The Prehistory of the Silk Road E. E. Kuzmina Edited by Victor H.
Mair "A major advance in the field of the early history and
archaeology of central Asia."--Nicola Di Cosmo, Institute for
Advanced Study In ancient and medieval times, the Silk Road was of
great importance to the transport of peoples, goods, and ideas
between the East and the West. A vast network of trade routes, it
connected the diverse geographies and populations of China, the
Eurasian Steppe, Central Asia, India, Western Asia, and Europe.
Although its main use was for importing silk from China, traders
moving in the opposite direction carried to China jewelry,
glassware, and other exotic goods from the Mediterranean, jade from
Khotan, and horses and furs from the nomads of the Steppe. In both
directions, technology and ideologies were transmitted. The Silk
Road brought together the achievements of the different peoples of
Eurasia to advance the Old World as a whole. The majority of the
Silk Road routes passed through the Eurasian Steppe, whose nomadic
people were participants and mediators in its economic and cultural
exchanges. Until now, the origins of these routes and relationships
have not been examined in great detail. In "The Prehistory of the
Silk Road," E. E. Kuzmina, renowned Russian archaeologist, looks at
the history of this crucial area before the formal establishment of
Silk Road trade and diplomacy. From the late Neolithic period to
the early Bronze Age, Kuzmina traces the evolution of the material
culture of the Steppe and the contact between civilizations that
proved critical to the development of the widespread trade that
would follow, including nomadic migrations, the domestication and
use of the horse and the camel, and the spread of wheeled
transport. "The Prehistory of the Silk Road" combines detailed
research in archaeology with evidence from physical anthropology,
linguistics, and other fields, incorporating both primary and
secondary sources from a range of languages, including a vast
accumulation of Russian-language scholarship largely untapped in
the West. The book is complemented by an extensive bibliography
that will be of great use to scholars. E. E. Kuzmina is Chief
Research Officer at the Russian Institute for Cultural Researches
of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the
Russian Academy of Sciences. She is the author of many books and
has led numerous archaeological expeditions in Central Asia. Victor
H. Mair is Professor of Chinese Language and Literature at the
University of Pennsylvania. He is the coauthor of "The Tarim
Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from
the West." Encounters with Asia 2007 264 pages 6 x 9 73 illus. ISBN
978-0-8122-4041-2 Cloth $65.00s 42.50 World Rights Archaeology,
Asian Studies
General
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