A Silk Road Before the \"Silk Road\"

[Alanus]

You're right on, Evan. But within the timeframe mentioned in the introductory post, we find plenty of silk in Altai graves, as well as Persian goods. An ancient trade route-- by whatever name it would acquire later-- was in place half a millennium before Emperor Wu Di made official contact with the Parthians, the intermediaries with the Greeks and Romans... and also the Germans, because silks have been found in the European hinterlands.

Also, although we have no definitive proof (other than the vagueness of Pliny), I think iron ingots may have been imported from either China or Pakistan, or both. Pliny says, "from the East by camel." Anyway, a Zhou bronze sword showing up in Ukraine supports an early date for the trade route. ;-)