Carved Marble Sphinx Uncovered in Tang Dynasty Tomb in Northwest China

Hola darlings!

I thought this was interesting.  My first thought was that perhaps the tomb was occupied by persons closely related to the Tocharians either by kinship or by trade.

The marble sphinx unearthed in a tomb in NW China  [Credit: Xinhua]

The marble sphinx unearthed in a tomb in NW China  [Credit: Xinhua]

The photos above are from Archaeology News Network.  Here is the Xinhua article:

Rare marble sphinx unearthed in NW China

English.news.cn   2015-12-15 15:07:18

YINCHUAN, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- A rare well-preserved marble sphinx carving has been unearthed in a tomb in northwest China dating back more than 1,000 years, said Chinese archeologists on Tuesday.

The delicately-carved sphinx statue is 36 cm high with 21 cm long and 13 cm wide base. It has a human face with a bulge on the head and a sitting lion body.

The sphinx statue was excavated in November along with eight warrior, horse, camel and lion carvings in the tomb in Guyuan City, Ningxi Hui Autonomous Region.

The tomb was one of the 29 ancient graves in the area which archeologists have excavated this year to pave way for the construction of a local water plant. More than 150 funeral items, such as carvings, pottery, bronze and iron wares, have been unearthed from the graves so far.

The sphinx statue, made of white marble according to preliminary research, was intact except for minor damage in the middle of the face.

These nine marble carvings showed excellent craftsmanship, said Fan Jun, head of the excavation team of the Ningxia Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute.

According to an epitaph, the tomb housed Liu Jun and his wife, who lived during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

"The style carvings had features from the west and are considered rare for ancient Chinese tombs during that period," said Fan. The white marble material was also rarely seen in north China, he added.

The excavations will help scientists better understand freight transport during the Tang Dynasty, said Fan.

Ningxia was along the ancient Silk Road trade route.

The original half-human, half-lion Sphinx, is believed to have been built by Egyptians 5,000 years ago. The statue is 73 meters long and 21 meters high. It sits on the west bank of the Nile River near the great pyramids of Giza to the west of Cairo.

Editor: An

Hello...Has No Chinese Archaeologist Ever Heard of the Tocharians???

From Xinhua

European man's remains found in ancient Chinese tomb

English.news.cn 2014-08-17 15:06:04 YINCHUAN, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The remains of a human skull found in a 1,400-year-old tomb in China possibly belonged to a man of European origin, an initial investigation by scientists revealed on Sunday. The skull was found in the M1401 tomb in Guyuan City in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. "The man had a protruding nasal bone and a sunk nasion, which are typical features of Europeans," said Zhang Quanchao, professor with the Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology of Jilin University. Zhang believes the skull belonged to a 40-year-old man of European origin.  Further excavation is needed for a firm conclusion, he said. "If we can find his teeth and more bones, we will have a more precise judgement about his age," he said. The tomb was first discovered in the 1980s. Illegal excavation was reported this year, and archaeologists began to unearth the tomb in June for protection.  More than 40 clay figures, copper coins and a number of murals were found in the tomb, according to Zhu Cunshi, head of the archaeological team. Zhu said the tomb was built in the early Tang Dynasty (618-907).  Ningxia is along the ancient Silk Road that connected China with Europe through commerce. Editor: Xiang Bo Wall painting of "Tocharian Princes" from Cave of the Sixteen Sword-Bearers (no. 8), Qizil, Tarim Basin, Xinjiang, China. Carbon 14 date: 432–538 AD. Original in Museum für Indische Kunst, Berlin. You can't really see the faces in this image, but you can see the color of three of the four men's hair -- two redheads and one blonde.

Special Travelling Exhibition Upcoming at China Institute

Looks fabulous!  List of Travelling Exhibitions. 

Dunhuang:
Buddhist Art at the Gateway of the Silk Road

China Institute Gallery February 7—June 9, 2013

Seated Buddha
Tang dynasty (618–907)
Clay
25 ⅕ x 11 ⅖ x 7 ⅞ inches (64 × 29 × 20 cm)
Dunhuang Academy

Situated at a major crossroads of the ancient Silk Road, Dunhuang is one of the world’s most esteemed cultural heritage sites. Dunhuang: Buddhist Art at the Gateway of the Silk Road brings into vivid focus the customs and practices of local Buddhists and illuminates the significance of the city as a crucial point of cultural exchange between East and West. Featuring sculpture, painted clay reliefs, calligraphy, Buddhist scriptures, and modeled bricks from the caves, this exhibition introduces the art and ritual practices from the golden eras of the Northern Wei and Tang dynasties. The diverse cultural history at Dunhuang is reflected in the evolution of the motifs and styles at work in these paintings and sculptures, and the crucial intersections of secular and religious, national and international, and East and West are revealed in these exceptional artifacts.
This exhibition is organized by China Institute Gallery and the Dunhuang Academy. It is curated by Fan Jinshi, Director of the Dunhuang Academy.

