China is being accused of pulling the “Beauty of Xiaohe” over concerns that the remarkably well-preserved 4,000-year-old mummy because she is too Western looking. People who have seen the mummy have noted that she looks remarkably Caucasian — a problem for Chinese officials who have long denounced theories that that China’s Tarim Basin, in Xinjiang province, was actually settled by Europeans.
Many believe that the first settlers in the oil-rich region were in fact Europeans and the Chinese face an intermittent separatist movement of nationalist Uighurs.
The government does not tolerate theories that Europeans were there first, particularly during its crackdown against the Uighurs who dislike the Han Chinese.
The Penn Museum was suddenly informed of the decision — a critical loss to its planned “Secrets of the Silk Road” exhibit.
Source: Independent
Well, the “Tocharians” weren’t exactly Europeans. Sometime in the murky distant past there was an emigration out of the Caucus region; some went west and became Europeans, some few went east and settled in the Tarim basin, now a barren desert, which at the time had a significant lake fed by glacial meltwater. The intriguing thing about these people is that they evidently spoke a proto-Indo-European language. Oh, to have a time machine! But eventually they were squeezed out to the west and south, or else assimilated into mongol tribes.
As a consequence, the (Han) Chinese are very very touchy. These mummies are a cultural embarrassment, despite their great historic value.
Monica Goodling finally found work and is now advising the Chinese government.
With the plate shifts…and if anyone believes that the continental drifts are possible…well…I think it is true…The other day before the Big Game that almost was…I was watching HI and it was amazing that the folks in the out reaches of Siberia resembled some Asians… coincidence…I am sure…Stalin did his best to rid the country of them….it was compared to the German Holocaust…and no one said a thing about this mass extermination….