When people think about mummies, their minds often go to Egypt. But do you know that China also has its own mummies? Here at the Xinjiang Museum, they have several of these incredible exhibits, including the most famous one, the "Loulan Beauty". 

The human remains here are not actually "mummies" in the traditional sense, but rather desiccated corpses. These bodies were not intentionally mummified as part of any burial ritual. Instead, the dry, salty environment of the desert allowed the bodies to decay minimally.

With their European looks, some archaeologists initially thought the remains were from migrants from thousands of kilometers to the west. However, a genomic analysis published in 2021 suggests they were locals with deep roots in the region. They were most closely related to a genetic group called the Ancient North Eurasians, a population that had greatly declined by the end of the last ice age. While these Bronze Age people of the Tarim Basin didn't intermarry with other groups, they seem to have openly embraced new ideas and technologies from their herder and farmer neighbors. They put on woven woolen clothing, grew wheat and millet, herded sheep, and milked cattle to make cheese.

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