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Tocharians and the Tarim Mummies

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Tocharians and the Tarim Mummies Illll r ~ TOC"'~"'T"«,", ""ltlcm"nl5dndc<"",~[i"'()f'hc:SibaculfUre.3nE..lyBronz<Asecul,ure fmd ,heir ongm. in word. f'om Gnndhlrl (rhe language of ASok.·, II I who«phy.i"allYpeWOUld3ppeortc,hc:Mongolo1d,lntheS<lmererri,ory m,criptlom) of thelnd century BCtO rhe4,hcenrury AD, where we would lare, expectthe Yuc>hi. The only wa~ we can d'5<1W Yuozhi Tochnn.n'pocinli.ts.regener.llyre!uc,an,ro.dm",har,h.",wa. 11,1 "",<l<,end tbe name over much hro.der area. of ,heT.tlrn and Turpan any flow of Indo-Iranian vocabulary Into Tochan.n e.rlier than the !>,,,,n' ,han 'he h..ro",:,,1 record,aUow. We.re engaged In mOl'mgMme. 1" millenmum Be,. mnewhen words such as Tochanan A porat, Tocha"an r aero" a map wlIhou, any evid=of 'he people. If 'he Chine.., histo,,,,s Bperel'a",,'ruayhavebeenborrowedfmmKlmelranlanlanguage(wehnd had never mtnnoned rhe YueUl1 on the bord... of Ch,n., noorchacologi" O,serle fariit 'axe')_ Tochari.:!n al,o employs a word for 'oron' (A ancu, B i wouldhavehadtheshgh'''''reasonropo'lUlarc,heirexiSfenco TheYue,h, "ricUIlIO) whICh 'Ome compare wah .imilar word, .uch os O..otic ~~d4n "re'ghosr.".uromonedupbyh"rorian,rorormentarchaeolosm,.'Weh.ve 'stU:I'.While.u,hev,deoceeanonlybeemployedpo.invely,i.o.i,cannor no need to look for ghost>; we have the remain' of ",.1 ~ople w!th ade"", demonstrate'h.t~on..c..didnotexl..,rhe",ha~beenfewto.ugge",ha, ,omeeviden"eof,hn,m.to,ia]cuJEbre. ,hoancestorso[,hoTochar""uW<:relndo>econ",,,with,ho,,lndo-lranian netghboun;beforec.l000--500ac.Togobackanyearlierrake.u,inroone Lingui.ticPrehi.wry oflh.mostd"pured~<ea.ofTocharian"udies is iu The prec<ding,enrenc. Embedded m a"" language evid""ce of p"-'t, Real 'Europeans" of "in. word. contain. five word. whICh are denved from GermanIc (i". any,IS,of",.).dueewluchden vefromult1nvlaF"'nch(ianguage...·,dence. The ",Iationsh,pberweenToch.rr.nand theothe,Indo_European otod. p",') and one which combm~. a latin prefIx wlfh • GermanIc roar or.ubfamlh.. ,nd ,be i.. ue of how 'Europe.n-the Tochanan language. (emb.dded).Tharrhemos,ba.icv<rbs"rnde.andpreposlfIonsa",all a"u.lly orc hn. dogged Toch.rr.n "udle, ..nee i,.mcep,ion. If.,.., ",!l"", GermanI' would ,usse" a ",)a,iv. chronology In which Engh'h w•• ogamon,hevartou,lndo_Europeanlanguagestock.,w< ... ,hat,ha,whi,h "riguully a German,c bnguage ,har w,," lar~r heavily mtluenced by a embraces ,he IncilC (and Nuri",ni) and lraman languages i. ,hemo" ..r",m Romance language. higher-order group inlndo"European. By ,his we meon ,horwe c;n Anexam,n"tlOnoi rhe Tocharian language. (we can now come up for recon.rrue,ahng",,,jc,,.gehe,weentbedevdopmen,of l<anian.nd Indo ­ airandrev.."orlu.d."gnanonr.lfherthanKA)alsoreveal..ometh,ngof Ary.non rheonehand••nd Pro,o_lndo_Europeanon ,heorher, namely, th.irpo"althoughwec.nno,workbockt""f"h~"'.Cu"o ... lyenough.,ru. Proro-lndo-lran,.n.lnshorr.wegetfromProto-lndo-Europeanro5an,l:m impacrofChin"",onToch.rl.n"norv«y.,gnific.nt(e.g.lochan.nB orA,...,anonlybvw:>yofProro-lndo-lrani.n,.nd.nydi<cussionoflndo­ cdne 'pro,e' denves from the Ch,nese word for 'money', Ibe (modern) qia~ Aryan Or Irani.n orig,in.will 'ndud. the geographical sr.gingareaof WIth the medieval pmnun";a"on 'd~"an; a)'o me.suremen{$ of capoClt!