8 August 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Silk Road archaeological discoveries draw attention despite the pandemic

A report prepared by more than 30 global experts believes that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, archaeological discoveries related to the Silk Road in 2020 are outstanding.

The report, led by the China National Silk Museum’s worldwide Silk Road and intercultural interaction research department, was unveiled on Friday at the start of the 2021 Silk Road Week in Hangzhou.

The report is divided into four sections: archaeological finds, exhibits, scholarly papers, and cultural activities related to the Silk Road. In 2020, 42 archaeological finds connected to the Silk Road were made, according to the first category.

The majority of the new accomplishments have been accomplished in China, notably in Xinjiang’s historic towns. The year’s highlights included the finding of evidence of early silkworm rearing in China’s central plains and fresh tomb finds on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

On the same day, as part of the 2021 Silk Road Week festivities, the China National Silk Museum presented an exhibition titled “Creatures: Animals and Plants Along the Silk Road.”

Visitors look at the paintings on the display in the exhibition "Creatures: Animals and plants along the Silk Road" in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province. Photo: CFP
Visitors look at the paintings on the display in the exhibition “Creatures: Animals and plants along the Silk Road” in Hangzhou, east China’s Zhejiang Province. Photo: CFP

“Before Zhang Qian’s journey to the western regions, on the so-called Silk Road, people began to have cultural exchanges and the exchange of animal and plant species were also important ways to communicate,” said Zhao Feng, the director of China National Silk Museum at the exhibition. 

“The Han (202 B.C.-220 A.D.) and Tang Dynasties (618-907) were the most significant and frequent periods for the spread of plant and animal species between the East and the West along the Silk Road,” Zhao added. 

Exchanges and mutual learning have enriched civilizations, said Zhao Shengliang, director of Dunhuang Academy China. “As a major artery of cultural exchange between the East and the West in ancient times, the Silk Road is also of great significance today,” said Zhao.

The International Association for the Study of Silk Road Textiles and the Chinese Museums Association’s Committee of Museums along the Silk Road resolved in 2019 to organize an annual Silk Road Week to improve the conservation of Silk Road cultural assets. The event runs from June 18 to 24.

Source: CGTN

Related Articles

Research Uncovers the Parthenon’s Spectacular Lighting Effects for Athena in Antiquity

9 May 2025

9 May 2025

A four-year multidisciplinary study led by Oxford University Archaeologist Professor Juan de Lara has shed new light on a millennia-old...

Archaeologists Uncover Sak-Bahlán: The Lost “Land of the White Jaguar,” Last Stronghold of Rebel Maya in Chiapas

31 July 2025

31 July 2025

Deep in the rainforest of Chiapas, Mexico, archaeologists believe they have uncovered the lost city of Sak-Bahlán, known as the...

In Poland’s “Death Valley,” new evidence of Nazi atrocities

18 August 2021

18 August 2021

In October 1939, between 30,000 and 35,000 Polish intellectuals, Polish civilians, Jews and Czechs, and German prisoners from psychiatric institutions...

India’s Ancient ‘Dwarf Chambers’: Hire Benkal’s 2,500-Year-Old Mysterious Megalithic Legacy

26 July 2025

26 July 2025

Tucked away in the rugged granite hills of Karnataka lies Hire Benkal, a vast prehistoric necropolis that silently guards the...

Archaeologists uncovered over 100,000 ancient coins, some more than 2,000 years old

4 November 2023

4 November 2023 8

In an excavation at the Sosha Village East 03 archaeological site in Maebashi City, Japan, archaeologists stumbled upon a remarkable...

Researchers extract ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick

6 September 2023

6 September 2023

Researchers have successfully extracted ancient DNA from a 2,900-year-old clay brick, uncovering a wealth of information about the plant life...

The ‘boiler room’ of the bath in the Ancient City of Metropolis was unearthed

11 August 2022

11 August 2022

The vault section, called the ‘boiler room’, which provides a heat source, has been unearthed in the historical bath of...

A Rare Roman-Era Bronze Filter Discovered in Hadrianopolis, Türkiye

11 February 2025

11 February 2025

Archaeologists excavating at Hadrianopolis in Karabük, Türkiye, have unearthed a 5th-century AD bronze filter used in Roman and Byzantine times...

Early Imperial cemetery in Nîmes, in the south of France

4 October 2022

4 October 2022

Inrap archaeologists excavating at Nîmes in southern France have uncovered a cemetery dating to the first to second centuries AD...

Researchers Finds Nearly 500 Ancient Ceremonial Sites in Southern Mexico with Lidar Technique

26 October 2021

26 October 2021

A team of international researchers led by the University of Arizona reported last year that they had uncovered the largest...

A pendant with a figure of St. Nicholas found in the Ancient Church Hidden in Turkish Lake

7 October 2022

7 October 2022

Underwater archaeological excavations and research, which were started 8 years ago in the basilica located 20 meters off the lake...

As a result of an operation in western Turkey, 4 skulls belonging to the Jivaro tribe of South American origin were seized

14 December 2021

14 December 2021

In the operation held in the Aliağa district of İzmir, 400 historical artifacts belonging to various periods were seized, including...

Ancient Mythical Castle “Sörby Borg” Discovered on Swedish Island Creates Archaeological Sensation

4 August 2021

4 August 2021

A text from the early 18th century mentions the castle, which has become a bit of a legend. It has...

Archaeologists have pinpointed the location of a famous early Islamic battle using declassified spy satellite images

14 November 2024

14 November 2024

Archaeologists from Durham University in the UK and the University of Al-Qadisiyah have identified the site of the historic Battle...

New study reveals Dog ancestry can be traced back to two separate wolf populations

30 June 2022

30 June 2022

An international group of geneticists and archaeologists with participation of the University of Potsdam have found that the ancestry of...