The Celts in China

Crossing boundaries: From our Far Eastern correspondent

A Tarim Basin mummy photographed by Aurel Stein circa 1910

Mummies, possibly of ‘Celtic’ origin and some 3,000 years old, have been unearthed in the Tarim Basin of western China for nearly 100 years. ‘Cherchen Man’ is just one of these but one of the most interesting. Cherchen Man  is tall, red haired and wears a red tunic and tartan leggings. His mummified body, along with others, are now kept in Urumqi City Museum in Xinjiang province. Perhaps even more interesting are the burial sites where Cherchen Man and his people are found – these bear signs of a Celtic influence and include standing stones similar to British dolmens as well as icons reminiscent of sheela-na-gigs.   More here

 

  

See also – Mallory, J. P.; Victor H. Mair (2000). The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0500051011.