While Xinjiang - in the extreme west of present-day China - is today a tightly controlled and repressed periphery, but for most of the past 4,000 years, it has been the crossroads at the heart of Eurasia. Practically every important technological and cultural innovation from the Neolithic onward has passed through this corridor, skirting the massive mountains and impassable deserts that block transit across the continent. New archaeological research is transforming how we think about this remarkable place and its history over the long term.

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