This volume of The Silk Road begins with articles on
costume, as depicted in a 6th-century tomb in China and in another of about a
century later in Mongolia, both illustrating aspects of the cultural
cross-fertilization between China and the nomadic cultures of the north. There
is an article on tamgas which suggest connections across the Eurasian steppes.
An examination of Indian cave paintings reveals Central Asian decorative
elements. The famous Afrasiab murals get a fresh look. Early Iranian traditions
help explain depictions of pain and mourning. Onomastics and considerations of
genealogy offer new insights into early medieval nomad-sedentary relations in
Western Eurasia. Three articles contain news of recent and ongoing excavations:
at Rezvan Tepe in Iran, Banbhore in Pakistan, and Emgentiin Kherem in Mongolia.
Two articles deal with carpet imagery, one offering an important new approach
to understanding depictions in Renaissance paintings, the other illustrating
ways o!
f studying the
connection between Safavid carpet motifs and miniatures. Huang Wenbi, a
previously little appreciated archaeologist who worked on Silk Road sites in
the early 20th-century, is featured in the next article. The featured museums
this time are the David Collection in Copenhagen and the Chinese collection of
the Seattle Art Museum. As always, there are many reviews and book notices, the
lead review on an exciting re-examination of Eurasian exchange by Toby
Wilkinson.
Daniel Waugh
Editor
The Silk Road
