Located in the northwest of China and southeast of the Eurasian Steppe, Xinjiang has always been considered one vital meeting point that bridges East China, Central Asia, and Europe. The bridging road was then named the “Silk Road.” The earliest historical documents in the Han dynasty recorded the first official expansion carried out by Zhang Qian, a Chinese envoy, in 114 BC. This expedition put the previous communication between east and west into a formal connection. The languages and cultures of the Silk Road have exchanged various cultures from different regions, including the pre-Han time.
There were several independent small states in the Tianshan Mountain ranges before the Han government, like Yuezhi, Wusun, Xiongnu, etc. These states have displayed similar nomadic lifestyles with each other and other cultures from the north. Therefore, communication must have existed long before the Han Dynasty. The prehistoric Xinjiang must have several external/internal communication approaches that developed in many aspects.
This dissertation intends to organize the prehistoric Xinjiang materials, reconstruct the prehistoric Xinjiang framework, and provide new research to study subsistence patterns, economic strategy, social status, and state formation.
The whole dissertation is articulated as follows:
Part I. An introductive chapter provides the background and outlines of the research. Chapter 1 is devoted to the geographical and climate descriptions. The topography characteristic of Xinjiang can be summarized as “two basins sandwiched between three mountains” (Altai Mountain, Tianshan Mountain, Kunlunshan Mountain, Junggar Basin, and Tarim Basin). Its large scale contributes to variable climate differences from north to south: mountain-oasis-desert condition. Xinjiang is generally in the central continent and exhibits a typical continental arid climate. The dry weather has preserved the ancient relic remains in good condition.
Chapter 2 revived the research history concerning the Xinjiang prehistoric study, which can be divided into four phases: 1. 1900-1940s, 2. 1940-1970s, 3. 1970-1990s, 4. 2000-present. Even after more than 100 years of exploration, the comprehensive research on prehistoric Xinjiang is still limited due to the lack of excavation materials and little multidisciplinary cooperation.
Chapter 3 concerns the research problems, methodology, and related concepts during the research. After more than 100 years of research, it is evident that Xinjiang prehistoric cultures have been closely connected with other neighboring cultures, and this chapter mainly describes the possible related cultures in the nearby regions: Yamnaya culture, Afanasievo culture, Andronovo culture, Siba culture, and Kayue culture, etc.
Part II regards the prehistoric materials that have been published yet, which is the central part of this dissertation. In this part, Chapter 4 views the “Paleolithic Age” sites that are dated between 240,000-4,000 BP, while Chapter 5 is about the “Bronze Age”- “Iron Age” sites, according to the geographical order. Each site is described based on the smallest excavation unit, trying to provide the most detailed information for the reconstruction. Each section of this part follows the framework of 1. Location, 2. Research History, 3. Findings, 4. Age, 5. Interpretation.
Part III is the discussion part, in which it first establishes the prehistoric chronological sequence and then divides the whole prehistoric Xinjiang into 11 cultural zones: (A). Southern Hami Zone, (B). Eastern Hami Zone, (C). Balikun region Zone, (D). Turfan Basin Zone, (E). Altai Mountain Zone, (F). Western Junggar Zone, (G). Mid-northern Tianshan Mountain Zone, (H). Mid-southern Tianshan Mountain Zone, (I). Lop Nur Zone Southern, (J). Tarim Zone, (K). Pamir Plateau Zone. According to the chronological framework and the separate cultural zones, this chapter proposes the possible cultural communication route in prehistoric Xinjiang.
The conclusive part, Chapter 7, summarizes the prehistoric material and the cultural zones and provides a general picture of prehistoric Xinjiang before Han Dynasty.
The prehistoric Xinjiang started around 300,000 BP in the Altun Mountains region, when two spots exhibit the earliest lithic percussion assemblage. Several Paleolithic sites were distributed in the Altai Mountain, Hami Basin, and Tarim Basin until 4,000 BP, respectively; however, these lithic traditions did not transform into the Neolithic technologies in the following centuries. The arrival of Bronze Age cultures from central Asia leads the Paleolithic Xinjiang into the Bronze Age around 2,500 BC. The outside Bronze Age culture from the west and east contribute to the unique Xinjiang native cultures, with the coexistence of painted pottery wares and bronze items. The continuous communication helped the development of metallurgy; at the beginning of the first millennium BC, iron came into use in Xinjiang prehistoric sites. The transmission of tool production and continuously external/internal cultural communication contributed to the revolution on subsistence strategy. The rise of horse nomadism with metal harnesses and weapons has led to frequent conflicts and expansion of local territory. The adoption of agricultural practice assured a relatively stable sedentary life.
In general, this thesis intends to first build a fundamental database for prehistoric Xinjiang research, and this database will be enriched with more discoveries and research results. Only by collecting all the published data can we have a basic knowledge for the further study. In addition, this thesis also provids a new general chronological sequence of Xinjiang prehistory, and discussed the possible cultural interaction route according to the cultural comparisons.