Pamir Plateau Yields Tombs

Were these tombs laid out in a stone circle of some kind?  It's unclear from the article and I couldn't find photographs online (so far).  Perhaps the use of the term "ray" and "ray-like" is misleading, because that implies rays from a 'sun' - a circle.  Were the tombs themselves circular?  Notice the use of the term "diameter" in measuring the tombs - isn't that a term generally used only to describe a measurement of circles? 

Xinhuanet.com

Mysterious tombs discovered on Pamirs Plateau

English.news.cn 2011-10-12 13:40:28 TAXKORGAN, Xinjiang, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese archaeologists have discovered an unidentified cluster of tombs on the Pamirs Plateau, unveiling a new mystery on the crossroads of the ancient Silk Road. Eights tombs, each two meters in diameter, were arranged on a 100-meter-long and 50-meter-wide terrace, with lines of black stones and lines of white stones stretching alongside like rays, according to the archaeology team with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences that found the tombs in Xinjiang's Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, a border region neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan, in October. "The tombs are peculiar. No similar ones had been detected before on the Pamirs Plateau, or even in all of Central Asia," team captain Wu Xinhua said, adding that the discovery shows a gap between their knowledge and studies, and previous findings along the Silk Road. Wu believes that the ray-like stone strings might imply sun worship, but he admitted his assumption lacked sufficient evidence. But the archaeology team is quite certain that people buried in the tombs had dignified social statuses as the black stones were carried from afar and the terrace for the tomb platform would have been a rare land resource in the area. Located at the intersection of eastern and western cultures, the tomb cluster could reflect a deep historical background, Wu said. A local archaeologist said local nomads spotted an additional three similar tomb clusters in the township where the archaeology team discovered the tombs with ray-like stones. Editor: Xiong Tong **************************************************************************

Persians? Sogdians? Tocharians?  As far as I can tell, this is in the general area where those "red-haired, white-skinned" burials were uncovered in the Tarim Basin, that date back to around 2000 BCE.  No word in this article how old these burials may be.  Will we ever know?

Silk Road Loulan

Loulan did not "mysterously disappear."  It died because its water sources slowly dried up and the area turned to desert.  Now it's buried under layers of drifting sand. 

From UPI

Science News

Vanished Silk Road city studied in China

Published: Oct. 4, 2011 at 8:30 PM

BEIJING, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Chinese archaeologists say they've found evidence of agricultural activity in an ancient vanished city that was a pivotal stop along the famous Silk Road.

Scientists from the Institute of Geology and Geophysics said remote sensing procedures, field investigations and sample testing in the area showed there were once large tracts of farmland in Loulan, an important trading city that mysteriously disappeared in the third century A.D., China's official news agency Xinhua reported Sunday.

Farmland featuring regular and straight plots stretching for 200 to 1,000 yards, as well as irrigation ditches running throughout, have been found, Qin Xiaoguang, a member of the research team, said.

Grain particles in the area's ground surface are very likely the remains of crop plants, Qin said.

Evidence of an ancient canal measuring 10 to 20 yards wide and 5 feet deep suggest the city, which is thought to have perished in drought, was once rich in water resources, the researchers said.

Rare Ancient Silk Material Discovered in Sri Lanka

From colombopage.com
Piece of silk cloth belonged to 2nd century AD discovered from Sri Lanka
Mon, Mar 14, 2011, 09:13 pm SL Time, Colombo
Page News Desk, Sri Lanka.

Mar 14, Colombo: The Archeological Department of Sri Lanka announced the discovery of a piece of silk cloth belonged to the second century AD.

The piece of silk cloth was excavated from an ancient Buddhist pagoda, Kotavehera Stupa at Daliwala in Rambukkana of Kegalle district.

Tests conducted by an Australian archeological expert has proven that the piece of cloth belonged to the second century, said the Archeological Commissioner General Dr. Senarath Dissanayake.

He pointed out that such ancient evidence had not been discovered even from India.

The discovery proves the use of silk in ancient Sri Lanka even though there were no reports of silk being manufactured in the country indicating that Sri Lanka was part of the ancient "Silk Road".

Several other artifacts were also discovered from the excavation site, where excavation commenced in 2001.

****************************************************

There is definitely a political propaganda tone to this news article, but it is, nonetheless, a very important discovery.

The Silk Road Exhibit is ON in Philadelphia!

