Sling, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.263 (M.I.0081).

Sling, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.263 (M.I.0081).

Sling
Central Asia
8th century AD
Wool cord and wool felt
Length 70 cm x width 0.7 cm
Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.263 (M.I.0081)
On loan from Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India

Stein identified this object as a sling. It is made of closely plaited seven strands of yak outer hair which at one point is divided into two to form edge of felted wool pouch. Although the military duties at the fort were a priority, it is suggested by the finds that soldiers also farmed and herded livestock. String nets and slings indicate that they also fished and hunted.

Banded wool fragment, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.305 (M.I.0084).

Banded wool fragment, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.305 (M.I.0084).

Banded wool fragment
Central Asia
8th century AD
Plain weave in wool
Length 18.8 cm x width 18.7 cm
Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.305 (M.I.0084)
On loan from Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India

A large number of coarse fabric fragments, mostly wool, were found at the Miran fort. The variety of texture is considerable in these fabrics, but all woven strongly and skilfully. Natural wool colours prevail such as browns, but the colour red seems to have been popular too. This is quite a fine woollen fragment, plain woven with bands of dark brown, yellow, blue, terracotta red and light brown. It is likely to have had a furnishing function originally.

Ball of yarn, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.252 (M.I.xxiv.001).

Ball of yarn, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.252 (M.I.xxiv.001).

Ball of yarn
Central Asia
8th century AD
Spun wool
Diameter 6 cm
Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.252 (M.I.xxiv.001)
On loan from Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India

This ball of spun two-ply wool yarn probably once was in much stronger blue hue than now. It appears to have faded badly over time, leaving a patchy pale blue colour. The ball of yarn gives a glimpse of daily life at the Miran fort. It was perhaps used by the Tibetan soldiers and their wives for darning their clothes.

Tablet woven fragments, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.587 (M.I.0088).

Tablet woven fragments, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.587 (M.I.0088).

Tablet woven fragments (Textiles - Room 98, Case 3)
Central Asia
8th century AD
Tablet weave in wool
Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.587 (M.I.0088)
On loan from Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India

These three fragments from a border showing a geometrical pattern are made in the tablet weave technique. The wool used has been identified as yak underwool. Although Miran was a military fort, they were also inhabited by civilians, including soldiers’ families, merchants and others. The life in these deserted forts must have been difficult. An abundance of Tibetan documents on wood and paper were found, and quite a few contain complaints about the time spent at the fort and shortages of provisions.

Tablet woven fragment, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.589 (M.I.xxvi.002).

Tablet woven fragment, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.589 (M.I.xxvi.002).

Tablet woven fragment (Textiles - Room 98, Case 3)
Central Asia
8th century AD
Tablet weave in wool
Length 27 cm x width 6 cm
Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.589 (M.I.xxvi.002)
On loan from Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India

These three fragments come from a tablet woven border. Tablet weaving is a weaving technique where tablets or cards are used to create the sheds the wefts is passed through. The fundamental principle is to turn the tablets to lift selected sets of threads in the warp. Here at least 95 tablets have been used to weave the border which includes an animal motif, perhaps running horses, and geometrical pattern. The wool comes from yak plied with semi-fine sheel wool.

It was found at the Miran fort. When Tibetan troops occupied the area in the late 8th century AD, they built the fort to guard one of many routes through which they moved into Cental Asia.

Silk fragment with green dye, 700-800 AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.550 (M.I.xii.003)

Silk fragment with green dye, 700-800 AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.550 (M.I.xii.003)

Silk fragment with green dye
China
700-800 AD
Plain weave in silk
Length 14.2 cm x Width 7.3 cm
Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.550 (M.I.xii.003)
On loan from Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India

This crumbled piece of plain woven light brown silk appears to have traces of bluish green colour on its surface. However, after examination under a microscope, in addition to blue fibres, some yellow incrustations could be seen. Small blue and black particles were also observed. The blue fibres were dyed with indigo, the yellow pigment was found to be the arsenic-containing compound pararealgar, As4S4, and the blue particles were made of lapis lazuli. The black particles were made of carbon black. Lapis lazuli is a rock, not a mineral, and can be made into jewellery, boxes and ornaments it was also ground and processed to make the pigment ultramarine for paint. The mines in northern Afghanistan have produced lapis lazuli for export for several thousands of years, but it could also be found in the mountains of the Kingdom of Khotan.

Pouch, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.648 (M.I.xxvii.001).

Pouch, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.648 (M.I.xxvii.001).

Pouch
China
8th century AD
Patterned weave in silk
Height 14.4 cm x width 10 cm
Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.648 (M.I.xxvii.001)
On loan from Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India

A square piece of pattern woven silk has been folded over and stitched into a small triangular pouch. There are remains of sawdust inside the pouch, indicating that it might originally have been used as a perfume sachet.

It was recovered from a site called Miran fort which was held by the Tibetans during their domination of the southern Taklamakan during the 8th century AD. Finds of Chinese silk are scarce from this site, showing that trade with China declined notably through the Tibetan conquest of the Tarim Basin and the Gansu border.

Tablet woven fragment, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.588 (M.I.xxvi.001).

Tablet woven fragment, 8th century AD. Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.588 (M.I.xxvi.001).

Tablet woven fragment (Textiles - Room 98, Case 3)
Central Asia
8th century AD
Tablet weave in wool
Length 28 cm x width 19.5 cm
Museum no. LOAN:STEIN.588 (M.I.xxvi.001)
On loan from Government of India and the Archaeological Survey of India

This large fragment consists of two tablet woven borders stitched together. The top border show running animals with curling horns, while the other border has a geometrical pattern. The wool used has been identified as yak.

The yak is a long-haired bovine found throughout the Himalayan region of south Central Asia, the Tibetan Plateau as far north as Mongolia.