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Archaeology suggests silk production existed in Uzbekistan before Silk Road

Chinese researchers say silkworm cocoons and mulberry trees were found in Uzbekistan dating to more than 2,000 years before the Silk Road began.

Reported · Written up by our desk · Emerging Markets

In 138BC, Chinese diplomat and explorer Zhang Qian was sent as an envoy to the western regions, along a land route that began in Changan, present-day Xian, passed through Gansu province and the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and ultimately connected to parts of Central and West Asia, according to SCMP Economy.

The outlet notes that Chinese silk was among the key goods traded along this route, which is part of how the Silk Road got its name.

While traditional scholarship has pointed to sericulture and silk-reeling technology spreading outward from China along the route in the 2nd century BC, SCMP Economy reports that an archaeological discovery in Uzbekistan by Chinese scientists indicates silkworm cocoons and mulberry trees were already present in the region more than 2,000 years before the Silk Road opened.

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