The Beauty of Loulan (楼兰美女; c. 1840 BC – c. 1800 BC), also called the Beauty of Krorän or Loulan Beauty, is the well-preserved body of a woman who lived about 1800 BC in the Xinjiang region of China. She is one of the most famous Tarim mummies because her body is very well-preserved. In 1980, Chinese archaeologists found her body along with other mummies. Her appearance is not Chinese, so many people think she was Uyghur. The Chinese government did not allow studies on the mummies at first, but some samples were taken out of the country. In 1993, tests showed she had European ancestors. Chinese researchers confirmed this in 2007 and 2009. Today, her body is on display in museums.
Discovery
The mummy was discovered on April 1, 1980, in the Tiebanhe cemetery (铁板河墓) near Loulan, on the Silk Road in Xinjiang, by Chinese archaeologist Mu Shunying (穆舜英) and members of the Archaeological Institute of the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences. She is one of the Tarim mummies, named after the place where they were found, the Tarim Basin.
For many years, the Chinese government did not allow scientists to test the mummy’s DNA because they were worried it might help Uyghur nationalists. In 1993, Victor Mair and Italian geneticist Paolo Francalacci tested some tissue samples. Although the Chinese government took the samples, Mair said a Chinese scientist gave them some samples as they left. They found that the Loulan Beauty’s ancestors came from Europe. Later, in 2007 and 2009, scientists from China’s Jilin University and Fudan University tested samples and agreed with the findings, suggesting her ancestors may have traveled to Xinjiang through Siberia. After learning the body is not Uyghur, the Chinese government allowed the Loulan Beauty to be shown in museums.
In 1980, a Japanese painter named Yamaguchi Terunari (山本耀也) created a picture of the mummy and displayed it next to her in the museum. By 2008, the mummy was shown on the second floor of the Xinjiang Museum, in the "Mummy Hall" (古尸馆). The Chinese government does not allow scientists outside China to study the mummies further.
Description
The mummy is wrapped in wool cloth, cowhide leather, and linen. She is wearing leather shoes. Nearby, researchers found several clay items and some grain.
Unlike Egyptian mummies, which were preserved on purpose, the Loulan Beauty and other Tarim mummies were preserved by accident. The Loulan Beauty was buried near a salt lake in the desert, where the dry air helped protect even small details, such as her eyelashes.
Scientists believe the woman was in her 40s when she died.
When researchers studied her, they found her shoes and clothing were worn and repaired many times. Her hair had lice. She breathed in a lot of sand, dust, and charcoal. This may have caused her to die from problems in her lungs. She lived around 1800 BC.
Significance
The Tarim mummies, found together, show that people with European genetic traits lived in East Asia much earlier than scientists thought. In a 2007 study, Jin Li, a scientist from Fudan University, reported finding genetic traits from South and East Asia among the mummies. However, Victor H. Mair does not agree with this finding. Elizabeth Barber studied the cloth fabrics found with the mummies and suggested they may be connected to the Caucasus region and even Scotland.