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00:00Tonight on NOVA...
00:03He was buried alive and he's howling, he's screaming.
00:07In the heart of Central Asia, ancient bodies offer puzzling clues.
00:12They say that they had red hair, bluish-green eyes.
00:15It's a European type of person.
00:18What became of their lost civilization?
00:20Oh, God. Amazing.
00:23NOVA takes you where few outsiders have ever gone
00:26to unearth the secrets of the mysterious mummies of China.
00:50The desolate wastes of the Taklamakan Desert,
00:54at the heart of Central Asia, are haunted by an ancient mystery.
01:00It was here long ago that East and West,
01:04two of the greatest civilizations on Earth,
01:07made imperceptible contact.
01:10And here that faint traces of ancient life
01:13have long pressed a deep and vexing enigma.
01:19Did the civilization of ancient China arise in isolation?
01:26Or was there an unremembered link with the cultures of the West?
01:35Now the echoes of voices long silent are offering startling testimony.
01:46Like other detective stories, this one begins with a dead body.
01:53This woman and others like her are as old as 3,800 years,
01:59yet remarkably well preserved.
02:03More startling yet, the mummies are clearly not Chinese,
02:09but they may provide evidence to solve the riddle of ancient China's interaction with the West.
02:21An expedition is now setting out into the Taklamakan,
02:25headed far across the dunes and deep into a long lost past.
02:36The quest to reclaim the mummy people's story began when Chinese scholar Victor Mayer
02:41virtually stumbled on the most important find of his career.
02:47In 1987, I went into the museum in Urumqi
02:51and walked into this room that was full of mummies
02:55and I couldn't believe what I saw.
02:56The label said that they dated back to 1000 BC.
02:59They looked as fresh as though they had just been exhumed a week or two ago.
03:03From that moment forward, I was totally enchanted with the mummies.
03:10Also here is archaeologist Janine Davis Kimball,
03:14who specializes in ancient nomadic peoples.
03:22Charlotte Roberts, forensic anthropologist, will be helping to decipher the ancient remains.
03:32The mummies are rarely made available for outside scrutiny.
03:38But the Chinese archaeologist who found this woman lying exposed on the desert sands
03:44allows the team to see her.
03:47This corpse was found on the surface, close to the surface of tomb 2.
03:53According to Mr. He, it was partially dismembered and was a sacrificial victim for the main occupant of the tomb.
04:00He believes that this person was from another tribe and that it was sacrificed in respect for the main occupant
04:10of the tomb.
04:11Her eyes have been gouged out.
04:13She's lacking her arms beneath the elbow joints.
04:17From the pelvis down below, there's nothing remaining.
04:21Can we actually look at the pelvis?
04:25So there are no leg bones at all?
04:28No leg bones at all.
04:30They've been jerked out or yanked out according to Mr. He.
04:33Looking at the pelvis, she's quite young actually.
04:37If you look at the surface here, you see a ridge and furrow pattern, which is characteristic of a young
04:44person.
04:47So there were no leg bones at all?
04:50No.
04:50It is a fascinating, yet oddly intimate encounter with a woman who lived and suffered more than 3,000 years
04:58ago.
05:00More chilling yet is the fate of an infant child, found buried below the woman on the surface.
05:08Charlotte, how old would you say this child is?
05:10Well, I can just see the incisor teeth in the lower jaw.
05:16This would indicate a person about the age of one year, but could be as young as eight months or
05:23as old as 16 months.
05:24This little baby boy was found in a hole over the main occupant of the grave.
05:30His head was inserted head first and his feet were sticking up.
05:35So, according to Mr. He, he was buried alive and he's howling, he's screaming.
05:43Also, Mr. He says that there are traces of mucus coming out of his nostrils and traces of tears.
05:50So, according to Mr. He, this child was sacrificed again for the priestess.
06:12The visitor's attention is drawn to the fabric wrapping the tiny body.
06:18It was not made by the Chinese who hadn't yet acquired the craft of weaving wool with such sophistication.
06:27Where did the little boy come from?
06:30Very fair hair, too.
06:32If you actually look at the profile, her nose is quite large and long.
06:39Long nose.
06:40Although, at this age we wouldn't really want to say much about ethnic affiliation.
06:48There is no uncertainty about the ethnic origins of the body buried in the main chamber, below the other two.
06:55This perfectly preserved mummy was a woman of about 40.
07:00It's a European type of person.
07:08So, she's quite tall. She's 1.72 meters.
07:15Her nose is very high.
07:17These mummies were not embalmed.
07:19Their amazing preservation is due to the dryness and salinity of the desert soil.
07:24This is the mistress or the lady of the main occupant of the tomb.
07:29I believe that in the village, that young girl and child was captured by her.
07:37He thinks that there was a war, and that these other sacrificed victims were captured in the war, and then
07:45out of respect for her, they were buried with her.
07:51From this cemetery, there have been 17 desiccated corpses found, all in quite good state of preservation.
07:57But the most beautiful one is this, in our museum.
08:11When I brought her out of the grave, and held her in my arms, I realized that she was the
08:19most beautiful woman on earth.
08:23I was startled, I was holding the most beautiful woman on earth.
08:31If she were alive today, or if I were alive 3,000 years ago, I would certainly make her my
08:42wife.