\ Proro-Indo-lr~nian. The malorilyof,<11rhough noralI,lndo-Europeau15 .. and,a.D. Q. Adarru;h •• recenrly Indlca'M"he word for 'flee') nor does wouldal.oaccepraBalro-51.vic"agebefo'"theind.:pendenrde~lopmenr TurklShprov.dca.ignifiean'KlurceofToch.roanrocabula'l'On,heorher of rhe Bal{tc and 5lovlClanguages. Now borh lhe.e.ubgroup. of lndo­ hand,M,dclle lran,anl.nguagescurrent III dteTarim Ba"nand.urmundmg European are.atem languages (I.e. rhey changed a 'hard'gorkroj,.or.) arta. in rhe hrmillennium ADprov,ded.ma)orandpred"table,ourceoi andlheexJ"enceofodteruruquelingnlSticfea,u",.,ha",db.twttn,he.. 10anwordsroth~Toch.ri.nl.nguage•. FromKhorane.. S.ka"helanguage ,atem languages.uggests ,omedegree of proximity berween rho 'WO group., of ,he ,ourhern Tarlm Ba'Jn,wefindIoanword••ucha.dsa~a- 'worthy' I.e. in ,orne way there was acontlnuum of Balro·Sbv,,-lndo-lr.ruan which borrowed",Toehan3l1B"1arr>'wortby',whoietheSog<iian.who<ICrecla' expenencedanumberofcommoninnoyltfionsnor.xpeflencedby,heorb", one of the principalmtddlemen m ,he transpo"""on of good,along,he Indo-Eumpean.ro,k•. ToehatJsn,a,wehave • ..,nlnChaptl',Throe.belong. S;Ik Road contriburecllhe word mwll 'wlIle' (cognate with OUI Engh.h m.ad') '0 the cen'um langu.ge, whicb are dcfmed by 'h"'rhordpronunciarion of wInch wa. taken up a, Tocharian B mOl 'alcohol'. Somewhat earlie, conracts wh.rwereconsrruc,.,palaral vetars ('g, "/f.,erc.). I,i. generally, alrhough With I,anl.n languages"on be...,nin word. ouch a' Isam, 'arrow', which waS norun,~"ally,pro,um.d,ha,rhecen,umlanguage,dldno'partic,pa,ein app.renrlyborrowedfromano"bea'tlranianI3ngu.g,'"eb .. A~".n the ,nnovatlon. exp~rrenced by ,he .arem language.; being a cen'um ("""""-'we.pon'). Not all borrowmgs came by way of I,aru'n Slncethere langu.ge,however,doesno,te))youanymoreabout,"preh1Srotlc ",Jation •. "al.oe.,denceof IndJc borrowing. (a, well a, thed,rect impOrt3tIOn of Forrhar,JjnguJS"ba~.oughrorhercm.riaamongrheV3"o",centum San,l<rlrln Tochar",nrehgwu,li"rarure). These ,ermS refe,ro.,pecrs of Iangu.gcs,oderermlIlerbe!,cotrtcrpositton,onthelndo-EuropeanfamJly Buddhl"hfewhu:hwoujdha~b..,nfo""gn,orhep",-Buddht"Tocha'''''''' '",e, And I, .. ""uly ama>ing atr"l' of modd. 'ha' ,hey havt: proposed. We e,g. Toclt.tlan B airy4 'nun" asarj're<IChe,·.nd samane 'monk' whICh all hsr rheuputatlvt:,e!at!on,hip' below on a wesr roea,taxi.. ! 'v. I v; .~'" I~j li: :;s" 1:;0I~I ~, ""5" <{I ~ ~! ~ 0 ~ "" iill could ent ..tho Tarim B.. ,n from eIther the we., or the n"rrh. Of ,he,. tWo Frnally. ahhaugh the Qumul mummies lie beyond aur documen,ary potentlal,ou=sthe""'''l,.urelytheprefe,redopuonbecau,ethemain .vtd.ncofo'llre""rnacularl.ngu~geoofEa"C'I1I"'IAsia._.ullhavea .ourceofSak.,ox"i.Khotanonthe,outhemS,lkRoad,whichwosnoE f ..... hin .... 'awhallangu.geth.ymayhave.poken.Wedo.fo,.xample. rW'\Y3pproacltabled"""tlyfromthenorrhotherlhanalong.de.enn>ad h",,< Tocharran documenrs a mere 150 km 193 miles) rO ,h. woo<- We mighr W'.,h""".lso,eenth.!rilephY'1Calevldencealongrheenrj"""urhem rou," alsonow",caUWernerWin="'uggestionrh",thelanguall"whlch~merged ofth.