Carvings in a 4th Century Tomb Depict the Cardinal Directions
Modern-day Xinjiang, China, was the former location of the Buddhist Kucha kingdom. In the fourth century CE, it was a highly populated stop along the northern Silk Road that controlled trade into western China. Archaeologists have uncovered ten tombs in Kucha; seven of the ten structures were massive brick tombs. One of the graves, named “M3” by researchers, contains carvings of the mythical creatures associated with the cardinal directions: The Vermillion Bird of the South, The White Tiger of the West, The Black Turtle of the North, and the Azure Dragon of the East.
The presence of the carvings connected to direction may indicate the town’s vital connection to the Silk Road, but the cemetery in Xinjiang remains mysterious. Since grave looters robbed the site, there are no material goods or written evidence that could identify the people buried there. Even without the grave goods, the intricate construction of the tombs, such as separate burial chambers and passageways, suggests the tomb belonged to members of the upper-class. Since the grave contained many bodies buried there over the years, they may have been family tombs.
Indian Dyes and Chinese Silks Reached an Isolated Area of Nepal
The Sky Caves of Nepal is a collection of about 10,000 tombs cut into the mountains of Upper Mustang, Nepal. Their high elevation, at about 15,000 feet, has left them relatively intact. In 2009, seismic activity revealed ten of these tombs once hidden from view. As historians and archaeologists began exploring the caves, they discovered defining evidence that goods from the Silk Road reached Nepal. In one of the tombs, Samdzong 5, archaeologists found textiles made of Indian dyes and Chinese silks as well as an elaborate funeral mask.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge dated the finds to the fifth century CE. They tested the textiles, and the silks and dyes were not locally produced. Silk and dyes were standard items traded on the Silk Road, and the textile proves that the people of Upper Mustang used these luxury items in the production of their own textiles. Instead of being an isolated community, archaeologists think that Upper Mustang was part of a more extensive trading network connected to the Silk Road, reaching much further south than historians thought.