JohnH says:

Introduction
Well preserved mummies have been unearthed in the desert regions of Chinese Turkestan, Western China, around the towns of Cherchen and Loulan in the Taklamakan Desrt and colloquially named the Taklamakan Mummies. The The Loulan mummies, from Qäwrighul near the town of Loulan, include the Beauty of Loulan and a few other mummies including an eight-year-old child wrapped in a piece of patterned wool cloth closed with bone pegs.

The wool clothing from Loulan seems to be much less colorful (in much more neutral, earth-tone colors - though fading could have occurred), but it is no less impressive in its patterns and weaves. The Cherchen mummies are known for their degree of preservation (far better than most Egyptian mummies), their colourful clothing, and their Caucasian features. Many of the corpses are almost perfectly preserved, with reddish-blond hair, long noses, round eyes and finely woven tartan clothing (usually associated with the Celts in Scotland), showing undeniably European racial traits.

From Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarim_mummies
The Tarim mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from 1800 BC to AD 200. The most remarkable features of these mummies, given the general location of these graves, are the Caucasoid physical type feature the corpses exhibit. The mummies, particularly the early ones, are associated with the presence of the Indo-European Tocharian languages in the Tarim Basin. The cemetery at Yanbulaq contained 29 mummies which date from 1800–500 BC, 21 of which are Caucasoid—the earliest Caucasoid mummies found in the Tarim basin—and 8 of which are of the same Caucasoid physical type found at Qäwrighul.

The most famous mummies are the tall, red-haired "Chärchän man" or the "Ur-David" (1000 BC); his son (1000 BC), a small 1-year-old baby with blond hair protruding from under a red and blue felt cap, and blue stones in place of the eyes; the "Hami Mummy" (c. 1400–800 BC), a "red-headed beauty" found in Qizilchoqa; and the "Witches of Subeshi" (4th or 3rd century BC), who wore tall pointed hats.
Many of the mummies have been found in very good condition, owing to the dryness of the desert, and the desiccation of the corpses it induced. The mummies share many typical Caucasoid body features (elongated bodies, angular faces, recessed eyes), and many of them have their hair physically intact, ranging in color from blond to red to deep brown, and generally long, curly and braided. It is not known whether their hair has been bleached by internment in salt. Their costumes, and especially textiles, may indicate a common origin with Indo-European Neolithic clothing techniques or a common low-level textile technology

Genetic links
DNA sequence data shows that at least one mummy had a haplotype characteristic of western Eurasia, confirming the earlier suggestion that the mummies are of at least partial West Asian descent.

A team of Chinese and American researchers working in Sweden tested DNA from 52 separate mummies, including the mummy denoted "Beauty of Loulan." By genetically mapping the mummies' origins, the researchers confirmed the theory that these mummies were of West Asian descent. Victor Mair, a University of Pennsylvania professor and project leader for the team that did the genetic mapping, commented that these studies were:
...extremely important because they link up eastern and western Eurasia at a formative stage of civilization (Bronze Age and early Iron Age) in a much closer way than has ever been done before.

This evidence corroborated the earlier link made between the textiles found with the mummies with early European textile and weave types and the superficial observation that the mummies seemed to have blond and red hair (could these have been Vikings or Scandinavians?). An earlier study by Jilin University had found a mtDNA haplotype characteristic of Western Eurasian populations.

In trying to trace the origins of these peoples Victor Mair's team suggested that these peoples may have arrived in the region by way of the forbidding Pamir Mountains about 5000 years ago.

Needless to say this evidence is considered controversial. It refutes the contemporary nationalist claims of the regional Uighur peoples who claimed to be the indigenous peoples of the Xinjiang, rather than the Chinese Hans. In comparing the DNA to the modern day Uighur peoples, they found some genetic similarities with the mummies, but "no direct links".

About the controversy Mair has stated that:

The new finds are also forcing a re-examination of old Chinese books that describe historical or legendary figures of great height, with deep-set blue or green eyes, long noses, full beards, and red or blond hair (Vikings?). Scholars have traditionally scoffed at these accounts, but it now seems that they may be accurate.

Chinese scientists were initially hesitant to give up the DNA samples because they were sensitive about the nationalist Uighur claims, and to prevent a pillaging of national monuments by foreigners.

The mystery surrounding the origins of the Tarim Mummies are an integral part of John Halsted’s historical action and adventure novel “Legend of the Last Vikings – Taklamakan” www.VikingLegend.com

#1 Posted 1 years ago