08:47But how could a Chinese man like Mr. Huff have met a blonde woman 3,000 years ago?
08:57According to many scholars, and predominant Chinese belief, China's civilization was essentially evolving in isolation from the West.
09:10Though it concerns a distant past, the question resonates in the present.
09:22Most of the people who dwell in China's westernmost regions don't look especially Chinese.
09:28Many of these people, known as Wickers, don't think of themselves as Chinese either.
09:36In recent years, some have called for autonomy from China, and to them, the mummies have proved that their ancestors
09:43were an ethnically distinct group,
09:46here long before the arrival of Chinese conquerors.
09:50As a result, the question of the mummies' ethnic identity is a sensitive matter.
10:05No one disputes that eventually China's isolation was broken,
10:09and a lively traffic in commerce and culture flowed between East and West.
10:16To this day, weathered beacon towers rise from the arid wastes,
10:20drawing the traveller's eye to the path of the fabled Silk Road.
10:27Beaten into the land by traders' caravans and conquering legions about 2,000 years ago,
10:33it was the interstate highway of the ancient world.
10:37A bustling corridor, where disparate cultures rubbed elbows
10:41and exchanged precious goods and ideas.
10:46The Silk Road, 4,000 miles long,
10:50spanned the entire world as the ancients knew it.
10:54At one end, the great civilizations of Rome and Greece.
11:02From there, the route made its way across the Near East
11:05and through the untamed Russian steppes.
11:09Those who survived the brutal winds and marauding pirates
11:12went on to confront forbidding mountains and white-hot dunes.
11:17Crossing the Taklamakan Desert was the final ordeal,
11:21leading at last to China's frontier.
11:26Tales of the grueling trip
11:28have surely lent credence to the view
11:31that ancient China was beyond the reach of Western influence.
11:39Over the centuries,
11:40the Silk Road sprouted a civilization of its own.
11:44It was as fantastically long as it was oddly narrow,
11:48lined with imposing temples and thriving cities.
11:55It was thought that these structures
11:57were built by the Chinese.
11:59But it now seems that the architects
12:01were a little-known local people
12:03known as the Tocharians,
12:06who seemed to have appeared in these parts
12:08over 2,000 years ago.
12:13Some of their cities were located remarkably close
12:17to the ancient mummy graveyards in the Taklamakan,
12:21suggesting that this mysterious tribe
12:23may be connected to the mummy people.
12:28To explore this idea,
12:30the team has asked its Chinese hosts
12:32to take them to a mummy burial site.
12:36Since the whole issue of the mummies
12:38is laden with political stakes,
12:40they are constantly accompanied
12:42by two Chinese officials.
12:57The cemetery outside the oasis village of Wupu
13:01has already yielded many mummies.
13:07Jacob Satuhola,
13:09regional director of archaeology,
13:10extends a warm welcome.
13:17Then he explains that even though
13:19the central government has forbidden
13:21any more mummy excavations,
13:24he will make an exception.
13:30In the interest of international cooperation,
13:32he allows them to dig up a grave.
13:47Only about one grave in six
13:49actually contains a mummy at this site.
13:53And many of the graves
13:54have been disturbed by grave robbers.
14:01Victor senses this one has not been spared.
14:06There's no question in my mind
14:08that the grave had been disturbed.
14:10The timbers covering the roof of the grave
14:12were inverted from their normal position.
14:15There were no reeds or branches
14:17or other materials
14:19to cover over the grave
14:21that would prevent the sand
14:22from falling down into the chamber.
14:39The grave goods should be down at the level
14:41that the back or the side is.
14:43The lowest point is where the grave goods should be.
14:45We're not quite down to that point yet.
14:48I can't tell what this is over here, Charlotte.
14:50Can you tell in this corner here?
14:52Is that a pelvis or is it...
14:55There's been some disturbance in the barrel.
14:57It's been disturbed, right.
15:00There's something else coming out there
15:01as he's brushing.
15:04Normally we would see the skull or the head
15:06before we see the chest
15:08because the head is higher, thicker.
15:10And we would see that.
15:11And so far we've seen a chest in the hand
15:13that I've seen.
15:14Charlotte may see.
15:15A bit of a forearm
15:16and part of a leg.
15:19But that's about all we can see at the moment.
15:31This is a piece of textile,
15:33but it's not a woven piece.
15:34It's done in a different technique
15:35that's sort of like a braid.
15:37And it probably was like a piece of belting
15:42used on some part of their clothing.
15:47It feels like wool.
15:53Oh, yeah.
15:54This is wool that's been spun.
15:57Sheep wool.
15:58Spun into yarn.
16:00And let's see, is it woven?
16:02No, there's no weaving on it yet.
16:03It's just twisted.
16:04For a moment, a scrap of wool distracts the visitors.
16:07But Victor suspects something is amiss.
16:11Peering down into the grave,
16:13I saw fungal growth on the corpse,
16:15which would indicate that it had probably
16:17previously been located elsewhere
16:19than in that grave.
16:21And the fact that the corpse itself
16:22was quite well preserved,
16:24but it was headless,
16:25is inexplicable,
16:26unless there was disturbance.
