New Research Activities on the Archaeology of the Silk Roads

Since first denominated by German geographer Ferdinand Freiherr von Richthofen in 1877, Silk Routes (Seidenstraβe), the signification of which has already been renovated and enriched by inexhaustible archaeological foundings, are extended to be a specialized field concerning with communications among different ancient civilizations of Old World. During the development of the Chinese Archaeology, the study of exotic objects unearthed along the Silk Routes in China were not only the eternal theme for Chinese and overseas scholars, but also the initial motivation for Chinese archaeologists to learn foreign archaeology. For now, due to the adjustment of national economic development strategy, Silk Routes study in China receives more powerful support from the government. Just like the great sensation in Europe caused by exquisite antiquities from Xinjiang a hundred years ago, in the distant East which was once connected by, Silk Routes come back again in a more fashionable way. New exhibitions and fine printed catalogues are being planned and published, in which the 49 objects of our book now are playing the well-deserved major roles. Due to the unique shape and unparalleled decorative motif, these exotic objects have attracted so much attention of Chinese and overseas scholars. However, for such a long time, as the ones who know the context best, Chinese scholars have difficulties in collecting analogous findings abroad systematically because of the absence of foreign archaeological study tradition in China. On the other hand, foreign scholars, who always show great interests in exotic findings from China, also could not understand their original context comprehensively because of the language barrier etc.