Today, nothing survives in the hot, arid environment of the Taklamakan Desert in north-western China. Yet, it is thanks to these conditions that we can look into the faces of people who settled there more than 3,500 years ago. Inspired by the discovery at the beginning of the 20th century of Bronze Age mummies in neighbouring Lop Nor Desert, explorer Christoph Baumer hired a caravan of camels to search for evidence of communities in the heart of Taklamakan at a time when water still ran in the now dry riverbeds. What he found was a Bronze Age cemetery at Ayala Mazar, and the wonderfully preserved, naturally mummified remains of people who, like their neighbours in Lop Nor, had long, narrow faces and light brown hair typically associated with European populations. Is this evidence of a Bronze Age cultural crossroad?
In Mexico, the Olmec-style stone-carvings at Chalcatzingo have puzzled archaeologists since their discovery 80 years ago. Are they depictions of mythical beasts and deities, or more earthly representations of chiefly status and power?
In 1917, for just one night, T E Lawrence – better known as Lawrence of Arabia – camped in the Jordan desert at Tooth Hill with his fellow soldiers, a moment he recorded in his diary during the final stages of the First World War. Now, nearly a century later, archaeologists from the Great Arab Revolt Project have discovered evidence of that fleeting moment. Finds from the campsite lay where they were discarded, providing a poignant insight into the minutiae of daily life during this long campaign.
From inhumations to cremations, a burial ground at Marigny-le-Châtel in France reveals changing rituals during the Late Bronze Age.
Finally, we take a look at the humble donkey, a beast that has played an overlooked but vital part in the human story: where would we have been without these ‘pickup trucks of Antiquity’?
IN THIS ISSUE
CHINA: Taklamakan Desert Mummies In search of a Bronze Age melting pot where East meets West
MEXICO: Chalcatzingo Olmec propaganda, power, and sacrifice
JORDAN: Excavating a legend Lawrence of Arabia’s desert campsite at Tooth Hill
FRANCE: Marigny-le-Châtel Uncovering the evolution of Bronze Age burials
EQUUS AFRICANUS ASINUS: Donkeys The pickup trucks of Antiquity
Denisovan descendants in Tibet
Ticking time bomb
Celtic false tooth
Earliest American genes
Last rites at Pachacamac
How should we protect our sunken heritage?
Eureka moments and spectacular revelations
ETHIOPIA Exploring the rich heritage of an African empire
SARDINIA Richard Hodges travels to Alghero
FRANCE Roman riches in north-western France
The new Ġgantija Temples visitor centre
Andrew Robinson reviews Irving Finkel’s The Ark Before Noah
plus reviews of:
The Ancient Near East: history, society and economy by Mario Liverani
Bronze Age Bureaucracy: writing and the practice of government in Assyria by Nicholas Postgate
Perishable Material Culture in Prehistory: investigating the missing majority by Linda M Hurcombe
Ancient Lives, New Discoveries: eight mummies, eight stories by John H Taylor and Daniel Antoine
Silk for the Vikings by Marianne Vedeler
Neil Faulkner asks: What does the dead horse mean?
Viking mice and other explorers
The Nahal Hemar Mask