Early Chinese silks from the Oglakhty cemetery in southern Siberia (grave 4)

The Oglakhty burial ground in Southern Siberia belongs to the early stage of the Tashtyk culture (1st to 4th centuries AD). Some burials were investigated in 1903 by A. V. Adrianov and in 1969 by L. R. Kyzlasov. The investigated burials are distinguished by good preservation of organic materials, including items made of wood, fur, leather and fabrics. Among the latter are fragments of Chinese silk, both polychrome and plain, which have been studied by E. I. Lubo-Lesnichenko and K. Riboud. These are mostly small fragments, for example used for hair-dress or edging at a bow-case model. The finds from the Oglakhty burials are kept in different museums including the State Historical Museum in Moscow, Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum and the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg. In this article the technical details of textile finds from the Hermitage collection are presented. They include fragments of seven plain and ten polychrome silk fabric fragments. For the jin silks (warp- faced compound tabby) comparable finds are identified in the Tarim basin (Loulan-Gutai, Niya, Zaghunluq, Sampula and Yingpan site), Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, and discussed with regard to their age.