The evolution and development of human culture is accompanied by the migration of tribes and adaptation to the environment. Maybe people only know about the four ancient civilizations. These civilizations have developed on a larger scale and left unique cultural sites.

Naturally formed mummies are rare

In fact, there were many early civilizations, but for some reason, many civilizations did not survive. The level of development of small-scale civilizations generally lags behind. Especially in the early days, there were few exchanges between different tribal civilizations, and the cultural products that could be developed naturally fell behind.

Ancient Egyptians would make mummies, which can be regarded as a characteristic product of ancient Egypt. Making mummies is not unique to human beings. If the environment is right, nature can also make mummies. Natural mummies have aroused the interest of many researchers because of the harsher conditions for their formation.

However, naturally-formed mummies are different from those made by humans. They generally preserve animal remains through freezing. Or in an arid environment, where animal remains are dried, mummies made in this way are even rarer. In the Tarim Basin of Xinjiang, researchers have discovered hundreds of ancient human remains here. Civilizations once existed here, such as the well-known ancient country of Loulan.

Hundreds of mummies unearthed in the Tarim Basin

Thousands of years ago, there was still plenty of water and grass, suitable for the survival and reproduction of tribal civilization. The hundreds of ancient human remains found were dried in a dry environment and turned into mummies, retaining their basic physical features during their lifetime. Judging from the facial features of these mummies, these people have high noses and brown hair, which is in line with the appearance of Westerners.

Researchers once thought that people from this tribe had migrated from Central Asia, and their appearance and characteristics were more like Russians. The dating results show that these mummies lived here about 9000 years ago, and the tribe did not disappear until 3,500 years ago.

This tribe lived earlier than the Loulan civilization, but from the results of the site investigation, the tribe’s civilization is not lagging behind. Researchers found particles of crops such as barley and wheat, as well as traces of raising cattle and sheep, indicating that this tribal civilization has reached the stage of farming civilization. And researchers also found bronze products and woolen fabrics here, which were the products of the slave society period.

Such an independently developed tribal civilization has aroused the interest of archaeologists about its origin. Through genetic tracing, researchers have determined the origin of this tribal civilization. These people lived here in the Neolithic Age. Their genes are completely independent of ancient Asian genes, and they did not migrate from West Asia.

And their genes have not been passed down, which shows that this tribal civilization is here to fend for itself. By studying the bones of the mummies, the researchers found that these people had done high-intensity labor, and the food they ate was rough and hard, and the degree of tooth wear was more serious. This shows that the people of this tribe have a hard life.

The ancient civilization of the Tarim Basin will do craniotomy

It is worth noting that such a backward farming and civilized tribe seems to know how to perform craniotomy. On a female mummy’s skull, the researchers found a circular borehole with a smooth cross-section, about 6 cm in diameter. The reason why I think I have had a craniotomy is that the wound has healed better.

If the hole was opened after death, it would not heal so well. However, this seems to be contrary to their living conditions. Life is very difficult, but they know how to perform craniotomy, which is somewhat unreasonable. In ancient times, it is difficult to ensure the survival of patients under the medical conditions of the ancient times, let alone craniotomy.

As for how this hole came about, there is no reliable evidence, and it is possible that it was man-made or accidental. If researchers can find craniotomy tools in the ruins, then it can show that the level of civilization of this tribe is indeed very high. Even if only the surgical tools were discovered, it could show that the civilization level of this tribe did not meet the conditions of productivity at the time.