Summary: Archaeological Results of the Silk Road Cultural Sites Released and the Cultural Relics of Yuezhi Confirmed On the International Symposium on “One Belt and Road”, archaeological results of historical and cultural sites of the Silk Road was published. CN

Archaeological Results of the Silk Road Cultural Sites Released and the Cultural Relics of Yuezhi Confirmed

 

On the International Symposium on “One Belt and Road”, archaeological results of historical and cultural sites of the Silk Road was published.

CNWEST News (reporter Li Yuanqin Wei Yongxian) “Since the year of 2000, our school has begun the archaeological researches in the important areas along the Silk Road in the northwestern regions. In recent years, we have found large settlement sites of the ancient nomadic cultures and thus filling the academic gaps." On the afternoon of September 26th, the announcement conference of “the Silk Road Cultural Sites Historical and Cultural Archaeological Results” during the International Symposium on “One Belt and Road”, and the vice president of Northwestern University, Professor Gao Ling made an introduction. Meanwhile, Head of the Archaeological Research Institute of the Uzbekistan National Academy of Sciences, Berdimuradov Amridin, etc. reported the archaeological achievements.

 

In December 2013, Northwestern University and the Archaeological Research Institute of the Academy of Science of Uzbekistan Republic, signed the cooperation agreement on the project of “Ancient Nomadic Cultural and Archaeological Investigation, Discovery and Research in the Western Regions of West Tianshan” in Samarkand. Later, archaeologists of Northwestern University systematically carried out archaeological explorations for years in piedmont and steppe zone of western Tianshan within southern Samarkand Region, northeastern Qashqadaryo Region, and Surxondaryo Region in Uzbekistan, to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the distribution of the ancient remains of nomadic cultures in southern Uzbekistan. During the investigation, a large number of sites were found including some ancient nomadic culture's settlement sites, having filled the gaps in the previous study.

    

According to Wang Jianxin, Professor of The Cultural Heritage School in Northwestern University, archaeological survey in the Uzbekistan Surxondaryo basin and the surrounding mountains as well as the existing archaeological data show that , in the first Century BC, the farming culture represented by the ancient cities distributed in the both sides of the Surxondaryo River should belong to the early Kushan culture, and it has close relationships with the former Greek Bactrianand and subsequent Kushan imperial culture. In the piedmont zone around Surxondaryo basin, there are contemporary nomadic cultural relics, and they may be related to the ancient Yuezhi.

    

Archaeological discoveries from the Sazagan site show that the ancient nomadic cultural relics between the 1st century BC to AD the 1st century located in the piedmont zone of western Tiannshan at the southern margin of the Samarkand basin, should belong to the culture of ancient Kangju. This is in line with the records of Hanshu and other ancient literatures, and provides further sources for confirmation of the ancient Yuezhi culture’s distribution range.

   

This research, mainly verified the archaeological cultural relics of ancient Yuezhi, clarified the connections between ancient Yuezhi and Daxia (Bactria), Kushan, Sogdian, etc. and made access to a comprehensive system of archaeological data and the scientific basis for future study.

    

It is understood that since 2000, the archaeological experts of Northwestern University have not only based on the archaeological researches of Northwestern Regions which are important ones along the Silk Road, but also opened up a new realm of Silk Road International archaeology to extend the range to Central Asia. From 2009 to 2013, directed by Northwestern University, the domestic and foreign experts in relative fields have made three in-depth explorations of remains in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Especially after President Xi Jinping raised the initiative of jointly building the Silk Road Economic Belt, school has strengthened the study of the Silk Road archaeology, cooperated with Archaeological Research Institute of Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, waged on systematically archaeological research into the western areas of western Tianshan and made all-round understanding of the distribution of ancient nomadic cultural relics.