed exchanges between China hundreds of years before the Silk Road, previously thought to be the earliest contact, around 200BC. Professor Dodson, from the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, has told Radio Australia's Connect Asia program, "Certainly an exchange of technology," he said."There could have been trade, so I guess we're saying certainly a trade in technology and ideas." Mummy links Professor Dodson says a major archaeological find in the region in 1987, the Xinjiang mummies, may be evidence of those who brought the wheat from the Middle East. Archaeologists discovered around 100 perfectly preserved corpses in a dry, hilly region in China's far northwest, which dated at 4,000 years old, and showed Caucasian features. Professor Dodson says the fact that the mummies were of ordinary families, not royalty, also gives insights into past relationships between China and the west. "The clothing they wore was of a style that was only recognised from Turkey and areas like that, so this seems to be pretty strong evidence that there were people making that journey east 4,000 years ago," he said. "The intriguing thing is that there might be a link between those people bringing in Middle East agricultural practices - there may be a good strong link there between these wheat grains and these barley grains that we're finding." You can find the full interview with Professor Dodson at the Connect Asia website: http://radioaustralia.net.au/connectasia