16:31It seems the Chinese had planted
16:33a headless body here
16:35to avoid the risk of unearthing
16:37a European-type face.
16:43They may not have anticipated
16:45that the visitors would explore
16:46other avenues
16:47in their search for clues
16:49to the origins of the mummy people.
16:53Victor, once again,
16:54has unearthed a major find
16:56without having to dig at all.
16:59In an obscure local museum,
17:01he finds two mummies from the cemetery,
17:05an adult man
17:12and a girl
17:14surrounded by objects from her grave.
17:18She's quite young,
17:19and from what I can see,
17:22looking at the edge of the pelvis,
17:25there's a bit there
17:26that usually fuses around
17:27the age of 25,
17:29and that certainly hasn't fused.
17:30So she's probably around
17:3218 to 20 years of age.
17:36If you look at her face,
17:37she's got a pretty flat face
17:39and high cheekbones,
17:41a short nose,
17:43which isn't very protruding.
17:44And she looks very similar
17:46to people who live
17:47in this area today,
17:49although we notice
17:50she's got an overbite.
17:52If you look at the teeth,
17:53you see the teeth.
17:55Usually many people
17:56in this area
17:56have an edge-to-edge bite,
17:57and she has got an overbite,
17:59which tends to be
18:01more European.
18:05We've got some preservation
18:06of hair here.
18:07And look at the fingernails.
18:09You see them?
18:10They're quite long,
18:11and don't look like
18:12they've been cut
18:12for a long time.
18:14Interestingly,
18:14this young person
18:17looks like she's
18:18quite emaciated.
18:19Now, that might be
18:20something to do
18:20with the mummification processes,
18:24desiccating the skin,
18:25but maybe she was ill
18:26for a long time.
18:27But certainly,
18:28there's no evidence
18:28to suggest,
18:29by just looking here,
18:30what caused her death.
18:32She has very little flesh.
18:34Her fingers are very skinny.
18:37Beside the girl
18:38is a water bucket.
18:41And then on top of it
18:42is a piece of bread,
18:43and this whole apparatus,
18:45including the halter
18:46for the donkey,
18:47which lies beside her,
18:49indicates that
18:50they placed things
18:51in the burial
18:52for her trip
18:52to the next world
18:53or to use
18:54in the afterworld,
18:55which were very important,
18:56like the bucket
18:57which held a liquid,
18:58the bread,
18:59and the bridle
19:00for transportation.
19:05The male body,
19:06which was discovered
19:07in the late 70s,
19:09is faring far worse
19:10than it would
19:11buried in sand.
19:13The curators
19:14lack the funds
19:15to prevent
19:16the gradual disintegration
19:17of some of the most
19:18important human remains
19:20ever found.
19:22But this ancient man
19:23can still offer
19:24precious clues
19:25about his people.
19:27An oval face
19:28and reddish hair
19:29suggest European roots.
19:32His bronze earring
19:34and leather boots
19:35show his people
19:36were skilled artisans.
19:39They were buried
19:40wearing their clothing.
19:41They wore boots
19:42with felts,
19:43stockings,
19:44caftans,
19:45trousers,
19:46so we know
19:47what they would have
19:48looked like
19:48when they were
19:48walking around
19:49and alive.
19:56The objects
19:57they cherished
19:58in death
19:59begin to create
19:59a picture
20:00of the mummy
20:01people's lives.
20:04They were farmers
20:05who kept domestic animals
20:07and worked a land
20:08thousands of miles away
20:10from their ancestral turf.
20:13This is a food item
20:15for the local people
20:17and it's made
20:18from barley
20:19and they came
20:20in many different shapes.
20:21So it's made
20:22like bread.
20:23Bread of some sort.
20:24And you'll notice
20:26the curvature
20:26on this piece of bread.
20:32A wooden basin
20:33with legs on the bone.
20:38It's a vessel
20:40for daily use?
20:41Yes, it's a vessel
20:42for daily use
20:42but it's also placed
20:43in the burial
20:44and could have held
20:46bits of food
20:47or intended to hold food
20:48for use
20:49in their next world also.
20:51Noted archaeologist
20:53Wang Bint-He
20:54found further evidence.
20:56We even found
20:57some farming tools.
20:58The woolen
20:59and leather clothing
21:00came mainly from sheep
21:01so they must have had
21:02quite large flocks.
21:05Handicrafts
21:05were also well developed.
21:07For example,
21:08they could make clay pots.
21:10This was probably used
21:12by the priestess
21:13or the shaman,
21:14the shamanca,
21:15the female priestess
21:16to cure people.
21:18There's still evidence
21:19in this is very possibly
21:21a little cultic cup
21:23made from clay,
21:25fired clay,
21:25fired very nicely
21:26and it has an extremely thin
21:28when we have this
21:31expanding spiral.
21:32This spiral, right.
21:34This is very typical
21:35of nomadic people also.
21:38Hard to believe
21:39it's 3,200 years old.
21:41Cowrie shells
21:42from the sea,
21:43not naturally found
21:45within thousands of miles
21:46of this vast desert,
21:48give up a crucial
21:49piece of the puzzle.
21:51They must have been engaged
21:53in long-distance trade
21:54because we see
21:55in their graves
21:55sometimes things like cowries.