Sorry for not having reported on this sooner.  The article is from February 20th.  I am pleased and happy to report that the Chinese government decided, at the last moment, to allow the mummies from Urumchi and elsewhere to go on exhibit, after all, in Philadelphia.  You will recall that the exhibit of the mummies and many other artifacts was cancelled/prohibited by the Chinese government after months of preparation went into the event and after having been exhibited elsewhere in the United States!  No explanation was every given for this unbelievable act.  Perhaps they expected no one would notice or complain?  But unlike in China, where there is censorship and Big Brother spies everywhere, people in this country and our press are still free (although at times it doesn't seem like it, heh?)  Perhaps all the outrage poured forth on hundreds of blogs and in newspaper articles in all of the major papers changed someone's mind?  Who knows.  The artifacts are on view through March 28 at the Penn Museum, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia; (215) 898-4000, penn.museum.

Exhibition Review
Another Stop on a Long, Improbable Journey
By EDWARD ROTHSTEIN
Published: February 20, 2011

PHILADELPHIA — There are times, at the Penn Museum here, when you are almost hesitant to breathe. And it has nothing to do with the recent flurry of events in which Chinese officials suddenly forbid the display of the remarkable objects in the exhibition “Secrets of the Silk Road,” ultimately relenting and allowing them to be shown for just a short time. These doings (about which more later) are scarcely blinks in the history of these objects.

Most of these astonishing artifacts should have ceased to exist long ago. Exposed to breath and light, you can imagine them disintegrating into powdery mist: silk pillows and robes, thin brocades of cloth with floral patterns and rich colors, woven baskets, felt hats, a braided fried dough twist, feathers from caps and arrows. Ephemera, surely: these are not lasting things of stone, bone and gold, and the newest are at least 1,000 years old.

And speaking of ephemera, what of the bundled infant, whose light-brown hair can be seen peeking out of a blue cashmere cap? It is wrapped in a wool cloth tied with thick cords of red and blue. Two rectangular blue stones rest over its eyes, and at its side is a prehistoric nursing bottle made from a goat’s bladder. The baby’s age? Less than 10 months, or, reckoning from its death, 28 centuries.

In another part of this 6,000-square-foot exhibition lies the body of a woman wrapped in a wool cloak, her lavish brown hair draped to the side of her face, long lashes still framing her sunken eyes. Her skin, tinged with a white coating is eerily sensuous. That must have been a cold winter: she is still wearing fur-lined leather boots. She is in her early 40s, we are told, though that was at least 3,500 years ago. The Beauty of Xiaohe she’s called, and we forgive the poetic liberty, because in her death, against all the cautionary chastisements of later centuries, even that ephemeral aesthetic property remains intact.

These artifacts and bodies have all been uncovered from under the inhospitable sands of the Tarim Basin in the far western Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, where the seasonal temperatures range from 40 degrees below zero Fahrenheit to 104 degrees above. Bodies seem to have been preserved not by design — the way the ancient Egyptians prepared for the afterlife — but accidentally. When buried during the winters, in tightly sealed coffins, many corpses were preserved from the indignities of decay by mineral salts and dry weather. The harshness of that environment is in sharp contrast to the almost genteel delicacy of the objects discovered there in recent decades in ancient cemeteries.

But the extremes may be in keeping with the political environment that led to recent controversies. The two mummies (on view until March 15) and the artifacts on loan from China (on view until March 28), are part of an exhibition organized by the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, Calif., that opened there a year ago; it also traveled to the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Victor Mair, a leading scholar of these artifacts and a professor of Chinese language and literature at the University of Pennsylvania, is editor of the informative exhibition catalog and has served as a consultant, shaping the show for the Penn Museum (formally known as the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology).

This, the show’s final stop, was to last from Feb. 5 through June 5. Special timed tickets were sold, events and lectures planned. The exhibition was expected to elevate the income and stature of this already distinguished museum.

Just days before the opening, though, the Chinese government announced that no objects could be shown at all, even though they had already been displayed in Santa Ana and Houston. No explanations were offered, and no museum official would comment. Photographs were substituted for the missing items and admission prices eliminated. One museum spokesman attributed the problem to a “miscommunication” and would not elaborate. Then, last week, negotiations led to the abbreviated schedule.

Look around and you can begin to see why these artifacts might have more than a purely anthropological or aesthetic importance. It would be foolhardy to think that they reflect a single culture. The Tarim Basin is a sixth the size of China and nearly the size of Western Europe; artifacts here range over thousands of years from multiple sites.

Moreover the exhibition’s title is too narrow. The Silk Road, a network of trading routes that crossed the Basin region, was in its prime during the first millennium. These artifacts reach back to the Bronze Age. Sometime between 1800 B.C. and 1500 B.C., the Beauty of Xiahoe was buried. Would she have had any familiarity with the uncannily well-preserved pastries shown here that have a freshness date of sometime in the ninth century? A lot happens in 2,500 years.

In addition the exhibition text points out that even before the height of the Silk Road the basin was a multicultural area. Records of 28 different languages have been found there, including Tocharian, unique to the region. Buddhism was practiced (as several artifacts show); so were Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity and Judaism. Conquests by Islam and by Genghis Khan’s armies led to still other transformations.

