Archaeologists Found Someone They Never Expected in an Ancient Chinese Tomb: a Blonde Man
The discovery reveals an unexpected connection to the ancient Silk Road.
By Tim Newcomb
Published: May 10, 2025 8:18 AM EDT
XH4D//Getty Images
A 2018 reconstruction project of a hillside road in the capital of the Shanxi Province led to unearthing the tomb, but archaeologists hadn’t really reported on the discovery until recently.
Long Zhen, director of the Jinyang Ancient City Research Institute of the Taiyuan Cultural Relics Protection Research Institute, says, according to a translation from the state-run news outlet Xinhua, that the tomb has pairs of figures painted on both sides of the tomb door and that paintings of people continue throughout the tomb, including everything from women pushing stones to grind flour to men making pasta, women using oranges to fetch water, and men stepping on hammers to help pound rice.
Xinhua News Agency//Getty Images
Experts believe the tomb was owned by a man who died in 736 AD at age 63, during the middle of the Tang dynasty, which ran from 618 to 907 AD. He was buried in the tomb along with his wife.
The eight scenes painted on the tomb are in the “figures under the tree” style, trendy at the time, which—not unlike the name suggests—shows daily activities occurring under artistically rendered trees. The scenes offer a fresh view on what daily life and responsibilities were during the Tang dynasty.
The figures painted on the tomb all appeared to be of the Han ethnicity—except for one: a figure painted with blond hair and a beard.
Victor Xiong, professor of history at Western Michigan University, who wasn’t involved in the discovery, told Live Science the “Westerner,” painted in the tomb leading camels, likely represented someone from Central Asia. “Based on his facial features and outfit style,” Xiong said, “we can identify him as a ‘Westerner,’ likely a Sogdian from Central Asia.”
The Sogdian people lived in what is now modern-day Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and were active along Silk Road trading routes.
Xinhua News Agency//Getty Images
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