21:57They would have had
21:58to acquire such things
21:59from distant peoples.
22:01These are actually
22:02the spindles
22:03and this is the spindle whirl.
22:04This one is made
22:05out of wood
22:06while this one
22:07is made out of bone
22:09and they're different
22:10weighted weights
22:11so they would be used
22:12to spin different weight
22:13of wool yarn.
22:16Of all the finds here,
22:18the woolen textiles
22:19are the most impressive.
22:22Woven into twill
22:23and tartan patterns.
22:24These are among
22:25the oldest fine
22:26woollen clothes
22:27ever discovered.
22:31This one has beautiful
22:33and harmonious colors.
22:34It has blue,
22:36white and red.
22:37Also the design
22:38and weaving
22:39is so wonderful.
22:40This piece
22:41is 3,000 years old.
22:46Strikingly similar
22:47to Celtic tartans
22:49from Northwest Europe.
22:50The patterns
22:51in the weave
22:52are like ancient DNA
22:53waiting to be decoded.
22:57Are they evidence
22:58that the mummy people
22:59share common origins
23:01with the people
23:02of Western Europe?
23:08Scientific reconstruction
23:10of the heads
23:11of the mummies
23:11produces a face
23:13that strongly resembles
23:14ancient Celts
23:15and Saxons.
23:33The mummy people
23:34buried their dead
23:35in the barren desert
23:37but lived in the oases
23:39along its edges.
23:42These islands of green
23:44are still home
23:45to farmers
23:46who have little contact
23:47with the outside world
23:48and use tools
23:50and methods
23:50that have barely changed
23:52over the centuries.
23:55Could their way of life
23:57harbor its own
23:58living relics?
24:01Fragments
24:02of an ancient time
24:03preserved
24:03like the mummies
24:04themselves.
24:07The team sets out
24:08to explore
24:09a nearby village.
24:13Charlotte wants to find out
24:15about patterns
24:16of health
24:16and nutrition
24:17since those
24:18leave indelible marks
24:20on corpses
24:20and skeletons.
24:23Are there any problems
24:25general health problems?
24:27Is there any dental disease?
24:32Problems that afflict
24:33present-day locals
24:34might explain
24:35defects found
24:36on the mummies
24:37and shed light
24:38on their way of life.
24:40Colds and flus
24:41and just general
24:42major, minor illnesses
24:44but nothing major.
24:45But you can see
24:47like the one woman
24:47she has a thyroid condition.
24:49Yes.
24:50I wondered if there was
24:50an iodine deficiency
24:51in the water.
24:53It turns out
24:54the local people
24:55enjoy good health
24:57sustained by a balanced
24:58diet of cereals,
25:00fruit, vegetables
25:01and meat
25:01from their livestock.
25:03But the condition
25:04of the livestock itself
25:05prompts an important
25:07insight about the past.
25:09Looking at the animals
25:10today,
25:10their wool
25:11is very, very
25:12poor quality
25:13and in contrast
25:14the textiles
25:15that we found
25:16in the burials
25:16are made from
25:17very, very fine
25:18quality wool.
25:19So that would indicate
25:21to me that they had
25:22nomadic,
25:22they had trade
25:23with nomadic people
25:24who were living
25:25in the Tian Shan
25:26who were in an environment
25:27that would produce
25:29a very fine quality wool.
25:35Today's farmers
25:36do in fact
25:37buy wool,
25:38meat and timber
25:38from herders
25:39who live high
25:40in the mountains.
25:45Could this pattern
25:46date back
25:47to the mummy people?
25:49I believe that
25:50the mummy people
25:51must have had
25:52similar contact
25:52with ancient
25:53nomadic herders
25:54to weave
25:55such fine textiles.
26:01There's a lot
26:02about this cart
26:03that looks like
26:04a very ancient
26:04remains of the farm.
26:06The ways of the living
26:08echo those of the past.
26:10The mummy people,
26:11like the people
26:12of the Russian steppes
26:13to the north
26:14and the west,
26:14use donkey carts
26:16similar to those
26:17found here today.
26:18There's a piece of wood
26:20in one of the barrels.
26:21It's almost identical
26:22with these pieces here.
26:26The changeless nature
26:28of their design
26:29is revealed
26:30by these artifacts
26:31found in their graves.
26:35The mummy people
26:36used the wheel
26:37long before
26:38it was known
26:39in China
26:40and may have played
26:41a role
26:41in introducing it
26:42to Chinese civilization.
26:49In another reflection
26:50of the past,
26:51fir trees
26:52from the Tianxian mountains
26:53are used
26:54to fashion vessels
26:55and boards
26:55like those
26:56the local women
26:57use for bread making.
27:16When we were working
27:17at Wupu
27:17at the graveyard
27:18we found
27:19a similar bowl
27:20smaller in size
27:21but made
27:22with identical techniques.
27:28Even the curved bread
27:30resembles the ancient loaf
27:31similarly baked
27:33on the oven wall.
27:35In some ways
27:37when you go
27:37into the modern village
27:39of Wupu
27:39you feel like
27:40you're entering
27:41into the ancient period
27:43in which you
27:43when you look
27:44at the artifacts
27:45you feel like
27:45you're recapitulating that.
