archeologia: Tartan

Evidence: 82 • authority: 72

Tartan (Scottish Gaelic: breacan [ˈpɾʲɛxkən]), also known, especially in American English, as plaid (), is a patterned cloth consisting of crossing horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colours, forming repeating symmetrical patterns known as setts. Tartan patterns vary in complexity, from simple two-colour designs to intricate motifs with over twenty hues. Originating in woven wool, tartan is most strongly associated with Scotland, where it has been used for centuries in traditional clothing such as the kilt. Specific tartans are linked to Scottish clans, families, or regions, with patterns and colours derived historically from local natural dyes (now supplanted by artificial ones). Ta…

Evidence: 32 • authority: 72

The Tarim mummies are a series of mummies discovered in the Yellow River Valley in present-day Xinjiang, China, which date from 6730 BCE to the first centuries BCE, with a new group of individuals recently dated to between c. 2100 and 1700 BCE. The Tarim population to which the earliest mummies belonged was agropastoral, and they lived c. 2000 BCE in what was formerly a freshwater environment, which has now become desertified. Zhang et al. (2021) found that these early mummies (dating from 2,135 to 1,623 BCE) had high levels of Ancient North Eurasian ancestry (ANE, about 72%), with smaller admixture from Ancient Northeast Asians (ANA, about 28%), but no detectable Western Steppe-related anc…

Evidence: 24 • authority: 80

Evidence: 24 • authority: 80

Earliest Silurian graptolites from Kalpin, western Tarim, Xinjiang, China

Evidence: 24 • authority: 72

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus Gossypium in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose and may contain minor percentages of waxes, fats, pectins, and water. Under natural conditions, cotton bolls facilitate the dispersal of the seeds. The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa (including Egypt) and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds. The fiber is most often spun into ya…

Evidence: 24 • authority: 72

The Tocharians or Tokharians (US: toh-KAIR-ee-ən, -⁠KAR-; UK: to-KAR-ee-ən) were speakers of the Tocharian languages, a group of Indo-European languages known from around 7,600 documents from the 6th and 7th centuries, found on the northern edge of the Tarim Basin (modern-day Xinjiang, China). The name "Tocharian" was given to these languages in the early 20th century by scholars who identified their speakers with a people known in ancient Greek sources as the Tókharoi (Latin: Tochari), who inhabited Bactria from the 2nd century BC. This identification is now generally considered erroneous, but the name "Tocharian" remains the most common term for the languages and their speakers. What they…

Evidence: 24 • authority: 72

Cherchen Man or Chärchän Man or Ur-David is the modern name given to a mummy found in the town Cherchen, located in current Xinjiang region of China. The mummy is a member of the group known as Tarim mummies. His naturally-mummified remains were discovered in Tomb 2 at the Zaghunluq cemetery, near the town of Qiemo (Chärchän) in the Taklamakan Desert of north-west China. Other such remains have also been recovered at sites throughout the Tarim Basin, including Qäwrighul, Yanghai, Shengjindian, Shanpula (Sampul), and Qizilchoqa.