scholarly journals Polities and nomads: the emergence of the Silk Road exchange in the Tarim Basin region during late prehistory (2000–400 bce)

2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (2) ◽  
pp. 339-363 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomas Larsen Høisæter
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Tarim Basin ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Trade Network ◽  
Eurasian Steppe ◽  
City States ◽  
Ancient Silk Road ◽  
The City ◽  
The Silk Road ◽  
Eastern Central Asia

AbstractThe Silk Road trade network was arguably the most important network of global exchange and interaction prior to the fifteenth century. On the question of how and when it developed, scholars have focused mainly on the role of either the empires dominating the two ends of the trade network or the nomadic empires on the Eurasian steppe. The sedentary people of Central Asia have, however, mostly been neglected. This article traces the development of the city-states of the Tarim Basin in eastern Central Asia, from c. 2000 bce to 400 bce. It argues that the development of the city-states of the Tarim Basin is closely linked to the rise of the ancient Silk Road and that the interaction between the Tarim polities, the nomads of the Eurasian steppe and the Han Empire was the central dynamic in the creation of the ancient Silk Road network in eastern Central Asia.

Silk Road riches no embarrassment

Antiquity ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (328) ◽  
pp. 654-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. James
Keyword(s):  
Central Asia ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Tarim Basin ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Western China ◽  
Domestic Life ◽  
Sven Hedin ◽  
North Western ◽  
The Bronze Age ◽  
The Silk Road

The survival of organicmaterials in the waterless fringes of the Takla Makan and Lop Deserts in the Tarim basin in Xinjiang (north-western China) has fascinated us for a century, since Sven Hedin, Aurel Stein and Albert von Le Coq found the remains of settlements and cemeteries at the Great Wall's lonely outposts and along the routes between China and Central Asia known as the Silk Road. The finds date from the Bronze Age to the later firstmillennium AD. In the 1980s and '90s, it was shown that the most striking of them, the Tarim 'mummies', belong to both Mongoloid and Caucasoid peoples (Mallory&Mair 2000). The archaeology here of public and domestic life is full of the kinds of surprises and contradictions that we are learning to expect—if not accept—with 'globalisation'. Development in the region is now prompting new discoveries but also looters, so the research is urgent.

scholarly journals Genetic landscape of populations along the Silk Road: admixture and migration patterns

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Mezzavilla ◽  
Diego Vozzi ◽  
Nicola Pirastu ◽  
Giorgia Girotto ◽  
Pio D'Adamo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Structure ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Phenotypic Data ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Marco Polo ◽  
Genetic Landscape ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Ancient Silk Road ◽  
The Silk Road

Background The ancient Silk Road has been a trading route between Europe and Central Asia from the 2nd century BCE to the 15th century CE. While most populations on this route have been characterized, the genetic background of others remains poorly understood, and little is known about past migration patterns. The scientific expedition "Marco Polo" has recently collected genetic and phenotypic data in six regions (Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan) along the Silk Road to study the genetics of a number of phenotypes. Results We characterized the genetic structure of these populations within a worldwide context. We observed a West-East subdivision albeit the existence of a genetic component shared within Central Asia and nearby populations from Europe and Near East. We observed a contribution of up to 50% from Europe and Asia to most of the populations that have been analyzed. The contribution from Asia dates back to ~25 generations and is limited to the Eastern Silk Road. Time and direction of this contribution are consistent with the Mongolian expansion era. Conclusions We clarified the genetic structure of six populations from Central Asia and suggested a complex pattern of gene flow among them. We provided a map of migration events in time and space and we quantified exchanges among populations. Altogether these novel findings will support the future studies aimed at understanding the genetics of the phenotypes that have been collected during the Marco Polo campaign, they will provide insights into the history of these populations, and they will be useful to reconstruct the developments and events that have shaped modern Eurasians genomes.

scholarly journals Developmental Historiography of the Ancient Silk Road

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-80
Author(s):  
Sheriff G.I. ◽  
Akeje K.
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Far East ◽  
Precious Metals ◽  
Silk Road ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Trade Routes ◽  
Traded Goods ◽  
Ancient Silk Road ◽  
The Silk Road

This study seeks to explain the history of the ancient Silk Road and also explain its strategic importance as a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe. Using the library's documented instrument and historical descriptive methodology, findings show that the Silk Road is historically connected with the Eastern and Western civilizations and culture. Merchants on the Silk Road transported goods and traded at bazaars along the way. They traded goods such as silk, spices, tea, ivory, cotton, wool, precious metals, and ideas. The Silk Road also enabled cultural transfers, for instance when Genghis Khan and the Mongols invaded China, they came along with their own culture, e.g., buttons on clothes were introduced in China as a cultural import from Central Asia especially under the rule of Kublai Khan during the Yuan Dynasty. The paper concludes that the Silk Road rose to prominence during the Han and Tang dynasties. The long-distance trade at this time did not just transport goods and luxuries, it was also a lifeline of ideas and innovations from Persia, India and countries of the Middle East and Central Asia.

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