$J!kRoadback,ntoBacm33ppe;l,..tobem.rkedbyth''''''''~neraJ In wrltt.n ,ources 3S Tochan.n A may bave boen .poke. ra"her to the phy,ical type. Tho ,raJ=<>ry of th,.lndo·Afghantype,the",fon:, i.mo,r norrheast.i.e.inthedifOcllonoftbelaror T"rki,hpen.",monofEasr ...ily ...ignedtoth""e",hocarnedlnd1Co'I'.ni~n(S.kal\.nguage.fmm Cent<aIA.ia.hefo<enhad heentaken up~.a'd""d· htuWcall.nguage the we&!, and Ih"" f"rrh.. con["'t1ed by rhe .urvlv~1 of Sob'. doses, When_"""minelhe general physical type of the moreeasurlypopula,j"". lingu"u< rdations in rhePa,mr•• ThU5, by 0 crude proces. of ehminatlon, iuch a. tho.efrom ¥anbulaq. It is,he ••me ,IS ,hat found "' Q:iwrighol. The rh .. leav<. ,heearlieratteo'edPrmo_Eur<>pold. (orHemphll!"peflpheral chronologtcal gap b.twet'n the Qumul mumm", .. dared rO abou, 1000 Be, Qawrighul people) .s the mor~ ltkely <andida,.. to he ldenl1fied wlm the .ndTocharian'ext.ofabou'the7Ih~nturyAD",ndeedg<eatbufherew. TochartanC.ubnr.to.Thcrei..,.dmi,tedly.ach,onologic.lgaplxtween may rec.1l fhat with respect '0 Toohanan A we an: d.:ahngwJth an already thelaro", mumm,es.ndKrotani3!l tex" but we should rec.ll 'hat the deadlanguasewh,ch,houldh.""prr:.:ededi.. h"ronc.latt~"anonmth" mummie< from. fur example. Zaghunluq ('Ur·DOI'ld·, tM baby in 'he blue r~glDn by a matter of cenruries, fhus uarrowlng fhe gap be,wc:t:n the I>onnet.,he,dpartllewoman"he'ScreamBaby·••!C.jdarotoc.60011C and mummr.. and our language horizon. Here '00 rhen one migh, p«>pose B wo are only,ugge>,ing,ha"heybeassodatedwilhalmgu1Stlcsub,rrale north-,outhnwvem.I1Iof.arlyToohanon•. th.tmu"ha.ebeen ..",bh.hedb.foretlte3rdcenturyAD.AsTochanan Tho """knee of a crud. ,I..h from Occam', rator would seem rO ,ugge.. loartwor<l. a,. atru,ed in ChInese. few c.ntutles before fhe Kroranian tha' ,he malOnty of our earlre" p<ehlSlotlc mummies may be «garded ao docum.nrs.wecanperhap.narrowtltegapstlllfurtlterlxtweenrhep,ehUit_ aOC<itou of the I"•• Tochari.n,. The5e conc\u.ions should. however. be oncmummies.nd,heTocharianlanguage.. '<mpetedwith'heob..rvationtltat,.~ceptonlh.b3",ofmed,evalw.1I TheTurpangroupwitb".bu[]al,danngtoal>outmeStltor4thcentun.. pain,ings.we oanno',poak of th<phYSlcal type of tbo•• popularion, who scfaU.wi,hlnarernrorywherehi.to!lcalevl<kncoreveal.l>otltToch.r1.n occupied ,h. terri'ory most do.ely a,""c,aced Wltlt our Tooharian B doc· AandBdOCllmen,.. Wlnlei,,,diff,,,ul'toknowhowfarbaokwecanextr.­ umen... i,e.aroundKucha.lnOlhe.-wor<l,.w<:canno, ...,lyrelatetheBronze polare eithu of ,he,e langt1'g., a' 'M vernacularlangu"P' of the region. Age populations witlt ,he laroc oa'" ".,", mentIOned in Han documen .. TocharJan at le.sr supplies a plau51bl. candidate for the Turpan group 0 f tltatproduc.d the Tooharran documents of the hlOto!1calpenod.Wha' we mumrni.....nceweh""'noOfherlanguagem'h.. regKIn'h.toffe..acred,ble have proposed i,merdy,ha,on,bo""idenceof phy"cal typo!ogy and alrern.t1ve. In ,.rms of generol phrsical'yp«.hereroollreProto·Europoid geog:raph,cal d;stribu"on, ,be T<>ch..riana would appear to denv<: from Ihe ,ype.ppe."bur.long.;Jde,helndo·Afg!tantype.with,MPamir_Ferghana notthand,helndo--lraman,l~rgolyfromth.we",hown>bU5'a"'such type apparendy the most re.:en'. conclu"onswhenWe3ddinto,beequatlon,h<"ldencoofarch.eology? Mummygroup5,languagesandbacl<groundphyficalcypef TheFlrstFarmus Wehaveseenhowourearhe"arch••oJogical""ideneeforhumanoccuparion Gro" PhyslulTyp. of E.stCenffal As!alSexrremely meagre and i,i. lmpoooible ",derermine Charcho" ~r~:F und"""mined withanr ce"31nty from wh,chdu-ecrion rheTatlm and neighbouringreglo!!$ we"'lmtlaliy..,rrledifcolon"""ronpre«dedrheBronzeAge.l.e.
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