Cultural anthropologist brings Silk Road to Idyllwild library

Cultural anthropologist Melinda Niekum will give a presentation at the Idyllwild Library about the Silk Road trade route Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 5 p.m.

The Silk Road was a trade route running west to east from Samarkand in present-day Uzbekistan to Turpan (formerly Turkistan) in China, then south to Delhi in India.

Niekum explained to the Town Crier that the Silk Road moved not only commercial goods but also ideas, beliefs, architecture and art over thousands of miles, creating a continuity from the first century CE to the 19th century. At that point, great power struggles, at first between Russia and England, began to create new political divisions.

Niekum says her interest in the history of Central Asia began in 1981, while working on her master’s degree at California State University, Long Beach. She went on an educational study tour that took a group of graduate students to Uzbekistan and Armenia.

She said she liked the people, culture and history of the region, which was “at that time very little known in the U.S.” She chose to make the archaeology of the region the focus of her studies.

Since then, she has continued to travel to the region. As an independent researcher, at first with the now-dormant nonprofit Culture Without Walls Along the Great Silk Road, she has returned frequently, mapping and photographing the archaeological sites.

Niekum says the presentation will include a lot of photographs and a handout map to help listeners follow along as she takes them to unfamiliar places along the ancient trade route.

Niekum says she has been to Idyllwild many times over the last 45 years, and her first husband was a close friend of Town Crier contributor Art Connor.