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In the desert in China, hundreds of mysterious mummified bodies 4000 years old were found in boats (photo)

Bylim Olena

In the desert in China, hundreds of mysterious mummified bodies 4000 years old were found in boats (photo)
The mummies were found in boats

Scientists have conducted a genetic study of 13 mummies found in the Xinjiang Desert and made sensational findings.

The mummies of the Tarim Basin, which are 4000 years old, have baffled scientists for many years. Their European faces and clothes led researchers to suggest that they could have been migrants from the West, arkeonews reports.

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However, a new study published in Nature Journal refutes this theory. DNA analysis showed that the mummies were locals who were deeply rooted in the area.

The study showed that the mummies are relics of an ancient population that disappeared in Eurasia after the last ice age. Their genes are similar to those of indigenous peoples living in Siberia and America today.

In the desert in China, hundreds of mysterious mummified bodies 4000 years old were found in boats (photo)
A mummy that was buried in a boat. Source: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
In the desert in China, hundreds of mysterious mummified bodies 4000 years old were found in boats (photo)
A mummy that was buried in a boat. Source: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

Despite the fact that mummies were not migrants, they were not culturally isolated. 4000 years ago, they had already embraced new ideas and cultures: they wore woven woolen clothing, built irrigation systems, grew non-native wheat and millet, herded sheep and goats, and milked cattle for cheese.

In the desert in China, hundreds of mysterious mummified bodies 4000 years old were found in boats (photo)
The place where the mass grave was found. Source: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

Why were they buried in boats?

This question still remains unanswered. This practice is not found anywhere else in the region and is perhaps best associated with the Vikings.

In the desert in China, hundreds of mysterious mummified bodies 4000 years old were found in boats (photo)
The site where the mass grave was found. Source: Wenying Li, Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology

The study sheds new light on the ancient history of Central Asia, showing that people who lived in the region 4000 years ago were more cosmopolitan than previously thought.

Earlier, archaeologists found the oldest dry compass in Europe on a shipwreck in Estonia .

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