East-West Exchanges Began 5,000 Years Ago?

Contact between the East and West probably began more than 5,000 years ago, 3,000 years earlier than previously thought, according to Chinese archaeologists.

New research on relics unearthed along the famous Silk Road, an ancient commercial route linking China and Central Asia, has lead to the conclusion. Li Shuicheng, a professor of archaeology at Beijing University, said that many people held that East-West exchanges started after the opening of the Silk Road over 2,000 years ago, but archaeological discoveries showed the date was much earlier. Li said that a dozen mace heads dating back between 3,000 and 5,000 years, extremely similar to those used by kings of ancient Egypt, had been excavated in northwest China.

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