27:47There's so many similarities.
27:52But the scholars
27:53need to set their gaze
27:55beyond the village
27:56to explore
27:57the interdependence
27:58of local farmers
27:59and mounted
27:59nomadic herdsmen.
28:04After centuries
28:05of self-sufficiency
28:06the mummy people
28:07grew increasingly reliant
28:09on goods
28:10provided by nomads
28:11who found
28:12in the higher reaches
28:13of the Tianxian mountains
28:14pastures rich enough
28:16to raise
28:17high quality livestock.
28:26until recently
28:28this area
28:28was off limits
28:29to foreigners
28:33and the visitors
28:34were not prepared
28:35for what they saw.
28:38much to our
28:39utter surprise
28:40we found
28:41magnificent grasslands
28:42that are so immense
28:43it boggles the mind
28:45and they go very high.
28:47One could not
28:48possibly
28:49take advantage
28:50of this territory
28:51without having
28:53had a horse.
28:54There's no doubt
28:55that horseback riding
28:56had a great impact
28:57upon the expansion
28:58and occupation
28:59of the territory
29:00in this region.
29:02But could horseback riding
29:04have reached
29:04these parts
29:05centuries before
29:06it was known
29:07in China?
29:13Victor's friend
29:14archaeologist
29:15Luin Gua
29:16is a leading expert
29:17on the ancient nomads.
29:19His spectacular finds
29:20are revealing
29:21the nomads
29:22were expert riders
29:23as early as
29:24800 B.C.
29:26The 4th century B.C.
29:28horse saddle
29:28that we found
29:30doesn't have any metal
29:31or wood on it.
29:32It's upholstered
29:33as you can see
29:34white leather
29:36it's one of
29:37as far as we know
29:38it's one of the
29:39earliest saddles
29:39in the world
29:40that's so perfectly
29:41preserved.
29:43We can see
29:44that it's been
29:44mended here
29:45patched up
29:46it has beautiful
29:47bone fittings
29:48on the edges
29:49to tie the straps on.
29:52In the bridle
29:54and the bit
29:54things like this
29:55we found a lot
29:56from those
29:587th and 6th century
30:00Chabuhugo burials.
30:02The bit at the bottom
30:04I've got the headband
30:05up here
30:06The cheek pieces
30:07are wooden sticks
30:10the snaffle bit
30:11is made of iron
30:12and we have
30:13the leather straps
30:14the bridle
30:16And this is the rein
30:18And this rope
30:19And the rope
30:19must be
30:20for tethering the animal
30:22It's just like
30:23it's brand new
30:23it's still very flexible
30:25it could take a lot of weight
30:27The introduction
30:29of horseback
30:29riding to this region
30:31meant that the people
30:32had vastly
30:33increased mobility
30:34That means that
30:35they could
30:35take advantage
30:36of more distant pastures
30:38They could move
30:39their yurts
30:40their houses
30:40to farther away
30:42That means
30:42the pastures
30:43that they could
30:44utilize
30:44were vastly extended
30:50To survive
30:51the bitter winters
30:52high up in the mountains
30:53The nomads relied
30:55on extremely well insulated
30:57but portable homes
30:58called yurts
31:01This is the flap
31:02that goes
31:03that covers
31:04the door of the yurt
31:05and it's done
31:06with felt
31:07and it's
31:09quilted
31:09to make it
31:10much firmer
31:11because the felt
31:12otherwise
31:12with all the wear and tear
31:13would pull apart
31:14Then it's edged
31:15with a nice
31:17braided
31:17wool edging
31:19Down at the bottom
31:20is this nice
31:21woven band
31:22It goes around
31:23the complete circumference
31:24to hold the felt
31:25in place
31:26We've seen
31:27all of these
31:28techniques
31:28in the mummies
31:29We've seen
31:30the braided bands
31:31We've seen
31:32the quilted band
31:33and the felt
31:35All of this
31:36was influenced
31:37from the nomadic people
31:38down to the lowland
31:40sedentary people
31:44The yurt
31:45and its occupant's
31:46way of life
31:46have changed
31:48little
31:48in 2,000 years
31:52I'm interested
31:53to know
31:53what kind of diet
31:54they have
31:54What do they have
31:55in their normal diet
31:58They're very
31:59almost no vegetables
32:01mostly milk products
32:03We see some of them
32:04on the table here
32:05And some meat
32:08a bit of meat
32:08Does their diet
32:09very
32:10Charlotte learns
32:11that this family
32:12of nomads
32:12exchanges meat
32:13and wool
32:14for grain
32:14which they add
32:15to their own
32:16food products
32:17Without this carbohydrate
32:19supplement
32:19they would suffer
32:20from crippling
32:21malnutrition
32:22milk in the winter
32:23If the ancient
32:24nomad population
32:25was healthy
32:26they too
32:27must have traded
32:28with outsiders
32:29for grain
32:31They don't have
32:32many illnesses
32:33they just
32:33flus
32:34colds
32:36that sort of thing
32:41They have 500 sheep
32:44and goats
32:44500 sheep
