Princess of Xiaohe

The individual commonly known as the Princess of Xiaohe (Chinese: 小河公主, "Little River Princess") was a woman of the Xiaohe culture buried in Tomb M11 at the Xiaohe Cemetery near Lop Nur in present-day Xinjiang, China.^[3][4] The name "Princess of Xiaohe" was assigned by archaeologists after her discovery because of her exceptional preservation and appearance and does not indicate royal status.^[3]

She lived during the early Bronze Age and was buried around 1800 BCE as part of the Xiaohe culture of the Tarim Basin.^[3][4]

Genetic studies cited in Chinese media reports have identified ancestry related to both western Eurasian and Siberian populations among the people buried at Xiaohe.^[5][6]

The Princess of Xiaohe was unearthed by the archaeologists of Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology at the Xiaohe Cemetery No. 5, Tomb 11, 102 km (63 mi) west of Loulan, Lop Nur, Xinjiang in 2003.^[7] She is unusually well preserved, with long eyelashes, clothes, and hair still intact.^[8] Archeologists attribute this to the dry, salty conditions in the desert and tightly sealed coffins, which were wrapped in cowhide before being buried. As the cowhide dried out, it shrunk, sealing the coffins. Her body was not embalmed before death, but mummified naturally due to the climate and burial method.^[9]

The Princess has long hair and eyelashes, with some facial features more similar to Ancient North Eurasians than modern people of the region she was found in, such as high cheekbones.^[8][4] She seems to be smiling slightly.^[10] She was 1.52 m (5 ft 0 in) tall.^[4]

She was buried wearing a white felt hat, a white wool cloak with tassels, and string skirt, with fur-lined leather boots on her feet. She had a red rope necklace and a bracelet with one jade bead on her right arm. She was buried with wooden pins and three small pouches of ephedra. Twigs and branches of ephedra were placed beside the body. Wheat and millet grains, strings made from the tendons of animals, and animal ears were spread over her body. A wooden phallic object was placed between her breasts. Like the other mummies in the Xiaohe Cemetery, she was buried in a boat-shaped coffin with a standing wooden pole above it.^[11] Her grave had not been disturbed since her burial when it was found by archeologists in 2003.^[4]

Chunks of cheese were found on her neck and chest, possibly as food for the afterlife. Archeologists were initially unsure what the clumps on her body were. However, a 2014 study led by Andrej Shevchenko showed that it was cheese. The cheese found on the mummies in this cemetery is the oldest preserved cheese in the world, likely made with a kefir starter.^[12][13] Her entire body and boots were also coated in a white substance, likely also a dairy product but so far of unknown origin.^[4]

In 2010, she was exhibited at Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, California, Houston Museum of Natural Science, and University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. In 2019, she was exhibited at the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology at Peking University.^[14] She was featured in the first episode of the documentary series New Silk Road.^[11]

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  The "Princess of Xiaohe"
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  Princess of Xiaohe. Beijing Capital Museum
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  The "Princess of Xiaohe" wearing her funeral clothes
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  Another felt hat from Xiaohe^[15]

• Tarim mummies
• Beauty of Loulan