Exhibition Review
Another Stop on a Long, Improbable JourneyPublished: February 20, 2011
Recommend
Twitter
Sign In to E-Mail

Print

Single Page


Reprints

Share
Close
LinkedinDiggMixxMySpacePermalink. (Page 2 of 2)



In addition the exhibition text points out that even before the height of the Silk Road the basin was a multicultural area. Records of 28 different languages have been found there, including Tocharian, unique to the region. Buddhism was practiced (as several artifacts show); so were Zoroastrianism, Nestorian Christianity and Judaism. Conquests by Islam and by Genghis Khan’s armies led to still other transformations.

Multimedia
Slide Show ‘Secrets of the Silk Road’.Blog
ArtsBeat
The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.

More Arts News
.One of the most remarkable sets of artifacts are the trappings of a man found at Yingpan, dating from the third to the fifth century. His mummy was too fragile to travel, but his clothes are arrayed in a coffinlike space and reflected in a tilted mirror. He was 6 feet 6 inches tall and buried with a Roman glass bowl that might have come from Syria. The pillow he rests on, we are told, shows the influence of Han Chinese culture, but his elaborately decorated clothes include images from Greek and Roman mythology. The hypothesis is that he was a Sogdian trader from the eastern region of Iran. His features do not have any affinity to those of Eastern Asia.

This is the crux of the matter, for most bodies found in this region have what are called Caucasoid features. And though many objects here are clearly associated with later Chinese traditions — like the delicate figurines of women making pottery (from the seventh to ninth centuries) — others come from cultural worlds that can still not be clearly identified.

A felt hat from the fifth to third centuries B.C. could easily be imagined atop the head of a Tarim leprechaun. (The exhibition notes that some textile patterns seem related to Celtic styles.)

The Beauty of Xiaohe mummy not only has features that seem alien to the region, but she was also buried in a style that has little connection with local traditions of later millenniums. The wooden coffins in her cemetery are shaped like overturned boats and sealed with clay and mud; women seem to have been buried with icons representing the phallus, men with icons of the vulva. (That cemetery is near a dried up riverbed, which may help account for the boatlike coffins and the ready use of wood in burial artifacts.)

As Mr. Mair points out, the basin, because of its geographic isolation and brutal climate, was one of the last areas on the planet settled by humans. It also proved, he says in the catalog, to be an “unparalleled storehouse of genetic, anthropological and cultural material of peoples who entered it from all directions at different times during the last four millenniums.” Recent genetic research on DNA samples also suggests that there was far more migration of populations than was once thought in the era before the Silk Road.

The problem is that right now this is the worst possible news, given the political climate. There are hints in the catalog of problems Western scholars have confronted: incomplete skeletal remains, unreleased photographs, difficulty in conducting genetic analysis. The unexpected appearance of non-Chinese-seeming cultures and bodies in this region is being treated a bit like the way some American Indian tribes treated the 1996 discovery of Kennewick Man in Washington State, his prehistoric remains showing Caucasoid or Asian features; the tribes asserted ownership over the remains and wanted to prevent scientific analysis.

In this case the issues have ramifications in territorial claims on this oil-rich region. One museum in Xinjiang insists that the territory “has been an inalienable part of the territory of China.” But in 1993 the Chinese government was concerned enough to prevent Mr. Mair from leaving China with 52 tissue samples after having authorized him to go to Xinjiang and collect them. And the region’s Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim people, have hailed the discovery of these non-East Asian mummies as proof of their own historical claims. There is a separatist movement of Uighurs; there are also Chinese attempts to rein in Islam in the region.

But the DNA and cultural analysis support neither opposing claim. (Nor would it matter if they did.) In a helpful essay in the current issue of the Penn Museum’s magazine Mr. Mair points out that xinjiang means “new borders.” That’s what were established in the region when it was conquered by the Chinese in the 19th century and what were created again, when, after an era of independence, Chinese control was reasserted in the 20th century, turning it into an “autonomous region.”

In the catalog Lothar von Falkenhausen, an art historian at the University of California at Los Angeles, suggests, “The present exhibition, for reasons connected with the historical situation of Xinjiang today, particularly emphasizes the Chinese cultural impact on the ‘Western Regions.’ ” Maybe Mr. Mair’s particular emphasis on cosmopolitan themes made the Chinese particularly nervous, but other visitors, can only react with something like awe at how much there is still to learn from what is buried in the sands, and what an enduring impact ephemera can have.

China Demands Removal of Artifacts from Silk Road Exhibit...

The "Beauty of Xiaohe". Image from Penn Current.
Buried circa 1800 BCE, one of approximately
500 mummies excavated in the Tarim Basin
over the past 40 years.

