A century of excavations along the length of the Silk Road have resulted in a spectacular array of finds, from stirringly beautiful 1,000-year-old desert murals to glittering caches of gold.
The Buddhist frescoes of Xinjiang and Gansu remain perhaps the most visually impressive, with frescoes from Bezeklik, Kyzil and especially Dunhuang most clearly illustrating the quintessential Silk Road blurring of styles – Greek, Indian and Chinese – that would eventually be termed Serindian or Gandharan art.
Less visual but perhaps more important historically are the contemporary documents that remain so vital in dating and contextualising the surrounding finds. The earliest documents were on birch bark or wooden tablets (paper did not find its way from China until AD 100). Equally fascinating are the mundane scraps recovered from ancient rubbish tips (everything from bills of sale and correspondence to ancient mousetraps), that offer revealing insights into daily life two millennia ago.
The spectacular caches of gold that signify royal tombs across the continent remain something of a mixed blessing. Though beautiful, it was the lure of these highlights of applied art that drove tomb-raiders and looters to ransack so many stupas and tombs in their search for treasure.
The real work of deciphering the Silk Road finds began back at home. Academics at the British Museum took 50 years to work their way through Stein’s Dunhuang documents, and some silks were so fragile that it took seven years to open them! Research continues to this day.
Mural from the caves at Bezeklik depicting Uighur princes wearing Chinese-style robes and headgear, dating from 8th–9th centuries.
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