32:49100 cows
32:51cattle
32:52and 80
32:5480 horses
32:57But exactly
32:59who were the nomads
33:02And where did
33:03they come from
33:07Archaeologist
33:08Lu Vingua
33:08suggests
33:09they try
33:09to locate
33:10a mysterious
33:11site
33:11dating from
33:12the time
33:13of the ancient
33:13nomads
33:15Perhaps
33:15it will yield
33:16some clues
33:27A colossal
33:29rock face
33:29covered with
33:31elaborate
33:31engravings
33:41This mountain
33:42is the perfect
33:43setting for
33:44a reproductive
33:44fertility
33:45right
33:46ceremony
33:47There's a lot
33:48of grass here
33:49It's very lush
33:50And the mountain
33:51itself is so grand
33:52that it's natural
33:54that people
33:54would want to
33:55come here
33:55and have ceremonies
33:57I see females
33:58performing a very
33:59ritual dance
34:00and some of them
34:01even falling
34:02into ecstasy
34:02during the dance
34:04time
34:04And the copulation
34:07between the male
34:07and the female
34:08are prominent
34:08in these scenes
34:11These 3,000
34:12year old
34:13dancing women
34:14with their narrow
34:14waists
34:15and stylized
34:16gestures
34:16are nearly
34:18identical to
34:19figures found
34:20in Bulgaria
34:21and in the Ukraine
34:22dated to about
34:24a thousand years
34:24earlier
34:26There too
34:27the dancers
34:28celebrate
34:29fertility
34:29and reproduction
34:40These figures
34:41have large noses
34:43long faces
34:44and round eyes
34:49The nomads
34:50are thought
34:51to have
34:51Iranian origins
34:52Here
34:54their western
34:55roots
34:55are literally
34:56carved in stone
35:13eager to establish
35:14if the nomads
35:15traded for grain
35:16with the mummy
35:17people
35:18Charlotte and Lou
35:19try to figure out
35:20how well
35:21the ancient herdsmen
35:22ate by studying
35:23their skeletal remains
35:27In a healthy human body
35:29this bit of the pelvis
35:30should be separate
35:31from the sacrum
35:31and able to move freely
35:35But this half is fused
35:37I suspect
35:38this is probably
35:39due to injury
35:41and again
35:42this may well
35:43be related
35:43to their lifestyle
35:46maybe to horse riding
35:47In the back
35:47of the mandible
35:48you'll see
35:49a very large hole
35:50there
35:52which indicates
35:53that the bone
35:54has got infected
35:55inside
35:56the pressure
35:57has built up
35:58and it's forced
35:59it's with a pus
36:00that's formed
36:01inside the bone
36:01It exposes the pulp cavity
36:11the center of the tooth
36:13which you can see there
36:14and the infection
36:16an infection
36:17gets into the roots
36:18of the teeth
36:18and causes destruction
36:19of the bone
36:20I suggest that this
36:21is associated with
36:22walking up and down
36:24steep mountain sides
36:25been in the hills a lot
36:28I don't see much evidence
36:30in the nomadic skeletons
36:31I've looked at
36:32of nutritional deficiencies
36:33so therefore
36:34they must have been
36:34getting additions
36:36to their main part
36:37of the diet
36:37from a source
36:38and that's probably
36:39from the agriculturalists
36:40and they would have been
36:41trading their animals
36:42for things like
36:44grain, fruit
36:45and vegetables
36:50It now seems certain
36:51that the nomads
36:52bartered with the mummy
36:53people for food
36:56but it turns out
36:57they became
36:58far more enterprising
36:59wide-ranging traders
37:06their graves contain such items
37:08as a 3,000 year old
37:09makeup stick
37:12and numerous bronze objects
37:14made hundreds of miles away
37:17We have evidence
37:18of long-distance trade
37:19across the mountains
37:21and steppes
37:22so we have bronze knives
37:23which show a very strong
37:25affinity with the steppe nomads
37:27on the northern side
37:29of the Tian Shan
37:29and clear as far north
37:30as southern Siberia
37:32At the time bronze
37:33was spreading eastward
37:34the Chinese recorded
37:36their first descriptions
37:37of European-looking nomads
37:39They say that they had
37:40red hair
37:41bluish green eyes
37:43and they look like
37:44monkeys
37:45and long noses
37:46they had long noses
37:47and they look like monkeys
37:48hairy all over
37:56Later nomad finds
37:57include artifacts
37:59that were not
38:00intended for sale
38:04These swift riders
38:06became masters
38:07of archery
38:08ready to trade
38:09in violence
38:10when it suited
38:11their interests
38:12Very powerful
38:16Before long
38:17the threat
38:18of their powerful
38:19serpentine bows
38:20would profoundly affect
38:22the course
38:22of Chinese history
38:23There are several
38:28kinds of arrows
38:29This one has an iron
38:34The bow was found
38:36during Liu's
38:37most recent excavations
38:38which have yielded
38:40many spectacular finds
38:41dating to about 300 B.C.