...that it had agreed to be exhibited in the ground-breaking exhibition.  No explanation was given for their demands.  The host museum (the Penn, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) complied with the demands and have withdrawn two Tarim Basin mummies from the exhibit (they would have been a HUGE draw), along with some 100 rare artifacts never before seen outside of China.  Evidently China has thrown another hissy fit for reasons that only it knows (but we can make some educated surmises).  The Penn people aren't talking.  What was to be a block-buster exhibit that presold thousands of tickets will now have that money refunded and a much reduced exhibit, with photos of the missing mummies and artifacts, offered instead.  The reduced exhibit will be open to all visitors ot the museum who pay its general admission.  The exhibit - with mummies and artifacts - has already been viewed at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California and the Houston Museum of Natural Science before the final exhibit at the Penn Museum. 

Story at Pasthorizons.com
China demands removal of mummies and artifacts from Silk Road exhibition
February 3, 2011

Some possible hints about why the artifacts and mummies were pulled at the last second by the Chinese government (who conveniently turn blind eyes to the concepts of  "contract" and "rule of law") may be found in this article at the Los Angeles Times:

China thwarts 'Silk Road' exhibition in Philly -- and Bowers Museum could be out $27,500
February 3, 2011 | 10:38 am

February 2, 2011, 2:54 pm
China Asks Penn to Remove All Artifacts From ‘Silk Road’ Exhibition
By RANDY KENNEDY

New Barbarians at the Gate

Story from the DeKalb County Times-Journal Online

Chinese mine in Afghanistan threatens ancient find
Posted: Thursday, November 11, 2010 3:17 pm
Heidi Vogt, The Associated Press

MES AYNAK, Afghanistan (AP) - It was another day on the rocky hillside, as archaeologists and laborers dug out statues of Buddha and excavated a sprawling 2,600-year-old Buddhist monastery. A Chinese woman in slacks, carrying an umbrella against the Afghan sun, politely inquired about their progress.

She had more than a passing interest. The woman represents a Chinese company eager to develop the world's second-biggest unexploited copper mine, lying beneath the ruins.

The mine is the centerpiece of China's drive to invest in Afghanistan, a country trying to get its economy off the ground while still mired in war. Beijing's $3.5 billion stake in the mine - the largest foreign investment in Afghanistan by far - gets its foot in the door for future deals to exploit Afghanistan's largely untapped mineral wealth, including iron, gold, and cobalt. The Afghan government stands to reap a potential $1.2 billion a year in revenues from the mine, as well as the creation of much-needed jobs.

But Mes Aynak is caught between Afghanistan's hopes for the future and its history. Archaeologists are rushing to salvage what they can from a major 7th Century B.C. religious site along the famed Silk Road connecting Asia and the Middle East. The ruins, including the monastery and domed shrines known as "stupas," will likely be largely destroyed once work at the mine begins.

Hanging over the situation is the memory of the Buddhas of Bamiyan - statues towering up to 180 feet high in central Afghanistan that were dynamited to the ground in 2001 by the country's then-rulers, the Taliban, who considered them symbols of paganism.

No one wants to be blamed for similarly razing history at Mes Aynak, in the eastern province of Logar. The Chinese government-backed China Metallurgical Group Corp., or MCC, wanted to start building the mine by the end of 2011. But under an informal understanding with the Kabul government, it has has given archaeologists three years for a salvage excavation.

Archaeologists working on the site since May say that won't be enough time for full preservation.

"That site is so massive that it's easily a 10-year campaign of archaeology," said Laura Tedesco, an archaeologist brought in by the U.S. Embassy to work on sites in Afghanistan. Three years may be enough time just to document what's there, she said.

Philippe Marquis, a French archaeologist advising the Afghans, said the salvage effort is piecemeal and "minimal," held back by lack of funds and personnel.

Around 15 Afghan archaeologists, three French advisers and a few dozen laborers are working within the 2-sq. kilometer (0.77 sq.-mile) area - a far smaller team than the two dozen archaeologists and 100 laborers normally needed for a site of such size and richness.

"This is probably one of the most important points along the Silk Road," said Marquis. "What we have at this site, already in excavation, should be enough to fill the (Afghan) national museum."

The monastery complex has been dug out, revealing hallways and rooms decorated with frescoes and filled with clay and stone statues of standing and reclining Buddhas, some as high as 10 feet tall. An area that was once a courtyard is dotted with stupas standing four or five feet high.

More than 150 statues have been found so far, though many remain in place. Large ones are too heavy to be moved, and the team lacks the chemicals needed to keep small ones from disintegrating when extracted.

MCC appears to be pushing the archaeologists to finish ahead of schedule. In July, the archaeologists received a letter from the company asking that parts of the dig be wrapped up by August and the rest to be done by the end of 2010.

A copy of the letter - signed by MJAM, the acronym for the joint venture in charge of the mine, MCC-JCL Aynak Minerals Co. - was provided to The Associated Press by the head of the archaeological team. MCC and MJAM officials did not respond to requests for comment.

