The Silk Road Winter 2008 Issue is out

For anyone interested in subjects, related to the Silk Road, the digital magazines of the Silk Road Foundation are a MUST READ.
The New Winter Issue of 2008 has just been released:

CONTENTS

From the Editor's Desktop: Beyond the Sensational: The Reiss-Engelhorn-Museums' "Origins of the Silk Road"

A review of the excellent exhibition of archaeological treasures from Xinjiang on display in Mannheim, Germany until June 1, 2008. Of particular interest are the numerous textiles and more generally the artifacts of daily life.


The 'Silk Roads' Concept Reconsidered: About Transfers: Transportation and Transcontinental Interactions in Prehistory,
by Hermann Parzinger
Recent archaeological finds in Eurasia are documenting the existence of significant transcontinental exchange well prior to the traditional "beginnings of the Silk Roads." An important component of this exhange is to be connected with the Bronze Age Andronovo Culture in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. For the Iron Age in the first millennium BCE, some of the evidence is in the striking discoveries from Scythian burials of southern Siberia.

The Dream and the Glory: Integral Salvage of the Nanhai No. 1 Shipwreck and Its Significance,
by Xu Yongjie
The recent recovery of the Nanhai No. 1 (South China Sea No. 1) shipwreck off the coast of Guangdong Province is a landmark in Chinese marine archaeology. The "integral salvage" of this wreck, dating from the late Song Dynasty and containing a cargo of porcelain, means that the detailed archaeological work can be carried out in controlled conditions in the new Marine Silk Road Museum.

The Byzantine Element in the Turkic Gold Cup with the Tiger Handle Excavated at Boma, Xinjiang,
by Lin Ying
The striking find of early Turk Empire gold objects at Boma in the Ili Valley region of western Xinjiang in 1997 included a jewel-encrusted cup with an attached handle cast in the form of a tiger. The likely origin of this handle was the Byzantine Empire, since there was a tradition in late Roman times of the making of such feline handles for precious metalwork, and they then could have been taken to the Turks as part of the diplomatic exchange of the 6th and 7th centuries. The Turks were important contributors to exchange along the silk roads.


Xiongnu Elite Tomb Complexes in the Mongolian Altai: Results of the Mongol-American Hovd Archaeology Project, 2007,
by Bryan K. Miller, Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan, Tseveendorj Egimaa, and Christine Lee
A report on the project at Tahiltin-hotgor cemetery co-sponsored by the Silkroad Foundation and the National Museum of Mongolian History. A large ramped tomb was excavated and, perhaps of greater interest, several satellite burials and ritual lines connected with tomb complexes. The material is important for extending our understanding of the Xiongnu in an area away from the political center of their polity. By paying close attention to the satellite features of elite burials, we can learn a great deal about ritual and society.

Excavation of a Xiongnu Satellite Burial,
by Jessieca Jones and Veronica Joseph
A description of the excavation of the Satellite burial THL-25-2 at Tahiltin-hotgor cemetery, which contained the well-preserved remains of a man buried with a number of interesting artifacts.


The Tahilt Region: A Preliminary Archaeological Survey of the Tahilt Surroundings to Contextualize the Tahilt Cemeteries,
by James T. Williams
The survey of about a 40 square km area containing the Tahiltin-hotgor cemetery and many other sites dating from the Palaeolithic to the Turk periods. The article discusses survey methodology and provides an overview of the results.


Food as Culture: The Kazakh Experience,
by Alma Kunanbaeva
Food, its preparation, and the social practices surrounding its consumption provide important insights into central cultural concepts of the Kazakhs. The article discusses the food traditions and provides as well practical guidance in the preparation of some Kazakh recipes