A Bump in the Silk Road?

Here is an article from the Washington Post about an archaeological find that has implications for current ethnic and racial tensions in western China. Because of Chinese national security concerns about the Uighurs in Xinjiang province, this mummy may have been pulled from an exhibit on Silk Road artifacts.

... hundreds of mummies that have been discovered in China's Xinjiang province have long caused controversy, because their Caucasian features point to European origin - a simple archaeological fact that has had political and potentially explosive ramifications since they were discovered in this region of occasionally violent ethnic clashes.

The mummy that was supposed to go on display this weekend has Caucasoid features that are almost perfectly preserved - fair skin, auburn hair and round eyes. The woman's body, dubbed the Beauty of Xiaohe, is so intact that many have described her as looking as though she is simply taking a nap.

To read the article, please click here.

Race Remixed in the US

Race and ethnicity are important ideas in society and in anthropology. This article explores how complex the issue of identity and labeling is in the US. Categories and labels can provide ways to include and exclude people; and they can also set limitations in the number of categories to choose from. More and more individuals are becoming increasingly aware of their diversity in America and are selecting more categories to describe their ethnicity. (See Here)