Editing Silk Road (section)

=== Precursors ===

==== Chinese and Central Asian contacts (2nd millennium BCE) ====
[[File:ChineseJadePlaques.JPG|thumb|right|Chinese [[jade]] and [[steatite]] plaques, in the [[Scythian art|Scythian-style]] [[animal style|animal art]] of the steppes. 4th–3rd century BCE. [[British Museum]].]]

[[Inner Asia|Central Eurasia]] has been known from ancient times for its horse riding and horse breeding communities, and the overland [[Steppe Route]] across the northern steppes of Central Eurasia was in use long before that of the Silk Road.<ref name=":2" /> Archeological sites, such as the [[Berel burial ground]] in [[Kazakhstan]], confirmed that the nomadic [[Arimaspians]] were not only breeding horses for trade but also produced great craftsmen able to propagate exquisite art pieces along the Silk Road.<ref>{{Cite news |date=10 December 2012 |title=Treasures of Ancient Altai Nomads Revealed |language=en-US |work=The Astana Times |url=http://astanatimes.com/2012/12/treasures-of-ancient-altai-nomads-revealed/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223211537/http://astanatimes.com/2012/12/treasures-of-ancient-altai-nomads-revealed/ |archive-date=23 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=21 August 2013 |title=Additional Berel Burial Sites Excavated |language=en-US |work=The Astana Times |url=http://astanatimes.com/2013/08/additional-berel-burial-sites-excavated/ |url-status=live |access-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223213908/http://astanatimes.com/2013/08/additional-berel-burial-sites-excavated/ |archive-date=23 February 2017}}</ref> From the 2nd millennium BCE, [[nephrite]] jade was being traded from mines in the region of [[Yarkent County|Yarkand]] and [[Khotan]] to China. Significantly, these mines were not very far from the [[lapis lazuli]] and [[spinel]] ("Balas Ruby") mines in [[Badakhshan]], and, although separated by the formidable [[Pamir Mountains]], routes across them were apparently in use from very early times.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

Genetic study of the [[Tarim mummies]], found in the [[Tarim Basin]], in the area of [[Loulan Kingdom|Loulan]] located along the Silk Road {{convert|200|km|0|abbr=off}} east of Yingpan, dating to as early as 1600 BCE, suggest very ancient contacts between East and West. These mummified remains may have been of people who spoke [[Indo-European languages]], which remained in use in the Tarim Basin, in the modern day [[Xinjiang]] region, until replaced by Turkic influences from the [[Xiongnu]] culture to the north and by Chinese influences from the eastern [[Han dynasty]], who spoke a [[Sino-Tibetan language]].{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

Some remnants of what was probably Chinese silk dating from 1070 BCE have been found in [[Ancient Egypt]]. The Great Oasis cities of Central Asia played a crucial role in the effective functioning of the Silk Road trade.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Pollard |first1=Elizabeth |url=https://archive.org/details/worldstogetherwo03alti |title=Worlds Together Worlds Apart |last2=Rosenberg |first2=Clifford |last3=Tignor |first3=Robert |publisher=Norton |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-393-91847-2 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldstogetherwo03alti/page/n329 278] |url-access=limited}}</ref> The originating source seems sufficiently reliable, but silk degrades very rapidly, so it cannot be verified whether it was cultivated silk (which almost certainly came from China) or a type of ''[[wild silk]]'', which might have come from the Mediterranean or Middle East.<ref>{{Cite journal|doi = 10.1038/362025b0|volume = 362|issue = 6415|page = 25|last1 = Lubec|first1 = G.|first2=J. |last2=Holauerghsrthbek |first3=C. |last3=Feldl |first4=B. |last4=Lubec |first5=E. |last5=Strouhal |title = Use of silk in ancient Egypt|journal = Nature|date = 4 March 1993|bibcode = 1993Natur.362...25L|s2cid = 1001799|doi-access = free}} Also available at {{Cite web |title=Use of Silk In Ancient Egypt |url=http://www.silk-road.com/artl/egyptsilk.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070920193305/http://www.silk-road.com/artl/egyptsilk.shtml |archive-date=20 September 2007 |access-date=3 May 2007}})</ref>

Following contacts between [[Metropolitan regions of China|Metropolitan China]] and nomadic western border territories in the 8th century BCE, gold was introduced from Central Asia, and Chinese jade carvers began to make imitation designs of the steppes, adopting the [[Scythian]]-style [[animal style|animal art]] of the steppes (depictions of animals locked in combat). This style is particularly reflected in the rectangular belt plaques made of gold and bronze, with other versions in jade and [[steatite]].{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} An elite burial near [[Stuttgart]], Germany, dated to the 6th century BCE, was excavated and found to have not only [[bronze sculpture|Greek bronzes]] but also Chinese silks.<ref name="christopoulos 2012 footnote56">Christopoulos, Lucas (August 2012), "Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD)", in Victor H. Mair (ed), ''Sino-Platonic Papers'', No. 230, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, p. 31 footnote #56, {{ISSN|2157-9687}}.</ref> Similar animal-shaped pieces of art and wrestler motifs on belts have been found in [[Scythians|Scythian]] grave sites stretching from the [[Black Sea]] region all the way to [[Warring States]] era archaeological sites in [[Inner Mongolia]] (at Aluchaideng) and [[Shaanxi]] (at {{ill|Keshengzhuang|de}}) in China.<ref name="christopoulos 2012 footnote56" />

The expansion of Scythian cultures, stretching from the [[Great Hungarian Plain|Hungarian plain]] and the [[Carpathian Mountains]] to the Chinese [[Gansu]] Corridor, and linking the Middle East with Northern India and the [[Punjab region|Punjab]], undoubtedly played an important role in the development of the Silk Road. Scythians accompanied the [[Assyria]]n [[Esarhaddon]] on his invasion of Egypt, and their distinctive triangular arrowheads have been found as far south as [[Aswan]]. These nomadic peoples were dependent upon neighbouring settled populations for a number of important technologies, and in addition to raiding vulnerable settlements for these commodities, they also encouraged long-distance merchants as a source of income through the enforced payment of tariffs. [[Sogdia]]ns played a major role in facilitating trade between China and Central Asia along the Silk Roads as late as the 10th century, their language serving as a ''[[lingua franca]]'' for Asian trade as far back as the 4th century.<ref>Hanks, Reuel R. (2010). ''Global Security Watch: Central Asia'', Santa Barbara, Denver, Oxford: Praeger, p. 3.</ref><ref>Mark J. Dresden (2003). "Sogdian Language and Literature", in Ehsan Yarshater, ''The Cambridge History of Iran'', Vol III: The Seleucid, Parthian, and Sasanian Periods, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 1219, {{ISBN|978-0-521-24699-6}}.</ref>

[[File:UrumqiWarrior.jpg|thumb|upright|Soldier with a [[centaur]] in the [[Sampul tapestry]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Christopoulos |first=Lucas |title=Sino-Platonic Papers |publisher=Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, University of Pennsylvania Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations |year=2012 |editor-last=Mair |editor-first=Victor H. |volume=230 |pages=15–16 |chapter=Hellenes and Romans in Ancient China (240 BC – 1398 AD) |issn=2157-9687}}</ref> wool wall hanging, 3rd–2nd century BCE, [[Xinjiang Museum]], [[Urumqi]], [[Xinjiang]], China.]]