Cherchen Man or
Chärchän Man is a naturally-
mummified man discovered in Tomb 2 at the cemetery of Zaghunluq near the town of
Qiemo (Cherchen) in the
Taklamakan Desert,
Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, western
China. Cherchen Man "died around
1000 BC". The mummy is described as: a 3,000-year-old male, "6-foot-6-inch (198 cm) giant with
Caucasian features" (though Mallory and Mair put his height at no more than 5'5 (165 cm)"), with hair that is "reddish brown flecked with grey, framing high cheekbones", an "
aquiline" "long nose, full lips and a ginger beard", and wearing "a red twill
tunic and
tartan leggings." The mummy is also described as looking "like a
Bronze Age European", "a
Celt". Yellow and reddish patterns on the whose face of
Cherchen Man have been identified as tattoos in some sources, but are likely preserved
ochre paint Also present in Tomb 2 were a female mummy identified as the Cherchen Woman and an infant called the Blue Baby.