Secrets of the Silk Road

The Penn Museum is the first and last stop on the east coast for the 'Secrets of the Silk Road' exhibition (highlights slideshow). The exhibit features three of the 'Caucasian' Tarim Mummies. The traveling show from China features more than 150 objects representing the rich cultural heritage of the region over more than 4,000 years.

The materials - and mummies - on display come from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Museum and the Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology in Urumqi in northwest China.

Expect jewel-encrusted vessels, masks, jewelry, clothing, highly valued silk and other textiles, wooden and bone implements, and coins testify to the remarkable international trade that passed through the region. Most remarkable, however, are three astonishingly well-preserved ethnically-diverse mummies dating from 1800 BC to 400 AD - a man, a woman often referred to as the “Beauty of Xiaohe,” and a child - and artefacts related to their burials.

The Houston Museum of Natural Science will be continuing the “Secrets of the Silk Road” (slideshow preview) exhibit currently being held at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California.

From August 27 to January 2 2011, visitors of the Houston Museum of Natural Science will be able to view the exhibit, which includes three Tarim mummies. 150 ancient artifacts from institutions in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region will also be on display as well, reavling surprising details about the people who lived along the ancient Silk Road.

The display of the Tarim mummies marks the first time they have been shown in America. The mummies date back to as far as almost 4,000 years ago, and were originally found well-preserved in the dry climate of China’s western region. Yet what has surprised both scholars and the public is how many of the mummies have European-like physical features. The discovered mummies and artifacts have gone on to tell archaeologists and historians how both Western and Eastern cultures were interacting with one another in this region millennia ago.