August has come and gone, and excavations at Mes Aynak continue. But the Afghan archaeologist overseeing the dig said he has no idea when MCC representatives might tell him his work is over. So he tries not to think about deadlines.

"We would like to work according to our principles. If we don't work according to the principles of archaeology, then we are no different from traffickers," Abdul Rauf Zakir said.

The team hopes to lift some of the larger statues and shrines out before winter sets in this month, but they still haven't procured the crane and other equipment needed.

Mes Aynak, 20 miles (30 kilometers) south of Kabul, lies in a province that is still considered a major transit route for insurgents coming from Pakistan. In July, two U.S. sailors were kidnapped and killed in Logar. Around 1,500 Afghan police guard the mine site and the road.

Promised funding from foreign governments has yet to materialize. The Afghan government has alloted $2 million for the dig and is trying to find another $5-10 million, said Deputy Culture Minister Omar Sultan.

The United States has promised funding but hasn't yet figured out how much, said a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman, Mireille Zieseniss.

Mes Aynak's religious sites and copper deposits have been bound together for centuries - "mes" means "copper" in the local Dari language. Throughout the site's history, artisanal miners have dug up copper to adorn statues and shrines.

Afghan archaeologists have known since the 1960s about the importance of Mes Aynak, but almost nothing had been excavated. When the Chinese won the contract to exploit the mine in 2008, there was no discussion with Kabul about the ruins - only about money, security and building a railroad to transport the copper out of Logar's dusty hills.

But a small band of Afghan and French archaeologists raised a stir and put the antiquities on the agenda.

The mine could be a major boost for the Afghan economy. According to the Afghan Mining Ministry, it holds some 6 million tons of copper (5.52 million metric tons), worth tens of billions of dollars at today's prices. Developing the mine and related transport infrastructure will generate much needed jobs and economic activity.

Waheedullah Qaderi, a Mining Ministry official working on the antiquities issue, said MCC shares the government goal of protecting heritage while starting mining as soon as possible.

A good resolution is important for MCC "because it is their first-ever project in Afghanistan," Qaderi said. MCC is expected to make an offer for another lucrative mineral prize - the Hajigak iron mine in central Afghanistan, estimated to hold 1.9 billion tons (1.8 billion metric tonnes) of iron ore. Kabul opened bidding to develop the mine in late September and is expected to award the contract late this year or in early 2011.

Still, a diplomat briefed on internal meetings says MCC has pressured Kabul to stop archaeologists from looking for new places to dig beyond the 12 sites already found. The diplomat spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Marquis said MCC has been cooperative and has helped the archaeologists, hauling dirt away and asking what more needs to be done.

Zakir, the Afghan archaeologist, laughs. "Yes, they are very helpful. They want to help so that we can finish quickly. They want us gone."

Links for You ---

Sorry - it's one of those weeks. 'Normal' may return by mid-week next week. Starting tomorrow through Monday will be absolutely crazy personally, including my very first every OTB chess tournament, so please bear with me, darlings :)

Here is a selection of links to stories I hope you will enjoy:

Indianexpress.com
Tarini wins national chess title
Posted: Mon Oct 11 2010, 01:17 hrs
Posted by Chandigarh
Adding another feather to her cap, Tarini Goyal, the chess prodigy from Chandigarh, won the title in the 24th Under-9 Girls National Chess Championship played at Ahmedabad. Tarini, a Class IV student of Sacred Heart School, scored 10 points in the 11-round tournament.

Check out Pogonina at Chessbase.com:
Sexy and smart: Natalia on Brazilian Radio Xadrez
11.10.2010 – She is beautiful, smart, fun and super strong in chess. We are talking about the WGM Natalia Andreevna Pogonina, 25 years old, a resident of Saratov in Russia. At 2491 Elo points (she's had up to 2501), she defended the #1 board of Russia-2 in the Chess Olympics. Now Natalia, a law student, has given an indepth interview on different aspects of her life.

Perhaps the most exsquisite silk made in ancient China, "jili" silk, may soon go the way of the dinosaur. How absolutely fricking sad. This silk was traded along the ancient Silk Road, that introduced games from the east into the west, and games from the west into the East.  Hey - China - can't you learn from the mistakes of countries that entered the "industrial age" 150 years before you, heh? Geez!
From The New York Times:
Silk Craft Fades in Village That Clothed Emperors
By EDWARD WONG
Published: October 11, 2010

Northwest China Had Bronze Production Early On

We know the area around the Tarim Basin where the world-famous Urumchi mummies and others were discovered might not always have been a desert, because some of the grave yards were surrounded with wooden stockades, and many of the discovered graves were covered with wood. (See book cover, below, showing one such location).

In a desert, there would have been no wood. The most obvious answer seems to be that the people who became the mummies were there and were buried before the area became a desert. But then, how did they become mummies? As I understand it, the current theory says that the mummies were naturally dessicated by the sere surroundings. It would have been a process akin to what happened to bodies buried in the sand in pre-dynastic Egypt, before elaborate embalming and mummification rituals were created.


