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On exami[ni]ng hair samples of mummies in the scanning electron microscope we found a piece of tissue between the curls which had the characteristic appearance of silk. To show that the specimen was silk, we performed infrared studies using multiple internal reflection, allowing nondestructive identification of the material. The spectra clearly identified silk.We performed amino-acid anaylsis of the sample according to the method in ref. 2 and obtained the typical spectrum of hydrolysed silk, with high glycine, serine and alanine peaks as originally described by Shimura. To exclude the possibility that the silk specimen could have been added later to...

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...

MOSCOW: An ancient Vishnu idol has been found during excavation in an old village in Russia's Volga region, raising questions about the prevalent view on the origin of ancient Russia. The idol found in Staraya (old) Maina village dates back to VII-X century AD. Staraya Maina village in Ulyanovsk region was a highly populated city 1700 years ago, much older than Kiev, so far believed to be the mother of all Russian cities. "We may consider it incredible, but we have ground to assert that Middle-Volga region was the original land of Ancient Rus. This is a hypothesis, but a...

Chinese archeologists have found new evidence of international cultural exchange on the ancient Silk Road. Four European-looking warriors and lion-like beasts are engraved on an empress's 1,200-year-old stone coffin that was unearthed in Shaanxi Province, in northwestern China. The warriors on the four reliefs had deep-set eyes, curly hair and over-sized noses -- physical characteristics Chinese typically associate with Europeans. The 27-tonne Tang Dynasty (618-907) sarcophagus contained empress Wu Huifei (699-737), Ge Chengyong, a noted expert on Silk Road studies, said Tuesday. Ge said one of the warriors was very much like [Zeus], the "father of gods and men" in...

Christian Designs Found in Tomb Stones of Eastern Han Dynasty [2002-08-02] Studies show that as early as 86 A.D., or the third year under the reign of "Yuanhe" of Eastern Han, Dynasty Christianity entered into China, 550 years earlier than the world accepted time. When studying a batch of stone carvings of Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220 A.D.) stored and exhibited in the Museum of Xuzhou Han Stone Carvings, Christian theology professor Wang Weifan was greatly surprised by some stone engravings demonstrating the Bible stories and designs of early Christian times. Further studies showed that some of these engravings were made...

One day in a spring, an elderly man walked alone on a stone road lined by young willows in Xuzhou in East China's Jiangsu Province. At the end of the road was a museum that few people have heard of. A Chinese theology professor says the first Christmas is depicted in the stone relief from the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220). In the picture above a woman and a man are sitting around what looks like a manger, with allegedly "the three wise men" approaching from the left side, holding gifts, "the shepherd" following them, and "the assassins" queued...

Did the Indian subcontinent start spinning without Chinese know-how? New findings suggest that silk making was not an exclusively Chinese technological innovation, but instead arose independently on the Indian subcontinent. Ornaments from the Indus valley in east Pakistan, where the Harappan culture flourished more than 4,000 years ago, seem to contain silk spun by silk moths native to the region. What's more, the silk seems to have been processed in a way previously thought to have been a closely guarded secret within China. There is hard and fast evidence for silk production in China back to around 2570 BC; the...

Opening of Silk Road weaves India closer to China By Catherine Elsworth (Filed: 07/07/2006) To the music of military brass bands, China and India set five decades of hostility behind them yesterday, opening a long-closed Silk Road pass across the Himalayas. Both governments enthused about improving trade between the two rising powers of Asia, which is surprisingly low for growing economies with a population of more than a billion people each. A Chinese trader greets Indian soldiers on the Silk Road But the opening agreement restricts border trade to items such as goat fur and yak tails, on the Chinese...

Ancient Porcelain Clue to Maritime Silk Road In June, local fishermen discovered the wreckage of a Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) ship in the "Bowl Reef" or Wan Jiao in Pingtan County, Fujian Province. Archaeologists identified the wreck as having been manufactured during the reign of Emperor Kangxi (1662-1723) and named it "Bowl Reef No. 1", Wan Jiao Yi Hao. To their surprise, the archaeological team also found rare pieces of blue and white porcelain among the wreckage, loot that could hold the key to an ancient maritime trading route. Excavation works began on September 17, conducted by research staff from the...

