On Textile Fragments Found at Karadong, a 3rd to early 4th Century Oasis in the Taklamakan Desert (Xinjiang, China)

In 1993 and 1994, the Sino-French archeological mission in Xinjiang led by Abdurassul Idriss and Corinne Debaine-Francfort,1 excavated the site at Karadong in the heart of the Takalamakan desert, on a former delta of the Keriya River, whose headwaters are in the Kunlun Mountains at the Tibetan border, and which vanishes in the desert sands. At one time, it continued north all the way to the Tarim River, thus forming a communication link with the Kucha region. Older deltas visible on satellite images have been explored and two related archeological sites have been consecutively excavated to the northwest of Karadong: an Iron Age site, Djoumboulak Koum, and a Bronze Age site, the so-called Northern Cemetery (fig. 1).2 Textiles were found on both sites, and especially at Djoumboulak Koum, where several cemeteries as well as a ‘city’, ringed by a thick rampart, revealed the types of woolen fabrics local people valued a few centuries before Karadong. These discoveries have provided important parallels for the interpretation of the textile fragments discovered in the ruins of Karadong dwellings, and in particular, in shedding light on their relationships with regions near and far. Our presentation is divided in three parts. Firstly, we will examine the archeological and historical context of Karadong in order to understand who was living there, and what kinds of relationships these people had with the outside world. Secondly, we shall describe the salient features of the forty-nine small and poorly preserved textile fragments found there. Thirdly, we will show how these textiles—quite sober in appearance—substantiate surprising evidence of the circulation of textiles and ideas over great distances

La Mission Archéologique Franco-chinoise au Xinjiang (Chine)

Avant d’acquérir son autonomie, en 1991, la Mission Archéologique franco-chinoise (MAFCX, dir. H.-P. Francfort, puis C. Debaine-Francfort) était placée sous la responsabilité de la Mission Archéologique Française en Asie centrale (MAFAC, dir. J.-C. Gardin, puis H.-P. Francfort). Sa création, en 1989, vint sceller dix années d’échanges incessants entre l’ex-UPR 315 du CNRS (“Archéologie de l’Asie centrale”, aujourd’hui UMR 7041) et l’Institut d’Archéologie et du Patrimoine du Xinjiang (IPAX, d..

Boissons en Chine ancienne

International audienceIl sera principalement question de la Chine du Nord que nous allons parcourir du Néolithique au début de notre ère, en commençant par la dynastie des Shang et les données textuelles (inscriptions oraculaires, inscriptions sur bronze et textes historiques)1. Grâce à ces documents, nous savons que les premières boissons fermentées étaient à base de céréales et que leur consommation était étroitement liée au culte des ancêtres et à différents rituels, d’abord réservés à la maison royale, puis dont la pratique s’est élargie aux familles nobles et diffusée sur un vaste territoire

Préface

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Les grandes étapes de la néolithisation en Chine de ca. 9000 à 2000 av. J.-C.

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Les momies du Xinjiang (Chine)

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