But, a climate that would have supported enough trees to supply the wood necessary to construct the graveyards would imply a climate that was not conducive to the formation of dessicated mummies. So, I am at a loss.

You can trace out the ancient northern route of the Silk Road by following the towns: Turpan, Korla, Urumchi, Kuqa, Aksa, Kashgar. Between the northern route and the southern route (which was a killer, with water stops few and far between, but the shorter route), a vast nothingness, quite visible even today on the modern maps.

This article, which presents important information about the early history of bronze smelting in Gansu Province in northwest of China, also indicates that research reveals that the climate once supported trees and farming, and that the people only left after the destruction of all of the trees, when the land turned to desert (I envision a process akin to what caused the Dust Bowl in the 1930's in the USA).

The ancient gateway city of Dunhuang, on the famed Silk Road (c. 200 BCE - 220 CE), which was travelled some 2000 years after the mummies of Urumchi were buried and 3000 years after the Beauty of Loulan was buried, was the last stop for travelers westward to stock up on supplies before venturing forth across the vast horrible stretch of the Taklamakan Desert. It is located on the western border of Ganshu Province.

China had bronze early on
Thursday, 03 December 2009
Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation

ANSTO research has shown that an area of desert in north-western China was once a thriving Bronze Age manufacturing and agricultural site. The new findings may help shed light on the origins and development of the earliest applications of Bronze Age technology.

Dating, using ANSTO’s precision techniques, was used to identify the age of seeds, slag, copper ore and charcoal at two sites. The findings show the material is up to 3700 years old, but that smelting was still being carried out as recently as 1300 years ago.

The research indicates bronze production may have begun as early as 2135 BC and that the modern mine location - Baishantang at Dingxin - was possibly the historical source of copper ore for manufacturing. ANSTO’s Professor John Dodson conducted the research in conjunction with scientists from the State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology in China. A photo of the study site is on the November issue of the journal “Quaternary Research”.

“This research takes us a step closer to discovering the origins and development of bronze manufacturing in China,” said Professor Dodson. “Further research will look at whether bronze technology was invented in several places around the world independently, or whether the technology was transferred from a single centre of origin.”

“The aim of the study was to determine possible sources of ore and evidence of bronze production through analysis of artefacts (with copper and arsenic content) including analysing samples of slag and copper ore from two archaeological sites known as Ganggangwa and Huoshiliang in northwestern Gansu Province,“ he said.

The research used lead and strontium isotopic analysis to identify and age ornaments, knives, rings, hemispherical objects and spearheads.

The team discovered substantial areas of woody vegetation around the sites which is now dominated by sand dunes. The Bronze Age people of the Gansu area were farmers who planted cereals such as wheat and practiced animal husbandry. Horse and sheep bones are common. It is believed they may have abandoned the region when wood was exhausted and desertification took over.

Mural reveals ancient connection to Uzbekistan

Fascinating! As a side note, it was at Afrasiab that several firgural ivory pieces were excavated that were positively identifed as pieces belonging to a chess set, dating to c. 761CE. From JoongAng Daily The painting is significant because it could prove Korea sent envoys to Uzbekistan in the 7th century. November 27, 2009 In most cases, replicas of ancient treasures or great works of art are treated with contempt. But with relics that are at risk of aging or disintegration, replicas can play an integral role in our understanding of the original works and the time in which they were made. In 1965, a mural was discovered in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, when local authorities decided to build a road in the middle of the Afrasiab tepe. A tepe is a mound marking an ancient site, in this case pre-Mongol Samarkand. When it was found, the mural was weathered and its images obscured. But those who discovered it had the foresight to make a drawing of it, from which replicas have been made. A replica of this mural is now being shown as part of the exhibit “The Crossroads of Civilizations: The Asian Culture of Uzbekistan” until September of next year at the National Museum of Korea’s Asian Arts Gallery. The relics in the exhibition show the historical connection between ancient Korea and Uzbekistan through the Silk Road. Considering the distance and the travel routes in place at the time, the history of the relationship that developed between the two countries is indeed remarkable. The mural is significant because it could prove that Korea sent envoys to Uzbekistan via the Silk Road as early as the 7th century. In the 7th century, the mural covered all four walls of a room in Afrasiab Palace in Samarkand, with each wall depicting a different scene. The western wall depicts what are believed to be two Korean men from the Goguryeo Dynasty (37 B.C.-668) having an audience with the king. “The faces of the delegates are difficult to see, but the painting features a clear image of a jougwan,” the press release said. A jougwan is a hat that was worn by the men of Goguryeo and is decorated with a bird’s feather. The actual nationality of the two men in the painting was long debated by specialists, with some saying that their clothing shows they are from the Silla (57 B.C.-935) or Balhae (698-926) eras. With the revelation of the jougwan, however, many have concluded that the men are from the Goguryeo era. The exhibition also displays 150 other relics from the prehistoric age to the 8th century in Uzbekistan, ranging from a Buddha with western features to a machine used by followers of Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic religion, used to cremate the dead. The museum is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and until 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It is closed on Mondays. Admission is free. For more information, visit www.museum.go.kr.

