Textiles, grain, coins; people living in the Silk Road oasis of Turfan, 160
km south-east of Urumqi in today's Xinjiang, used all three items as money
between 273 and 769. The city of Gaochang (some 40 km east of today's
Turfan) was one of the most important cities on the northern route around
the Taklamakan Desert, and many of its inhabitants were buried in the
adjacent Astana and Karakhoja graveyards. The region's dry climate has
preserved an extensive group of paper documents dating to before, and after,
the Tang conquest of the city in 640. The residents of Turfan buried their
dead with shoes, belts, hats and clothing made from recycled paper with
writing on it. These records offer an unparalleled glimpse of how people
living along the Silk Road used textiles as currency.