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Illuminating interaction networks along the Silk Roads: a multi-isotopic analysis of the Zaghunluq Cemetery, southern Xinjiang, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2025

Xueye Wang ,
Zihua Tang ,
Yuqi Li Open the ORCID record for Yuqi Li [Opens in a new window] ,
Guiying Zhang ,
Lipeng Lu ,
Bo Wang ,
Wenjun Wang ,
Hongliang Lü Open the ORCID record for Hongliang Lü [Opens in a new window]  and
Patrick Roberts
Xueye Wang
Affiliation:
Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P.R. China School of Archaeology and Museology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P.R. China
Zihua Tang*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric and Environmental Coevolution, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
Yuqi Li*
Affiliation:
Key Research Institute of Social History of China, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China Faculty of History, Nankai University, Tianjin, P.R. China
Guiying Zhang
Affiliation:
Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P.R. China School of Archaeology and Museology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P.R. China
Lipeng Lu
Affiliation:
Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Ürümqi, P.R. China
Bo Wang
Affiliation:
Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Museum, Ürümqi, P.R. China
Wenjun Wang
Affiliation:
Science and Technology Archaeology, National Centre for Archaeology, Beijing, P.R. China Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R. China
Hongliang Lü
Affiliation:
Center for Archaeological Science, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P.R. China School of Archaeology and Museology, Sichuan University, Chengdu, P.R. China
Patrick Roberts
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Jena, Germany
*
Authors for correspondence: Zihua Tang tangzihua@mail.iggcas.ac.cn; Yuqi Li li.yuqi@nankai.edu.cn
Authors for correspondence: Zihua Tang tangzihua@mail.iggcas.ac.cn; Yuqi Li li.yuqi@nankai.edu.cn
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Abstract

Oasis communities across Central Asia were key to the emergence and maintenance of the ancient Silk Roads that spanned Eurasia from the late second century BC, yet our understanding of early interaction networks in this region is limited. Multi-isotopic analysis of human teeth from the Zaghunluq Cemetery, southern Xinjiang (sixth century BC to first century AD) now suggests that oasis communities established intricate exchange networks, forming strong ties with other nearby oases and mountain pastoralists and weak ties, facilitated through in migration, with more distant regions. These diverse connections, the authors argue, made possible cultural exchange across the challenging geography of eastern Central Asia.

Keywords

Central AsiaEarly Iron Ageearly historic periodisotope analysismobility patternsagropastoralistsoasis communities

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 99 , Issue 405 , June 2025 , pp. 762 - 779
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd

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