Rare Silk-Road Treasures on Exhibit

From The International Herald-Tribune Rare treasures from the Silk Road By Alexandra A. Seno Published: February 17, 2009 HONG KONG: Some 2,000 years ago, vibrant global commerce hummed along the trading hubs of the Silk Road. For nearly a millennium, the complex business network spread Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, and helped fine Chinese fabrics become all the rage among the Roman Empire's elite and wealthy Chinese coveting art pieces inspired by Greek legend. The highlights of the deceptively modest exhibit "The Silk Road in Ningxia," which runs at the Hong Kong University Museum and Art Gallery until March 15, hold their own against those in the many big-budget Silk Road productions that appear around the world annually. This year, the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the National Museum of History in Taipei and Brussels' Royal Museums for Art and History are among those hosting shows devoted to the fabled trading route. The Silk Road stretched from what is now Turkey through Central Asia and China to Africa, Southeast Asia, the subcontinent and the Middle East. Susan Whitfield is a Silk Road historian and the director of the British Library's International Dunhuang Project, a multinational research and archiving effort to broaden knowledge about the Silk Road. She lauds the "Ningxia" exhibit for the exceptional quality of the antiquities and the unique focus of the narrative. She said that "Ningxia" illustrates "a snapshot of a smaller area but a larger cultural diversity." Whitfield recently visited Hong Kong, invited by the museum, to deliver lectures related to the exhibit. Most shows about the Silk Road either attempt to tell the general story of the whole route or draw from frequently studied museum collections in Europe, built on finds primarily from Xinjiang, Gansu or Inner Mongolia, and carted off by British, Russian, French, German and Japanese expeditions in the early 1900s. The 105 objects in Hong Kong come from Ningxia, now a sparsely industrialized Chinese autonomous Muslim region. The area was once the site of multicultural Silk Road trading towns, due to its strategic location next to the Yellow River and its proximity to the ancient capital at Xian and to the trading routes through the steppes. Twenty of the items are listed as first-class national treasures by Beijing. Even the most intrepid explorers, like the archaeologist Aurel Stein, never reached landlocked Ningxia, where Han Chinese lived in close proximity to Buddhist Tanguts and Zoroastrian Sogdians. Since Chinese archaeologists only unearthed sites in Ningxia in the 1980s and 1990s, the discoveries benefited from the modern practice of learning from the context in which objects were discovered, instead of simply taking the finds home to Europe or Japan for study there. "Traditionally, Chinese scholarship has been about research on the history of the Han Chinese, but that has changed," said Yeung Chun-tong, director of the Hong Kong University museum, who led the effort to borrow the artifacts from the Ningxia government. The relatively new archaeological work there represents increased interest in the contributions of ethnic minorities to Chinese culture and a growing field of scholarship on the mainland. In one showcase, a bowl and a gilt silver ewer tell a profound story of globalization. Archaeologists recovered the items in 1983 from the sixth century tomb of Li Xian, a local general. The 8-centimeter-high, or about 3-inch-high, green blown-glass bowl very likely came from the Persians, one of the few civilizations that mastered the technology at the time. The skillfully decorated pitcher features figures from the Greek myth about Helen of Troy [image above]. The piece was probably made in Bactria (in today's Afghanistan), brought to Ningxia by caravan traders with other goods. Another cabinet holds gold and silver coins. Some are distinctly Byzantine, some are copies. They were prestige items in burial sites in Ningxia for prominent Sogdians. These communities lived in China for centuries, controlling pivotal Silk Road businesses, writing in a script derived from Aramaic and following a form of Zoroastrianism adapted from that practiced in Persia. Like the Chinese, these Sogdians placed their dead in tombs instead of leaving them leaving them in Zoroastrian "towers of silence" to be picked apart by birds. The exhibit objects range from an early Ming dynasty Koran to wooden printing blocks and Tang-era stone doors decorated with whirling foreign dancers, offering proof of a sophisticated and complex society. Among the works never before shown outside of the mainland are well-preserved silk panels adorned with frolicking children; they are from the 11th century and usually considered too fragile to transport. "Though we have poor funding, we have the freedom to mount interesting exhibits," said Yeung. The Hong Kong museum, which does not charge an entrance fee, staged "Ningxia" with plenty of goodwill from China and an extremely tight budget. According to Yeung, despite the fact that the museum received free transportation from an art logistics company, it could only spend a maximum of 1 million Hong Kong dollars, or about $128,000, to pay for insurance, borrowing the goods at a steep discount, and installation. Rest of article.