Xiaohe tomb site at Lop Nor in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
Period: Bronze
Age Listed in: 2004 Excavated by: the Cultural Relics and Archeological
Research Institute of Xinjiang
Site description
The site in Northwest China was first discovered in early last
century and excavated in 1934 by a Swedish archeologist. Altogether 167 tombs
have been dug up since the end of 2002, unearthing thousands of precious relics.
The exterior of the tomb site is an oblong sand dune; more than 30
well-preserved mummies have been excavated from inside the dune. The mummies'
well-preserved state is due to them being kept air-tightened in ox-hide bags
before they were interred. Tall timbers symbolizing the reproductive organs of
males and females stand atop the sand dune and are the cultural traces of the
people in Lop Nor area millenniums ago.
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