Christoph Baumer (born June 23, 1952) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

explorer and historian of

Central Asia Central Asia is a region of Asia consisting of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The countries as a group are also colloquially referred to as the "-stans" as all have names ending with the Persian language, Pers ...

. Starting in 1984, he has conducted explorations in Central Asia, China, Tibet and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, the results of which have been published in numerous books, scholarly publications, TV and radio programs.

Life

Baumer grew up in the Swiss Canton of

Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

. His father was a businessman; his mother had been a war correspondent for the French national press agency and reported during the Finnish-Russian war in the winter of 1939–1940.

Sven Hedin Sven Anders Hedin, KNO1kl RVO,Wennerholm, Eric (1978) ''Sven Hedin – En biografi'', Bonniers, Stockholm (19 February 1865 – 26 November 1952) was a Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator ...

, the renowned explorer of Asia, aided her return to occupied

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, at that time her home. As an adolescent, Baumer was already fascinated by the travel reports of Hedin, and these likely laid the foundation for Baumer’s later development. After obtaining a PhD at the

University of Zurich The University of Zurich (UZH, ) is a public university, public research university in Zurich, Switzerland. It is the largest university in Switzerland, with its 28,000 enrolled students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of the ...

, he first worked in business until he became a freelance author and photographer with emphasis on the cultural history of Central Asia and the Caucasus. His books have been published in five languages. Christoph Baumer is, together with Therese Weber, a Founding Member and President of the archaeological Society for the Exploration of EurAsia. The Society makes scientific contributions to the exploration of the cultures of Eurasia. It promotes archaeological fieldwork in six to eight countries and the scientific exchange of ideas and experience through publications and international conferences.

Exploration in the Taklamakan Desert

In 1994, Baumer led the First Sino-Swiss

Taklamakan The Taklamakan Desert ( ) is a desert in northwest China's Xinjiang region. Located inside the Tarim Basin in Southern Xinjiang, it is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south, the Pamir Mountains to the west, the Tian Shan range to the n ...

Expedition, and was the first Westerner to reach the ancient oasis of Niya and

Loulan Loulan ( zh, t=, p=Lóulán <

Eastern Han Chinese

''lo-lɑn'' <

Dandan Oilik in the Taklamakan Desert since Emil Trinkler and Walter Bosshard in 1928. The results of this expedition were, among other things, the rediscovery and excavation of unknown ruins in Dandan Oilik and Buddhist murals dating from the mid-8th century AD, the discovery of a paper document from the 7th/8th century set in the Khotanese language and Brahmi script, the discovery of a very rare stone inscription in

Kharoshthi Kharosthi script (), also known as the Gandhari script (), was an ancient script originally developed in the Gandhara Region of modern-day Pakistan, between the 5th and 3rd century BCE. used primarily by the people of Gandhara alongside vari ...

from the 3rd century AD in the ruined city Endere, and the rediscovery of a Tibetan inscription from 790. From this expedition stemmed the

ZDF ZDF (), short for (; ), is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Launched on 1 April 1963, it is run as an independent nonprofit institution, and was founded by all federal states of Germany ( ...

(Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen) TV-documentary ''The Lost City of Taklamakan''. In 2003, Baumer conducted the Third International Taklamakan Expedition in collaboration with the Archaeological Institute of Ürümqi, Xinjiang and a representative of the University of London, during which he made finds north of Qiemo from the

Neolithic Age The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wid ...

(4th–3rd millennium BC). In 2007, he led the Fourth International Taklamakan Expedition into unexplored regions of the Lop Nor Desert. There he discovered, among other things, a previously unknown settlement, dating from approximately 100 BC–400 AD. Lop nor 2007 800

In 2009, he led the Fifth International Taklamakan Expedition into the unexplored ancient delta of the River Keriya in the centre of the desert, and discovered two unknown graveyards: Satma Mazar (

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

) and Ayala Mazar (

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

).Christoph Baumer, "The Ayala Mazar – Xiaohe Culture. New archaeological discoveries in the Taklamakan Desert, China", ''Journal of the Royal Society for Asian Affairs'', London, 1/2011; ''The History of Central Asia, Vol. I. The Age of the Steppe Warriors'', I.B. Tauris, London, 2012, pp. 129–132. Keriya 2009 800

Other explorations

Further expeditions took Baumer to southern

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

in 1996, where he rediscovered in the former monastery Sekar Guthok forgotten murals from the 13th century; and in 1997 again to southern Tibet, where he discovered in the Pa-Lha-Puk Monastery the oldest existing murals of the Bön religion – from the early 15th century – in all of Tibet. In the years 2000 to 2005 he researched and documented most of the relevant cultural monuments of the Assyrian Church of the East, from southeastern Turkey to Mongolia, China and southern India. In the years 1993, 2006 and 2007 he visited and documented all the Buddhist monasteries of Mount Wutai Shan, in northwestern China. From 2013 to 2019 he explored on six journeys the Caucasus region in view of a forthcoming publication on the history of the Caucasus.

Bibliography

*''Tibet's Ancient Religion: Bön'', Weatherhill and Orchid Press, 2002. (Asia & Europe), (Americas) * ''Southern Silk Road: In the Footsteps of Sir Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin'', 2nd revised edition, Orchid Press, 2004. 974-8304-39-6 (Paperback) (Hardback) * ''The Church of the East: An Illustrated History of Assyrian Christianity'', I.B. Tauris, London, 2006, revised 2016. * ''Traces in the Desert: Journeys of Discovery across Central Asia'', I.B.Tauris, London, 2008. * ''China's Holy Mountain: An Illustrated Journey into the Heart of Buddhism'', I.B. Tauris, London, 2011. * ''The History of Central Asia'' (Volume One): ''The Age of the Steppe Warriors'', I.B. Tauris, London, 2012. * ''The History of Central Asia'' (Volume Two): ''The Age of the Silk Roads'', I.B. Tauris, London 2014. * ''The History of Central Asia'' (Volume Three): ''The Age of Islam and the Mongols'', I.B. Tauris, London, 2016. * ''The History of Central Asia'' (Volume Four): ''The Age of Decline and Revival'', I.B. Tauris, London, 2018. * ''History of the Caucasus'' (Volume One): ''At the Crossroads of Empires'', I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, London, 2021. * ''History of the Caucasus'' (Volume Two): ''In the Shadow of Great Powers'', I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury, London, 2023. * Co-author with Therese Weber: ''Eastern Tibet: Bridging Tibet and China'', Orchid Press, 2005. * Co-editor with Mirko Novák: ''Urban Cultures of Central Asia from the Bronze Age to the Karakhanids'', Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 2019. * Co-editor with Mirko Novák and Susanne Rutishauser: ''Cultures in Contact Central Asia as Focus of Trade, Cultural Exchange and Knowledge Transmission'', Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 2022.

References

External links

The Society for the Exploration of EurAsia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baumer, Christoph 1952 births Living people People from Zurich Swiss explorers Swiss photographers Swiss non-fiction writers Explorers of Tibet Swiss male non-fiction writers Swiss historians