Illuminating interaction networks along the Silk Roads
A multi-isotopic analysis of the Zaghunluq Cemetery, southern Xinjiang, China
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3675199 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Xueye Wang (0000-0001-5729-6517, Sichuan University), Zihua Tang (0000-0003-1772-7145, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, corresponding author), Yuqi Li (0000-0001-9298-1990, Nankai University, corresponding author), Guiying Zhang (0000-0001-6554-3557, Sichuan University), Lipeng Lu (Yunnan Archaeology), Bo Wang (0000-0002-0290-2134, People's Hospital of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region), Wenjun Wang (0000-0002-1987-1119, Chinese Academy of Sciences), Hongliang Lu (0000-0003-3972-587X, Sichuan University), Patrick Roberts (0000-0002-4403-7548, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 99 |
| Issue | 405 |
| Pages | 762-779 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Antiquity (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744 |
| Publisher | Antiquity Publications (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.15184/aqy.2025.45 |
| OpenAlex | W4410521517 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 43 |
Oasis communities across Central Asia were key to the emergence and maintenance of the ancient Silk Roads that spanned Eurasia from the late second century BC, yet our understanding of early interaction networks in this region is limited. Multi-isotopic analysis of human teeth from the Zaghunluq Cemetery, southern Xinjiang (sixth century BC to first century AD) now suggests that oasis communities established intricate exchange networks, forming strong ties with other nearby oases and mountain pastoralists and weak ties, facilitated through in migration, with more distant regions. These diverse connections, the authors argue, made possible cultural exchange across the challenging geography of eastern Central Asia
Ancient history · Archaeology · China · Geography · SILK · Southern china · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Engineering · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Geology · History · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
Nomads of South-Persia
Networks, Crowds, and Markets
Nomadic ecology shaped the highland geography of Asia’s Silk Roads
Mapping of bioavailable strontium isotope ratios in France for archaeological provenance studies
Advances in global bioavailable strontium isoscapes
The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia
Collective dynamics of ‘small-world’ networks
Postmortem preservation and alteration of in vivo bone collagen isotope ratios in relation to palaeodietary reconstruction
The Prehistory of the Silk Road
Tracing the Xinjiang Routes for the westward dispersal of rice
Pastoralist Mobility in Bronze Age Landscapes of Northern Kazakhstan
Bronze Age human–landscape interactions in the southern Transural steppe, Russia – Evidence from high-resolution palaeobotanical studies
Agriculture and palaeoeconomy in prehistoric Xinjiang, China (3000–200 bc)
N Enrichment in the Sahara
Prehistoric Mobility and Diet in the West Eurasian Steppes 3500 to 300 BC
Brief communication
A simple carbon isotope model for reconstructing prehistoric human diet
Multivariate carbon and nitrogen stable isotope model for the reconstruction of prehistoric human diet
The first archaeobotanical evidence of Medicago sativa L. in China
Multiregional Emergence of Mobile Pastoralism and Nonuniform Institutional Complexity across Eurasia
Chariots in the Eurasian Steppe
The Circulation of Bronze Mirrors in Late Prehistoric Xinjiang (2000–200 B.C)
Issues in the Calendar Chronology of the Seima-Turbino Transcultural Phenomenon
Pastoralist strategies and human mobility
Carbon and oxygen stable isotopic evidence for diverse sheep and goat husbandry strategies amid a Final Bronze Age farming milieu in the Kyrgyz Tian Shan
Evidence for early dispersal of domestic sheep into Central Asia
Early urban occupation in the Tarim Basin
Polities and nomads
The Strength of Weak Ties
Ancient DNA and migrations
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |