National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

were defective or partly destroyed by the elements. We have thus only some photo-
graphs of mummies from this Cemetery 5 but no measurable bodies.
From comparisons with Stein's cemeteries from the regions more to the east,
i. e. in and around the present delta, it is evident that our Cemetery 5 belongs to
the same group as those which Stein assigns to the autochthon Lou-lan popula-
tion. Stein brought away two skulls from this kind of graves. Joyce characterizes
them as belonging to Homo alpinus. Nowadays Homo alpinus is best represented
among the Iranian-speaking hillmen of the valleys adjoining the Pamirs, and also
forms a very conspicuous element in the racial composition of the present popula-
tion of the Tarim Basin.
Stein emphasizes the non-Mongolian features of the Lop-nor mummies, and I
have been able, on the whole, to confirm his statement. One or two of the mummi-
fied heads at Cemetery 5 had, however, broad cheek-bones giving them a "Mon-
golian" look, but this might be due to the individual variations that occur in every
race or type (Cf. the photo facing p. 209 in Hedin 1937). The long hair is a non-
Mongolian feature.
In Stein's grave L. Q. III the mummy had a red moustache, and in a partly
destroyed grave 2.5 km. NNE of L. I. the corpse had fair hair (Stein 1928, p. 288),
traces that would confirm the supposition of the race as non-Mongolian. In Mass-
grave 1, which I have labelled as Chinese, Dr. Hedin found human hair of dark-
brown but also of red-brown colour.
If we compare the autochthon graves known from the delta region with
"Ördek's necropolis" we find less homogeneity in the first group. The types
of coffin vary considerably, and so do the wooden monuments surrounding them,
where such exist and have been preserved. The woollen textiles seem to be of a
finer quality than those most common on "Ördek's necropolis", the felt head-dress-
es are of thinner felt and more elegant, and the small baskets are decorated with
another pattern than those fromÖrdek's place. The triangle pattern on the wooden
pegs also differs in some details. These phenomena do not denote anything but local
or chronological variations in the handicraft of the same people. It is possible that the
autochthon population living in the present delta region had closer relations with
some other people, from whom they received cultural influences which somewhat
changed their funeral customs. The people buried at "Ördek's necropolis", on the
other hand, seem to have been living isolated, at least from Chinese influence. As
far as I know, none of the articles which are typical of the autochthon graves have
been found outside the Lop-nor region.
Racially the autochthons may have been rather homogeneous over large parts
of the Tarim Basin. The political divisions into many small kingdoms can be ex-
plained by the curious physical conditions prevailing: sharply defined oases separat-
ed by large desert regions.
From Chinese sources we know of intercourse between the Lou-lan people and

144