Loulan Beauty

The Beauty of Loulan (楼兰美女; 1845 BC - 1800 BC), also Beauty of Krorän or Loulan Beauty, is the preserved dead body of a woman who lived in the Xinjiang region in what is now China. Due to her excellent state of conservation, she is one of the most famous Tarim mummies.

Exceptionally well-preserved by the elements, the body was discovered in 1980 by Chinese archaeologists alongside several other mummies. The body is not of Chinese appearance, leading to the popular belief that the woman was of Uyghur origin. The Chinese government barred study of the mummies, but samples were smuggled out of the country and tested to find evidence of European ancestry in 1993. These findings were corroborated by further studies by Chinese researchers in 2007 and 2009. The mummy has since been displayed in museums.

Discovery leftThe Beauty of Loulan was discovered on 1 April 1980 in the Tiebanhe cemetery near Loulan in the eastern Tarim Basin of present-day Xinjiang, China, by Chinese archaeologist Mu Shunying and members of the Archaeological Institute of the Xinjiang Academy of Social Sciences.

According to journalist Barbara Demick, the discovery was made while Chinese archaeologists were working with a film crew producing a documentary about the Silk Road. Examination of her clothing and footwear showed that both had been worn extensively and repaired multiple times during her life. and is estimated to have been in her 40s at the time of her death. Examination of the remains found evidence of lice in her hair. Following the conclusion that the body is not Uighur, the Chinese government allowed the Loulan Beauty to be displayed in museums.

In 1980, her likeness was reconstructed by a Japanese painter named Yamaguchi Terunari (山本耀也), and displayed beside her in the museum. As of 2008, the mummy is displayed on the second floor of the Xinjiang Museum, "Mummy Hall"(古尸馆). The Chinese government has not allowed further access to the mummies by scientists outside China.

Significance Collectively, the Tarim mummies are evidence of settlement in East Asia by people with European genetic markers far earlier than previously believed. In his 2007 paper on the mummies, Jin Li, a scientist at Fudan University also claimed to find evidence of South and East Asian genetic markers among the set, although Victor H. Mair disputes this finding. Elizabeth Barber examined the cloth fabrics preserved with the mummies and argued that they show ties to the Caucasus and even Scotland.