Cherchen Man or Chärchän Man or Ur-David is the modern name given to a mummy found in the town
Cherchen
The oasis town of Qiemo or Cherchen (, ; Uighur: Qarqan, also spelled Charchan) is the capital of Qiemo County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China. It is on the Qiemo River and at the foot of the Qilian Mountains, on the ...
, located in current
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
region of China. The mummy is a member of the group known as
Tarim mummies
The Tarim mummies are a series of Mummy, mummies discovered in the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from Tarim Basin#Early periods, 1800 BCE to the first centuries BCE, with a new group of individuals recently dated to betw ...
. His naturally-
mummified
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furthe ...
remains were discovered in ''Tomb 2'' at the Zaghunluq cemetery, near the town of
Qiemo Qiemo may refer to:
* Qiemo County
Qiemo County ( zh, c= ) as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Uyghur as Qarqan County ( Uyghur: ; zh, c=恰尔羌县), is a county under the administration of the Bayin'gholin Mongol Autonom ...
(Chärchän) in the
Taklamakan Desert
The Taklamakan Desert ( ) is a desert in northwest China's Xinjiang region. Located inside the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang, it is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the ...
of north-west
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
.
Other such remains have also been recovered at sites throughout the
Tarim Basin
The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...
, including
Qäwrighul,
Yanghai
The Subeshi culture (; 1100–100 BCE), also rendered as Subeishi culture or Subeixi culture, is an Iron Age culture from the area of Shanshan County, Turfan, Xinjiang, at the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin. The Subeshi culture contributes some ...
,
Shengjindian
The Subeshi culture (; 1100–100 BCE), also rendered as Subeishi culture or Subeixi culture, is an Iron Age culture from the area of Shanshan County, Turfan, Xinjiang, at the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin. The Subeshi culture contributes some ...
, Shanpula (Sampul), and Qizilchoqa.
Description
The mummy is an adult male who is believed to have died around 1000 BC and is likely to have been aged around fifty years at the time of his death.
His height is estimated at 176–178 cm.
His hair was "reddish brown flecked with grey, framing high cheekbones", he had an
aquiline "long nose, full lips and a ginger beard", and was wearing "a red
twill
Twill is a type of textile
Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and d ...
tunic
A tunic is a garment for the torso, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the ankles. It might have arm-sleeves, either short or full-length. Most forms have no fastenings. The name deri ...
" and
leggings
Leggings are several types of leg attire that have varied through the years. Modern usage from the 1960s onwards has come to refer to elastic close-fitting High-rise (fashion), high-rise garments worn over the legs typically by women, such as leg ...
with a pattern resembling
tartan
Tartan or plaid ( ) is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as ''setts''. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated wi ...
.
Yellow and purple spiral and sun patterns on the mummy's face have been misidentified as tattoos in some sources; they are actually an
ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colou ...
paint.
Mummification
Like other mummies from the
Tarim, Cherchen Man was buried in a tomb made of mud bricks topped with reeds and brush. The Cherchen man and the other female mummy were placed on multiple branches, with small mats underneath them that reduced the moisture in the tomb, adding to their preservation.
The Cherchen man also appears to have had a piece of wood holding his legs up in the bent position which would have increased the amount of air circulation, slowing the rate of decomposition.
The Cherchen man and his companions (there were one man and three women in the same tomb, and one baby in the adjacent tomb)
were natural
mummies
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and Organ (biology), organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to Chemical substance, chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the ...
meaning that unlike the well known
Egyptian mummies
The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of funerary practices that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals included mummifying the body, casting magic spells, and burials with specific grave goods ...
, they became mummies from exposure to their ambient environment, as opposed to intentional human practices.
File:Infant mummy (Tarim).jpg, The infant mummy (Tomb A-2), probably the son of the Cherchen Man
See also
*
Subeshi culture
The Subeshi culture (; 1100–100 BCE), also rendered as Subeishi culture or Subeixi culture, is an Iron Age culture from the area of Shanshan County, Turfan, Xinjiang, at the eastern edge of the Tarim Basin. The Subeshi culture contributes some ...
, a contemporary culture in the northern area of the Tarim Basin
*
Sogdia
Sogdia () or Sogdiana was an ancient Iranian peoples, Iranian civilization between the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, and in present-day Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. Sogdiana was also a province of the Achaemen ...
*
Tocharians
The Tocharians or Tokharians ( ; ) were speakers of the Tocharian languages, a group of Indo-European languages known from around 7,600 documents from the 6th and 7th centuries, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern-day Xinj ...
*
Uyghurs
The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...
*
Western Regions
The Western Regions or Xiyu (Hsi-yü; ) was a historical name specified in Ancient Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to the 8th century AD that referred to the regions west of the Yumen Pass, most often the Tarim Basin in prese ...
*
Wusun
The Wusun ( ) were an ancient semi-Eurasian nomads, nomadic Eurasian Steppe, steppe people of unknown origin mentioned in Chinese people, Chinese records from the 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD.
The Wusun originally l ...
*
Yuezhi
The Yuezhi were an ancient people first described in China, Chinese histories as nomadic pastoralists living in an arid grassland area in the western part of the modern Chinese province of Gansu, during the 1st millennium BC. After a major defea ...
*
Kurgan Peoples
*
Human Migration
Human migration is the movement of people from one place to another, with intentions of settling, permanently or temporarily, at a new location (geographic region). The movement often occurs over long distances and from one country to another ( ...
References
Links
*
* {{cite web , url=https://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.ca/2011/10/flashback-secrets-of-cherchen-man.html , title=Secrets of Cherchen Man , publisher=The Archaeology News Network , date=2011-10-24 , df=dmy-all
Tarim mummies
History of Xinjiang
11th-century BC deaths
Qiemo County