The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West - Book Report/Review Example

The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West by Thames and Hudson Introduction: Exploring their position inthe West’s discovery from the Tarim Mummies and exposing the attempts of scientists to determine their traditional or cultural identity, Mallory and Mair analyze the substantiation associated with mummies. In their collaborative effort entitled The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West, Mallory and Mair include languages of the Tarim with the background of their ethnic and cultural scenario. The entire book forces the reader to join an interesting journey through history, archeology, and skeletal anatomy, linguistic, religion classical and medieval culture covering up on the Tarim Dasin, in China. A comparative study of this work, with “Worlds Together Worlds Apart: A History of the World Second Edition” permits the readers to understand the similarities in which the authors of the two books have preset the world history. Even though they have similarities as well differences in content, it would appear as an asset for researchers who retain an interest in world history. Major concepts and arguments made by. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair: The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West is a widely accepted piece work with several implications for different field researchers such as historians, linguists, anthropologist and archaeologists. It puts forward a complete debate and commendable picture of the recent archaeological discoveries of the Tarim Basin in Chinese Xinjiang. The findings from the tombs include magnificently preserved human remnants with a rich arrangement of textiles and linked funeral materials. The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West gives more valuable information about mummies. This information is rare and helps the researchers as well students to open the windows of world history that have remained shrouded in mystery. Mallory and Mair offer a detailed discussion about the recent studies from archeological from the region of Tarim Basin in Chinese Xinjiang. Right at the beginning of the book, authors raise a significant question as to who were the people or community that preserved human remains discovered in the remote areas of northwestern China? Mallory and Mair argue that earliest Bronze Age followers of the Tarim and Basins derived from the highland areas immediately north of East Central Asia. After a detailed reading of the book one can comprehend the fact that the life in these regions, especially Tarim and Basins, has a culture that related with Afanasevo culture which subjugated the highland areas. Researchers can get further knowledge when they realize the fact that the Afanasevo culture has its roots in Indo-European continuum of languages. Professionals of Linguistics have already mentioned that the expansion of Indo- “linguistic review will introduce the evidence which many believe indicates that the ancestors of at least some of the Tarim mummies originally derived from Eutope.” (Mallory & Mair, 2008). The concept of the linguistic periphery describes the interrelation between different cultures in Xinjiang region. The authors make a conscious effort to stand firm in their argument that the influence of Western life and culture is visible in ancient China. Explanations about Roman Empire in western Afro-Eurasia and the arrival of powerful European nation are relevant for researchers. The book discloses a noteworthy point that a number of Bronze Age mummies, preserved in the archeological record of Central Asia, may be dispensed a feasible Tocharian characteristics. Life history of Tartans in the Tarim region underlines the textile industry which flourished in ancient China. The information about the Chinese plough that hand round as the model for later European ploughs helps the researchers in different ways and all these supplementary information play a vital role in the formation of the main argument. The way which people from Tarim Basin preserved human remains have some similarities in the mummies which are found in European countries. The online article entitled Book Summary of The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China And The Mystery Of The Earliest Peoples From The West rightly comments that; “The book examines the clues left by physical remains; economy, technology, and textiles; and traces of local languages.” (Mallory & Mair, 2008, para.1). Thames and Hudson very perfectly unfold their findings of the Tarim Mummies and enlightening the efforts of scientists to decide their cultural identity, the writers Thames and Hudson look at each and every one the indication linked with the mummies, with cloths and languages of the Tarim area. The thousands of years the inhabitants of the infertile wastes and oasis that would in a while turn into the Silk Road buried their dead in the desiccating sands of the Taklimakan, the second most barren region on world. This dry atmosphere, conserving dead body and garments, agree to a supreme sight into the life and manifestation of a primitive populace. During the time the mummies laid quiet their faces expressively face up to contemporary intellectual to recognize them. For these reasons are not the faces of primordial Chinese but quite those of Indo-Europeans who established in the Tarim Basin on the western frame of antique China some four millennia before. The cautiously edited manuscript offers and the fundamental and correct argument is difficult with humorousness and sophistication. The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West is one of the most interesting works. This fascinating study explains the discovery of these primordial populace and it reveals the most modern challenges to give explanation for their genesis and illustrates their racial uniqueness. It looks at the evidences left by bodily remnants such as their financial system, their technical skill and textiles. The subtopic entitled skulls, Genes, and Knights with Long Swords endow with informative piece of knowledge about the mummies from the Tarim Basin. Archeologists have documented that many of them have preserved dead bodies and they often recognize the similarity with mummies from Central Eurasia. A comparative study The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China And The Mystery Of The Earliest Peoples From The West and Worlds Together Worlds Apart: A History of the World Second Edition. A comparative study between the two books The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and The Mystery Of The Earliest Peoples From the West and Worlds Together Worlds Apart: A History of the World Second Edition offers the opportunity for interpretation of some relevant points about world history. Worlds Together Worlds Apart: A History of the World Second Edition highlights the narratives and subject matter in world history that joined civilization and areas together, and in several cases, troop them separately. In the book, Worlds Together Worlds Apart: A History of the World Second Edition second edition, researcher can find the gradual evolution of the world that puts forward a variety of communities, nations, cultures and dynasties with the inevitable background score of time “Rather than treating cultures and regions as discrete entities, "Worlds Together, Worlds Apart" presents a compelling, event-driven narrative that integrates every region of the world into every chapter.” (Tignor, 2010, para.3). The non-Eurocentric approach of the well edited book, carry on the development of the unique eleven world record "turning point" stories from the contemporary era to comprise ten additional "turning point" stories from the previous stages of the world history. The origin and expansion of Roman Empire in Central Eurasia and ancient China became a relevant topic for the researcher when they read these two books. The establishment of powerful European dynasty brought about perceptible changes in various field of the Central Eurasia such as politics, religion, economy, trade and culture. Researchers can find the similarity in both books to demonstrate the Western origin and social and cultural influences that have acquired in ancient China. Like The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West, Worlds Together, Worlds Apart also makes available to students and researchers the stories that distort history and enables them to construct the relations they need in order to better comprehend how the world have move toward what it is today. The history of world’s first city built on the rivers of Afro – Eurasia, the formation of the Silk Road, origin of various nation-states in the history and the evolution of modern globalization provide a similar experience to the readers when they read The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. Conclusion: When it concludes, researchers can put forward some relevant points about the unrevealed world history. The book The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West depicts a detailed analysis of the ancient community, who surprisingly preserved human remains that were discovered in Tarim Basin in Chinese Xinjiang. The authors present various concepts about the people, religion, culture, and way of life, and the external interruptions from the West. Worlds Together Worlds Apart: A History of the World Second Edition is also a noted work which researcher can find some similarities with book The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West. The origin and establishment of Roman Empire and formation of European dynasty underline the strong influence of West in ancient China. Analyzing the two books researcher can clearly understand the fact that through the light of the book Worlds Together Worlds Apart: A History of the World Second Edition, J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair stand firm in their argument about the relation between ancient China and the West. Reference List Mallory, J. P., & Mair, V. H. (2008). The tarim mummies: Ancient China and the mystery of the earliest peoples from the west. Flipkart.Com. Retrieved November 16, 2010, from http://www.flipkart.com/tarim-mummies-mallory-victor-mair-book-0500283729 Tignor, R. (2010). Worlds together, world apart: A history of the world from the beginnings of human kind to the present, second edition: Volume 2, Chapters 10-21. Powells.com. Retrieved November 16, 2010, from http://www.powells.com/biblio?show=TRADEPAPER:NEW:9780393925494:99.75#synopses_and_reviews Read More