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The Bronze Age Xiaohe culture (ca. 1950–1400 BCE) is renowned for its distinctive funerary practices and exceptional organic preservation, largely due to its location in a hyperarid environment. Burials feature boat-shaped coffins, cattle remains, and paddle and mooring post-like grave markers.

A recent study by Dr. Gino Caspari revisits early interpretations of Xiaohe burial practices, highlighting the importance of considering them within the broader cultural and environmental contexts. "The funerary ritual is completely different from the surrounding cultures, and that is part of the fascination of this culture," says Dr. Caspari.

The Xiaohe culture was based in the Tarim Basin, in modern-day Xinjiang, China. The aceramic culture relied heavily on agriculture and pastoralism. The Xiaohe site was first discovered in the early 1900s and excavated by Swedish archaeologist Folke Bergman in 1934.

A complete excavation of the site did not take place until the early 2000s under the supervision of the Xinjiang Institute of Archaeology. In total, 167 graves were found in addition to the 12 that had been excavated by Bergman in 1934.

The researchers estimated that the site had once contained around 350 graves, many of which had since been destroyed or eroded.

Of these, however, only a handful have been analyzed and reported on in detail, while many others are simply mentioned in condensed form in Chinese language excavation reports.

"Apart from limited maps of the Xiaohe cemetery, the information is unfortunately still rather incomplete. The burials that I've marked in red in [the figure above] are the only ones that have been properly published. So, unfortunately, we cannot really say very much about the overall patterns because we need to wait for our Chinese colleagues to fully publish the materials," says Dr. Caspari.

The Xiaohe site contains three types of burials. Type 1, which is the most abundant, is characterized by burials with wooden coffins placed in pits dug into the sand. These coffins are typically narrow and straight, transitioning into a more curved shape. The head of the coffin typically has an erect pole.

The second type, of which there are only four, contains only female bodies and is characterized by a clay shell outside the wooden coffin.

The final type is a unique rectangular structure with a triangular entrance. It is covered in multiple layers of cattle skin and topped with layers of cattle skulls. Despite being characterized as a third burial type, no human bones have been recovered from this site, possibly indicating that it may have had a different function.

Dr. Caspari specifically examined burials of the first type. Previous researchers have described these as being like "boats" or "upturned canoes."

This interpretation may be supported by the flat bases, which would be ideal for navigating the shallow water bodies of the Tarim Basin, as well as the cattle hides, which may have been used to waterproof the metaphorical canoes.

The attached poles, however, have previously been described as being phallic or possibly vulva-like, depending on whether the post was oval-ended with dark paint (vulva) or had a painted red tip (phallic).

However, it has been noted that phallic poles sometimes accompanied coffins of females, while vulva-like poles sometimes accompanied those of males.

Dr. Caspari proposes an alternative hypothesis for the function and symbolism of the poles, based on Xiaohe's environment and funerary practices.

The Xiaohe lived in the Tashkurgan Basin, which was shaped by oases formed from seasonal summer rainwater. This wet environment, located on the border of arid desert lands, was vital for the maintenance of cattle herds, which played a pivotal role in the Xiaohe culture, as evidenced by the cattle skulls and hides often found in their burials.

Additionally, the coffin's similarities to canoes may further indicate the importance of water and water-themed motifs. It is possible that these poles are supposed to represent paddles and mooring posts meant to guide and anchor the deceased in the afterlife.

Their upturned appearance, in turn, may represent ideas about a mirrored afterlife, similar to ones seen in the Scandinavian Bronze Age, prehistoric Saharan rock art, Ancient Egyptian texts, and depictions found in Great Basin rock art, where the afterlife is depicted upside down.

Dr. Caspari bases these hypotheses on the cultural and environmental context of the Xiaohe and hopes the study will contribute to the wider understanding of this enigmatic culture.

Sadly, the culture disappeared around 1400 BCE, the reasons for this being equally as unknown as the understanding of their funerary practices.

"At this point, it would be mere speculation. We simply do not have the data. Given that it is extremely difficult to get access to the area (even for Chinese researchers), we will likely not have well-based answers for a while. This is unfortunate and occasionally frustrating because Xinjiang plays such an important role in our understanding of the dynamics of prehistoric Central Asia," says Dr. Caspari.

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