Ancient Xinjiang Between Central Asia and China; The Nomadic Factor

Historical knowledge of Central Asia in China dates back to the second century B.C., and is associated with the odyssean journey of the imperial envoy Zhang Qian. Contacts between China and Central Asia had certainly been in existence long before then. The momentum behind the expansion of communication is commonly traced back to the development of a mobile way of life among the pastoral peoples of the Central Asian steppe, and to the increased level of economic specialization of farmers and herders, which provided both a means and a need for trade. Findings from the burials of the Pazyryk culture Hiebert, 1992 show the extraordinary network of exchange woven by the pastoral nomadic cultures of the Sayano-Altai region. Though the findings cannot document the existence of any actual trade, it is clear that these people had access to products that were produced far away, in China and possibly the Near East. The evolution of the early nomadic cultures is also associated with developments in metallurgical production, accumulation of wealth in form of metal objects—in particular gold ornaments—and sophisticated burial complexes. Archeologists of Central Asia have traditionally paid attention to both the evolution of nomadism and nomadic interaction with sedentary cultures.