A Celt in China: The Mysterious Origins of Cherchen Man

News Type: Event — Seeded on Mon Aug 31, 2009 12:47 AM EDT

Article Source: Heritage Key

china, history, dna, archaeology, genetics, celtic, scottish, mummy, origin, taklamakan-desert, cherchen-man, loulan-beauty

Seeded by MinnieApolis

Red-haired, vaguely Celtic or Nordic human remains found deep in Chinese territory provide an enigma yet to be fathomed. How and why would people from the far northern edges of Europe come to China to live and die?

From the article: "Cherchen Man, who died around 1000 BC, appears to be as Scottish as square sausage -- tall, dark-haired, clad in a red tunic and tartan leggings and sporting a beard as ginger as a burning fox."

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Regions: Beijing

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{"commentId":9155514,"authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

MinnieApolis

Geez, I wish they'd given us a picture of the Cherchen mummy. Also it would have been nice if they told us what kind of fabrics these were that survived for so long. Wool? Cotton?

Turns out most of the fabrics were wool: "The fabrics were almost exclusively of sheep's wool, except for some animal furs and deerskin boots. On a few fabrics, Barber spied some admixture of smoother, glossy wool, giving the fabric a sheen. It appears to be mohair, that is, hair from a goat, which is possible since some goat skulls were found in a Zaghunluq tomb." That is from another very good article at http://www.centralasiatraveler.com/cn/xj/cq/zaghunluq.html -- Makes you want to get that book, "The Mummies of Urumchi."

The fabrics from Zaghunluq include a wide variety of weaving techniques: "plain weave, twill weave, woven patterns including tapestry, band plaiting, and nalbinding, as well as non-woven felt and fabric painting."

Another source says Cherchen man was about 50 years old and six foot, six inches tall. Yowza, it turns out that was not quite accurate -- he was actually closer to 5 foot, 10 inches or so. Also he had tattoos on his face. And he must have been quite a fashion plate, or maybe a haberdasher, because he had ten hats with him. More details about him and other mummies found there at Thinkquest -- http://library.thinkquest.org/J003409/china.htm

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#1 - Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:08 AM EDT

{"commentId":9157203,"authorDomain":"mooncrow"}

MoonCrow

Really cool article. I poked around using google and there are articles online that show more photos, etc. Great read MinnieApolis.

{"commentId":9157203,"threadId":"664257","contentId":"3209638","authorDomain":"mooncrow"}

1 vote

#2 - Mon Aug 31, 2009 8:30 AM EDT

{"commentId":9162487,"authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

MinnieApolis

Thanks for stopping to read this article. Yeah, I had no idea that there was so much out there on this red-haired mummy. It must really have intrigued lots of people. Will have to keep an eye peeled for that book, too.

{"commentId":9162487,"threadId":"664257","contentId":"3209638","authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

1 vote

#3 - Mon Aug 31, 2009 1:41 PM EDT

{"commentId":9169949,"authorDomain":"mooncrow"}

MoonCrow

Having Scottish "roots" meself. I love that this gentleman was from Scotland. Bet he had amazing stories to tell of how he arrived there, etc. ... sigh ... oh for the invention of time machines, if just for seeing details of how history played out.

{"commentId":9169949,"threadId":"664257","contentId":"3209638","authorDomain":"mooncrow"}

1 vote

#3.1 - Mon Aug 31, 2009 7:41 PM EDT

{"commentId":9181107,"authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

MinnieApolis

Yes, he must have been a Celtic Marco Polo, hey? Glad to learn of your Scottish origins, and help yourself to the shortbread cookies at the back of the room...

{"commentId":9181107,"threadId":"664257","contentId":"3209638","authorDomain":"MinnieApolis"}

#3.2 - Tue Sep 1, 2009 1:22 PM EDT

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A Celt in China: The Mysterious Origins of Cherchen Man

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