Joshua W.
A very positive thing I would definitely point out is that Joshua has elaborated on everything that could be construed from the mummy – what anthropological features they had, what gear they possessed, what clothes they wore and weapons they carried. However, what I think could be elaborated further is motivation of European people to go as far to the East. In this respect, it would be very interesting to compare what was going on in Europe itself at that time in order to understand what could have been the incentives to travel so far. The one thing that occurred to me instantly and that is omitted in Joshua’s answer is military reasons. Travelling East may have been a reconnaissance of some kind. What I mean is this: the latest mummies are estimated to come from the second century. That is why at least some of the found bodies could have belonged to the army of Alexander the Macedonian. Military factors are what I would dwell on more seriously. At the same time, I personally do not think that trade and the Silk road thing are so much in question here – given the scope of hostile nomadic tribes in the Caucasus and Central Asian region at that time I do not think any highly organized trade could have been possible. I would believe, that these mummies presences in China were incidental, rather than connected with trade. Why then are there no mentions of the active trade in European sources of that time?
Jordan S.
This one is the answer I like less, due to a number of reasons. First of all, among the two reasons the student outlines why interaction may have been possible – possessing or acquiring tools found with them – I do not understand how finding tools that actually have been found proves the interconnection. Western people could have easily come with their own tools, products of their own culture.
Just like in case of the previous student, I think that the possibility of the Silk Road’s existence would have been much more elucidated if verified against what was happening at that time in the area of origin of the mummies, i.e. in Europe. Where there any forces that could make Europeans search anything in the East? Moreover, were these forces constant, since in order to establish the standing trade route permanent trade process is needed? Finally, towards the end of the BC era the process of the so-called great migration of nations was taking place in Eurasia. The number of not only nomadic tribes, but entirely nomadic nations increased. This makes me wonder – why cannot it be so that some not very numerous nation chose to travel as well and happened to settle down in the Western part of China? IN that case, bodies do not prove trade, they just prove that Western people physically managed to get to the point of their destination and settle down there. But this does not mean that active trade was in place.
