A pasture near Central Asian archaeological sites Photo: Tang Yunpeng/ NWU

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XI’AN—The 2023 International Symposium on Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Conservation of the Silk Roads was held in late August in Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province. Scholars from China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Serbia gathered to discuss Silk Road archaeology, ancient agricultural and nomadic civilizations in Eurasia, cultural heritage protection and management, and the application of digital technology in these endeavors.

Progress

Silk Road archaeology serves as the underpinning of research on Silk Road civilizations. According to Northwest University (NWU) President Guo Lihong, following the university’s establishment of major of archaeology in 1938, the first archaeological activity conducted was an investigation and excavation of the tomb of Zhang Qian (164–114 BCE), a pioneer of the ancient Silk Road. This served as the prelude to Silk Road archaeology at NWU. In the more than 80 years that followed, generations of NWU scholars have carried out extensive and in-depth investigation on the Silk Road. 

In recent years, NWU archaeologists, represented by Professor Wang Jianxin’s team, have made a series of major breakthroughs, Guo continued. Since 2012, the NWU Central Asian Archaeological Team has discovered hundreds of ancient cultural relics in the western Tien-shan Mountain region of Uzbekistan, which was considered a “blank area” by international academia. The team excavated the largest Kangju noble tomb to date and established the first archaeological site protection greenhouse in Uzbekistan. In 2016, the team discovered the Rabat cemetery in Boysun, a small town in southern Uzbekistan. The international academic community has unanimously recognized that the site is very likely to be the remains of the long-sought Greater Yuezhi people who migrated westward to Central Asia. 

In August 2021, NWU, together with universities and research institutions from Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and other countries, successfully obtained approval for the establishment of the China-Central Asia Joint Laboratory for Human and Environmental Studies along the Belt and Road. On April 25, the Collaborative Research Center for Archaeology of the Silk Roads was inaugurated at the General Assembly of the Alliance for Cultural Heritage in Asia. NWU will leverage these two high-level research platforms to make greater contributions to the promotion of Silk Road archaeology and cultural heritage preservation as a powerhouse in the field. 

The General Assembly of the Alliance for Cultural Heritage in Asia and the China-Central Asia Summit were successfully held in Xi’an, and the Collaborative Research Center for Archaeology of the Silk Roads was inaugurated. These endeavors have established new platforms and mechanisms for cooperation between China and countries along the Silk Road in the field of joint archaeology and cultural heritage. According to Wang Jinqing, a second-level inspector of the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration, in recent years, NWU, the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, the Xi’an Institute for Cultural Heritage Preservation and Archaeology, and other institutions have carried out fruitful archaeological work in Central Asian countries such as Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan, yielding significant results and favorable international impact. The efforts made by Shaanxi provincial archaeological and museum institutions in Central Asia and other countries along the Silk Road have become a distinctive feature and highlight of Shaanxi’s Belt and Road construction. The symposium represents a concrete measure to implement the Xi’an Declaration of the China-Central Asia Summit and an important platform to expand cultural exchanges and cooperation along the Silk Road.

New vitality

The introduction of modern dating technology, remote sensing technology, molecular biology, and other modern technologies has addressed many problems that could not be solved by previous archaeological methods and theories. Archaeologists can thus access information and materials previously inaccessible using traditional approaches. In order to fully capitalize on this new starting point, it is imperative that scholars from various countries and disciplines come together and collaborate. This collective effort will ensure a continuous expansion of research depth and breadth, thereby enhancing our understanding of the Silk Road and its significance.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which has revitalized the ancient Silk Road. Central Asia, where the BRI was initiated, has been the focal point of China’s efforts to continuously deepen practical cooperation with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in the joint declaration of world cultural heritage, joint archaeology, cultural relic exhibition, protection and restoration of historical sites, and training of scientific and technological talent. Through its unique role in facilitating the Global Civilization Initiative, cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and high-quality Belt and Road construction, the Silk Road cultural heritage has written a new chapter of mutual learning between China and Central Asia civilizations.

The symposium was hosted by NWU and undertaken by the Collaborative Research Center for Archaeology of the Silk Roads.

Edited by YANG LANLAN