In 1934, Swedish archaeologist Folke Bergman excavated a burial site near Ürümchi in Northwestern
China. The inhabitants of the tombs were not what you would expect for the region.
They were Caucasian in appearance, with red hair and tartan clothing.
Bergman reportedly noted how similar the remains were to Bronze Age Danish burial sites
with their embroidered clothing and the bodies entombed in what appeared to be upside-down
boat coffins. If these were the mummified remains of Indo-Europeans, what were they
doing buried in ancient China? This is the story of the Celts who migrated to the far east.
Ürümchi is located in Xinjiang Province, which is situated along the ancient Silk Road.
The wider area is known as the Tarim Basin and many subsequent burial sites have been found
in the region. It wasn't until the early twenty-first century that a more detailed
analysis was undertaken on the remains, in order to determine the origin of these people.
In 2010, a team of primarily Uyghur and other Chinese scientists tested the mummified remains from
one burial site known as the Xiaohe Cemetery and determined that the "...Y chromosomal DNA analysis
revealed only the West Eurasian haplogroup R1a1a in the male individuals." This specific genetic
marker is found widely throughout Eastern Europe, South Asia and Siberia but Dr. Hui Zhou of Jilin
University in China, one of the scientists on the team, elaborated on the discovery by stating that
the "...Xiaohe R1a1a more likely originate[d] from Europe?..." and "supported the 'steppe hypothesis'."
The steppe hypothesis is the most widely accepted migration theory for Indo-Europeans,
who moved from the Russian steppes into surrounding regions.
The team of scientists uncovered five separate burial layers in their excavations.
The deeper the burial layer the more distinctly European both the maternal and
paternal lineages became. This suggests that later generations of the Xiaohe people became entwined
with other cultures in the region. Carbon dating shows that the earliest inhabitants moved into
Northwestern China as late as 1500 BC, and a later 2015 study claimed...
One of the mummified remains found in the region is that of a man believed to have been in his
fifties, named Chärchän man. He was buried in a red twill tunic and tartan leggings,
often worn by riders of the steppes. According to textile expert, Elizabeth Barber,
the pattern closely resembles that of clothing fragments found in a salt mine
in the Hallstatt region of Austria; the earliest known settlement for the European Celts.
In our previous Viewpoint titled "Where Are the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel?",
we examined the migratory routes of the ancient Israelites as they were exiled from their homeland
and driven into the land of the steppes. The Black Sea region of Scythia and Thrace were later
inhabited by these horse-riding warriors from the Steppes who ultimately ended up in western Europe.
However, from the evidence we have just examined, it appears, that if the Celts were of Israelite
origin, some ancient Israelites also migrated east into Asia, both centuries before and after the
collapse of Judah and Samaria. It maybe that those who made their way to China were later to be known
as the Tocharians, a people who founded agricultural towns in the region. Historian
James A. Millward suggested that...
This is where their story appears to end but by following other traceable
migratory routes of these ancient people as they moved into the steppes and then
eventually spread out across the globe we can discover, not only who these people are today,
but we are also able to apply the prophecies found in the Bible to specific people and nations.
If you want to know more about what is in store for the descendants of ancient Israel you can
read online or request a free print copy of The United States and Great Britain in Prophecy.
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