The Archaeology of the Gansu Corridor and the Tarim Basin – The Great Trade routes: The Silk Road II

The Gansu Corridor and the Tarim basin link the Chinese heartlands with the road west via the steppes or through Ancient Persia, without this very dry and difficult area the overland Silkroad cannot operate.

As a result, the oasis cities in the basin like Dunhuang and Khotan became bywords for wealth and the ability to meet people from all over the world in their markets and monasteries.

The very dry climate at the edge of the Gobi desert and in the Tarim basin has in addition preserved remains from the Neolithic onwards that you can rarely find anywhere else from clothes, letters, silk, but also house and temple structures and artwork.

This 10-week course will explore the archaeology and history of the area, as well as the history of its archaeology.

29 September Geography, the Great Game and the early Archaeology in the Tarim Basin

6 October Where it all begins: of Wheat, Camels and bronze casting moving east and the climate of the Tarim Basin

13 October Tarim Mummies (Please note: this lecture will contain images of human remains)

20 October The rise of the Silkroad: Khotan and Kashgar

27 October Xuanzang and the southern road

3 November Guochang and the Prefecture of Anxi

10 November The Gansu Corridor and the Great Wall

17 November Dunhuang and Turfan – between Buddhism, Islam, Manichaeism and a world of religions

24 November BREAK

1 December Dunhuang – The coming of the Tibetans

8 December Marco Polo and the Mongols