Abstract
PROF. A. VON LE COQ gives a vivid account of two expeditions' to Eastern Turkestan on an archaeological mission from the Berlin Ethnological Museum. After giving a historical survey, the labours and excitements of the expeditions are narrated, and incidentally there are ethnographical observations and descriptions of archaeological remains. At one place the expedition arrived too late to save some remarkable Sassanian-Hellenistic paintings, and cartloads of Manichsan manuscripts had been thrown into the river by peasants; as paintings of persons are an abomination to Moslems, they are usually destroyed whenever found. Another library of priceless manuscripts had been destroyed in the course of time by water. Though there were frequent disappointments, various sites offered a rich harvest of frescoes and other objects which can now be seen in Berlin.
Buried Treasures of Chinese Turkestan: an Account of the Activities and Adventures of the second and third German Turfan Expeditions.
By Prof. Albert von Le Coq. Pp. 180 + 52 plates. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1928.) 18s. net.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
[Book Reviews]. Nature 123, 600 (1929). https://doi.org/10.1038/123600a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/123600a0