Scientists discover ancient sea wharf 30/12/2004 7:32 Archeologists say that they have found the country's oldest wharf and it is believed to be the starting point of an ancient sea route to Central and West Asia. The discovery has reaffirmed the widespread belief that the ancient trade route started in Hepu County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, archeologists said at yesterday's symposium on the nation's marine silk road. After three years of excavation, archeologists have unearthed a wharf that is at least 2,000 years old in Guchengtou Village, according to Xiong Zhaoming, head of the archeological team. At the same site,...

Siberian Graveyard's Secrets YEKATERINBURG, Russia In a medieval Siberian graveyard a few miles south of the Arctic Circle, Russian scientists have unearthed mummies roughly 1,000 years old, clad in copper masks, hoops and plates - burial rites that archaeologists say they have never seen before. . Among 34 shallow graves were five mummies shrouded in copper and blankets of reindeer, beaver, wolverine or bear fur. Unlike the remains of Egyptian pharaohs, the scientists say, the Siberian bodies were mummified by accident. The cold, dry permafrost preserved the remains, and the copper may have helped prevent oxidation. . The discovery adds...

This remarkable record of the fact that Christianity flourished in medieval China is a huge stone about ten feet high. Carven dragons and a cross adorn its summit, and its main shaft is completely covered with some two thousand Chinese characters. It stands now in the Peilin or "Forest of Tablets" in Sian-fu, this Peilin being a great hall specially devoted to the preservation of old historic tablets. Up to a few years ago the ancient stone stood with other unvalued monuments in the grounds of a Buddhist monastery, exposed to all the assault of the elements. Only European...

Silk painting, brassiere unearthed from ancient tombs in N. China www.chinaview.cn 2004-06-07 15:47:45 HOHHOT, June 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese archeologists have announced their recent discovery of a fragmented silk painting and a brassiere in tombs at least 1,000 years old. Fragments of a silk painting of steeds were unearthed from a Liao Dynasty (916 - 1125) tomb in a village in Xinhui town, Aohan Banner of the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in north China. "Unlike frescos that are often found in Liao Dynasty tombs, this one is an independent painting scroll and must have been the tomb owner's favorite," said...

Scientists say they may have worked out how spiders and silkworms are able to produce such strong fibers to spin their webs and cocoons. They say that if they are right, their research could be used to produce silk in the laboratory for extra-strong protective clothing, sports equipment and even replacement bone tissue. Silk is the strongest natural fiber known to man but scientists have yet to replicate its strength. They have managed to purify silk into powder but have not been able to turn it into material. "The problem is that when people take these purified powders and try...

Silk Road paved with Christian tradition December 20, 2002 BY ANDREW GREELEY Martin Palmer, an English Sinologist, was searching western China in 1998 for a pagoda, which was all that was left of the monastery of Da Qin. He believed the pagoda was a remnant of the Christians who for several hundred years flourished along the ancient Silk Road. One day he and a couple of his colleagues came upon a pagoda in a field, time-worn but still standing. He asked a woman (a Buddhist nun, as it turned out) what the pagoda was. All that remained of a great...

<p>Local Ababda nomads dig in one of the streets in Berenike, which holds an array of artifacts that scientists say reveals an "impressive" sea trade between the Roman Empire and India.</p> <p>LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Spices, gems and other exotic cargo excavated from an ancient port on Egypt's Red Sea show that the sea trade 2,000 years ago between the Roman Empire and India was more extensive than previously thought and even rivaled the legendary Silk Road, archaeologists say.</p>

The first results of textile and dye analyses of cloth dated between 400-650 AD and recovered from Samdzong 5, in Upper Mustang, Nepal have today been released by Dr Margarita Gleba of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge. Identification of degummed silk fibres and munjeet and Indian lac dyes in the textile finds suggests that imported materials from China and India were used in combination with those locally produced. Says Gleba: "There is no evidence for local silk production suggesting that Samdzong was inserted into the long-distance trade network of the Silk Road." "The data reinforce the...