38:45They are kept
38:46in a locked storeroom
38:47and until now
38:49have never been filmed
38:50by outsiders
38:53One of the most important
38:54discoveries
38:55is a fully clothed woman
38:57wearing a conical hat
39:01symbolic of a high priestess
39:03of the nomads
39:04It would one day
39:06become the hallmark
39:07of witches
39:07in Europe
39:14Most startling of all
39:15is a male mummy
39:17bearing marks
39:18unlike any seen before
39:21The man's chest
39:23had been incised
39:25possibly due to lung disease
39:28then sewn up
39:29with horsehair sutures
39:33By this time
39:34the distinction between
39:35farmers and nomads
39:37was blurring
39:39They lived in tents
39:40They followed the grasses
39:42and waters
39:43They had considerable knowledge
39:45of agriculture
39:46They owned cattle
39:48horses, camels, sheep
39:50and goats
39:51They were proficient
39:52with bows and arrows
39:54They seemed to be both nomadic
39:56and agriculturalists
39:57at the same time
39:58So I believe that
40:00they were able to adapt
40:01to different kind of circumstances
40:03and that those
40:04who found themselves
40:05in oases
40:06for example
40:06became farmers
40:07and those who were
40:09in upper pastures
40:10or in grasslands
40:12either maintained
40:13a nomadic lifestyle
40:15or they became nomads
40:24Up in the high mountains
40:26the nomadic population
40:27expanded rapidly
40:29and soon reached
40:30the Chinese frontier
40:35Trading directly
40:37with the Chinese
40:37they fell in love
40:39with their superb silks
40:42To this day
40:43dearly prized
40:44by the region's
40:45nomadic Cossacks
40:53The nomads
40:54had extensive trade networks
40:56from about a thousand B.C.
40:57But the trade in silk
40:59began around 300 B.C.
41:01and spread
41:01right across the steps
41:03to Central Asia
41:04to Persia
41:05and to Europe
41:06This was the luxury item
41:07they really coveted
41:10If the Chinese
41:11refused to supply them
41:12the nomads
41:13bargained even harder
41:16waves of horsemen
41:17waves of horsemen
41:18laying waste
41:18to border towns
41:22The Chinese cavalry
41:24was not powerful enough
41:25to chase them
41:28But they did have superb engineers
41:32The Great Wall of China
41:34was linked up in the 3rd century B.C.
41:36from sections that had been built earlier
41:41It was not yet the wall we see today
41:43but it was large enough
41:46to impress the nomads
41:52Along the emerging silk road
41:54the Chinese erected watchtowers
41:57to warn travelers
41:58if marauding nomads approached
42:03In time
42:04cities sprang up along the road
42:07But who built them?
42:09Victor believes
42:10that at least one city
42:11Jiao Ha
42:12may have originally been founded
42:14by the ancestors
42:15of the Tocharians
42:17A mysterious people
42:19possibly descended
42:20from the ancient mummies
42:26In fact
42:27the European looking bodies
42:28recently discovered by Lu
42:30live near Jiao Ha
42:32and date to about 300 B.C.
42:35when the town was first settled
42:40Victor's research shows
42:41that Tocharians
42:42were living here
42:43as early as the 3rd century B.C.
42:48Several hundred years later
42:50when ethnic Chinese
42:51first arrived
42:52most of the inhabitants
42:54were still Tocharian
42:57Who were these enigmatic people?
43:01If Victor can corroborate his hunch
43:04that they descended
43:05from the ancient mummy people
43:06a startling conclusion
43:09would be inescapable
43:11This region
43:12on the very doorstep
43:14of ancient China
43:15was continuously populated
43:17by people of European origin
43:19from as early as 1800 B.C.
43:23through the boom days
43:24of the Silk Road
43:27The team requests permission
43:29to visit a remote site
43:31never before filmed
43:33by foreigners
43:35There they may be able
43:37to glimpse
43:37the real faces
43:38of the Tocharians
43:40This temple complex
43:42carved out of sandstone cliffs
43:44is riddled with caves
43:46where Buddhist monks
43:47made their homes
43:49Wow
43:50How nice
43:51It's very small
43:53Beautiful
43:54It's the 7th century
44:137th century
44:14It's the fleshy face
44:16It's the fleshy face, right?
44:16And look up there
44:17I see somebody
44:18in a coffin
44:19Uh-huh
44:19I can see the musculation
44:21coming in
44:22And it looks to me
44:22like they've got
44:23they're lowering
44:24the coffin
44:24into the burial
44:25See the ropes around
44:26the green ropes
44:27they're putting it down
44:28into the burial
44:31The clothes they were wearing
44:32are the clothes
44:33of the local people
44:34here in Kucha
44:35at the time
44:35and it's similar
44:37to the Iranian clothes
44:39of that period
44:39Oh look
44:40You look up there
44:41See the guy
44:42with the horse
44:43and the pointed hat
44:44There's three of them
44:45on that horse
44:46There's three Sokka there
44:48with the pointed hats
44:49Three Sokka nomads
44:53Many of the faces
44:55on the walls
44:55have Indian characteristics
44:57and cast marks
45:00Others are plainly Europeans
45:01painted in the style
45:03of classical Greece
45:04and Rome
45:11There are also
45:12mounted warriors
45:13wearing trousers
45:14and boots
45:15Their bowcases
45:16slung over their saddles
45:18I would also like
45:20to point out
45:20the recurve bow
45:21on this individual
45:22kneeling up here
45:23I think that's fascinating
45:25We see a hunting scene
45:27of a man
45:27with a recurve bow
45:28shooting
45:32In the gloomy recesses
45:33of one of the caves
45:35the scholars find a crucial clue
45:37to the identity
45:38of the Tocharians
45:39Not a painting
45:40but script
45:45Amazingly the Tocharian tongue
45:47is more closely related
45:48to the languages
45:49of Western Europe
45:50with their Indo-European origin
45:52than to those of Asia
45:55I think this is saying
45:56I think this is saying
45:56Suvarna
45:58Suvarna
45:58which would mean
46:00gold flower
46:01the name of the king
46:06More than likely
46:07the speakers of this Western tongue
46:09were of Western provenance
46:11themselves
46:21The puzzle is coming together
46:24Tartan textiles
46:28European faces
46:31shared ritual practices
46:38They belonged to a people
46:40related to those
46:41who lived in Eastern Europe
46:42in a region
46:43around the Urals
46:44and the Black Sea
46:45Most of their common ancestors
46:47migrated west
46:48The mummy people
46:50went east
46:51through the Russian steppes
46:52to the Tokla Macan
46:57But how long
46:58did they survive here?
