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Tracking: Gusilk Road Travelers Bring Irrigation Technologies to Arid Areas in Xinjiang
New research has found that more than 1700 years ago, ancient Chinese farmers may have turned one of the driest deserts on the planet into farmland with the help of ancient irrigation knowledge brought about by Silk Road travelers.
Archaeologists used satellite imagery to analyze the barren foothills of the Tianshan Mountains in Northwest China and came to this conclusion. These peaks form the northern boundary of China's vast Taklimakan Desert and are part of the mountain range of the prehistoric Silk Road route, which connects China to the west of China.
Satellite imagery of an area has attracted the attention of researchers because it is particularly dry and is known as Mohuchahangoukou or MGK. Thanks to the Mohuchahan River, the region can get a little seasonal melting snow and rainfall. If you look at the surface of the area, you can only see some sparse boulders and gullies. But when researchers used a commercial quadruple-rotor UAV to take pictures about 100 feet (30 meters) above MGK, scientists said they could see the outlines of dams, reservoirs and irrigation canals for small farmlands.
Scientists point out that preliminary excavations at the site confirm the existence of farms and tombs. According to radiocarbon dating and other methods, these farms and tombs may date back to the third or fourth centuries B.C. The researchers added that this ancient agricultural community was probably built by local herdsmen because they added millet, barley, wheat and grapes to their diet.
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