Posted on 12/24/2006 4:43:09 PM PST by blam
China striving for mummy identification
URUMQI, China, Dec. 24 (UPI) -- A group of Chinese scientists are attempting to identify a 2,800-year-old mummy of an apparent Caucasian man found in an ancient tomb.
The well-preserved mummy, that experts said is likely of a shaman in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has been under examination since being found in 2003, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
Especially intriguing to the scientists was the presence of a sack of marijuana leaves that archaeologists found buried with the leather-coat bound mummy.
"From his outfit and the marijuana leaves, which have been confirmed by international specialists to be ingredients for narcotic, we assume the man had been a shaman and had been between 40 and 50 years old when he died," noted historian Li Xiao explained.
Xinhua said that by examining the mummy, that was one of 600 found during the 2003 exploration of 2,000 area tombs, the scientists said they are hoping to learn more about the mysterious lives of historical shamans.
It's these people"
"The Tocharians were the easternmost speakers of an Indo-European language in antiquity, inhabiting the Tarim basin in what is now Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, northwestern People's Republic of China. Their unique culture spanned from the 1st millennium BCE to the end of the 1st millennium CE. Their language is called Tocharian. "
Well, there are a lot of white Americans ho want to adopt Chinese babies. Maybe there was a Chinese trend to adopt European babies. :)
Wouldn't be a bad thing, China was very well developed at that time to my knowledge.
Was he the original hippy?
Headline needs correcting. It should read "2803 yo mummy" since they found it 3 years ago. LOL
Bump for later reading in detail.
There were no Chinese there then.
I'll bet. The spice trade is very, very ancient.
Duuuuuude, what are you doing in that toooommmmmb????
I always resent this political correct dating crap. When I get the chance I always enquire "Do you mean about a thousand years from the Birth of Our Lord to about a thousand years after?" Never fails to draw resentful glances.
Most Ancient Tsunami Surfer from Berkeley
Actually, Aurel Stein discovered them a hundred year ago but didn't recognise their ancient age.
"Aurel Stein --- a Hungarian in the British service in India --- was eminent among its re-discoverers. His three expeditions, of 1900, 1906 and 1913, into Chinese Turkestan --- nowadays Sinkiang, or Xinjiang, or even the Uighur Autonomous Region --- lasted seven years altogether and covered some forty thousand kilometers the way the ancient caravans had, on foot or pony-back"
"Especially intriguing to the scientists was the presence of a sack of marijuana leaves that archaeologists found buried with the leather-coat bound mummy."
Sounds like a relative of Bill Clinton.
The people were called the Tocharians. They were an Indo-European people who, unlike the rest of the Indo-Europeans, moved east rather than west, and settled in the Uyghur region of China where they were assimilated by the much larger local population.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarim_mummies
Yup. But I'll be the least suprised that the trade route extended all the way to South America and included, tobacco and cocaine for the rich Egyptians.
You mean someone is finally acknowledging that some white people may have been there too. LOL
I would not doubt that at all. Spices are perfect for long-distance trade. Small volume, imperishable, high value. Jade art objects would come in second.
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