Bodies of Evidence
Case studies
Was Cherchen Man a European?
The Tarim Basin in Xinjiang in north-west China is an inhospitable place:
extremely dry, with very hot summers and freezing winters. But these are
good conditions for preserving bodies.
In 1978, Chinese archaeologists discovered the mummy of a tall man dressed
in a dark-red wool tunic and brightly coloured leggings. His red hair
and aquiline nose identified him as European rather than Chinese, and
they named him Cherchen Man after the province where he was found.
Radiocarbon dating, showed that he had
been lying there since the 11th century BC and that similar mummies found
in the region dated from between 2000BC and 300BC. Until then, historians
believed that China had not been in contact with the West until around
140BC. Proof of the Xinjiang mummies' European origins came in 1995, when
DNA tests showed that they were genetically
related to present-day Swedes, Finns, Tuscans, Corsicans and Sardinians.
Top
The Romanovs
Vladimir Lenin
Taung Child
St Clare
The Inuit Women
Witch burial
Barber surgeon
Slave grave
Turin shroud
The disappeared
Medieval coffins
Java Man
Animal mummies
Neanderthals
Hybrid skeleton
Cherchen Man
Body Farm
Mummy medicine
Tooth decay
Maronite mummies
Tooth implant
Polynesians
Andes mummies
Lefthandedness
Ice-Age Footprints
Find out more
Home
Graphic
version
Includes layout and images.
Top
|