47:00Were the Tocharians
47:01in fact
47:02their descendants?
47:04There's no way
47:05to be sure
47:05without seeing
47:06an authentic likeness
47:07of the Tocharians
47:10The guide knows
47:11an isolated cave
47:12with portraits
47:13of the individuals
47:14who sponsored
47:15the cave building
47:20It's a dangerous climb
47:21more than 100 feet
47:23above the valley
47:33floor
47:40Isn't that something?
47:41Up the ladders
47:43and across that ledge
48:13Well that was a bit of a climb
48:14Do you think it was well worth it?
48:16Now you've seen the...
48:17I would say so
48:19There's some pretty impressive
48:20features in this cave
48:23In this vaulted ceiling
48:25above us
48:26we have a lot of Buddhas
48:27with kneeling figures
48:29beside them
48:29and the kneeling figures
48:31and the kneeling figures
48:31look like they're Tocharians
48:39So he's a local person
48:42Tocharian
48:43but wearing elements of costume
48:46In a small passage
48:47at the back of the cave
48:49Victor hits pay dirt
48:51We see the red beard
48:54and red hair
48:56parted in the middle
48:57It's a distinctive style
48:59It's a distinctive style
48:59The Tocharians
49:01He's wearing a coat
49:02with wide lapels
49:04on both sides
49:05and then folded over
49:07It's a shame
49:08that these figures
49:09have all been defaced
49:10by people of other faiths
49:12at some time in the past
49:13But it's still
49:15it's very easy to see
49:16what they looked like
49:17and we can tell
49:18who they were
49:19The Tocharian figures
49:21are strikingly similar
49:23to the mummies
49:23that lived in these parts
49:24a thousand years earlier
49:29Victor's quest
49:30has come full circle
49:33The wide lapel
49:35folded back
49:37He's got the red beard
49:40red hair
49:41parted in the middle
49:44This Donner
49:46has blonde hair
49:47and a long nose
49:49and an Indian cast mark
49:51which we call a tikka
49:53So he's a local person
49:57a Tocharian
49:58but wearing elements of costume
50:02that are Sassanian
50:04or Persian influenced
50:05and has an Indian cast mark
50:07So we see it's a combination
50:08of various traits
50:09which the Tocharians
50:11have adopted
50:27By about the 10th century
50:29the Tocharians
50:30had almost disappeared
50:31from the stage of history
50:32We don't find any more documents
50:34written Tocharian
50:36and also we don't have any references
50:38to them in historical texts
50:40after that period
50:42I suspect that what happened to them
50:44is that they were
50:45primarily absorbed
50:46by the Turkic peoples
50:47who were moving into this area
50:49and replacing them
50:54I believe that the legacy
50:55of the earliest inhabitants
50:57of the Tocharian Basin
50:58survive in the current
50:59modern populations
51:01We can sometimes see individuals
51:03with blonde hair
51:04with light eyes
51:06and very fair skin
51:07and where did they come from
51:10I think these are the vestiges
51:12of the ancient peoples
51:15They now believe
51:16that they're Uyghurs
51:17or Tajiks
51:18or some other group
51:19but in my estimation
51:20these are just carrying on
51:22the old Tocharian influence
51:32A people long dead
51:34and neglected
51:35have emerged
51:36to reclaim their place
51:38in history
51:40and radically change
51:42our view
51:42of a critical time
52:03Inhabitants of the Taklamakan Desert
52:05ethnically European people
52:08breached China's fabled isolation
52:111,000 years earlier
52:14than previously thought
52:17Laying the foundation
52:19for the Great Silk Road
52:21the mummy people
52:23shape the very future
52:24of civilization
52:28The mummies are a unique
52:30and irreplaceable treasure
52:34Though we now understand
52:35something of their role
52:37in history
52:37scientific examination
52:39of their bodies
52:40will doubtless yield
52:42invaluable insights
52:45But inadequate conservation
52:47imperils the mummy's condition
52:49No one knows how long
52:52long before these ancient mortals
52:53disintegrate and crumble
52:55into dust
52:56Anonymous and evanescent
52:59as the drifting sands
53:01As of the universe
53:04I see you shall have
53:05as the mérite
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