Oliver is joined by Susan Whitfield, Professor in Silk Road Studies at the Sainsbury Institute, to gain a new perspective on the mass of historic maritime and land-based routes known as the Silk Roads. Susan gives us a taste of the material and cultural impact of the enormous trade network stretching to the ends of Europe, Africa and Asia from the 2nd Century BCE, as well as highlighting the role of Japan and China in establishing the network as World Heritage.

Read Susan's article, 'The Expanding Silk Road: UNESCO and the Belt and Road Initiative' (2020)

Read Susan's book, Silk Roads: Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes (2019)

Visit the Nara to Norwich online exhibition

Find out more about the Nara to Norwich project

Download the full transcript here (PDF)

Watch with subtitles on YouTube

IMAGE AND AUDIO CREDITS

Intro-outro music: jasonszklarek / MotionElements.com

[L] Caravan on the Silk Road (1375). Gallica Digital Library. ID: btv1b55002481n.

[R] Photographing remains of a 3rd century farmstead in Niya, an oasis kingdom in the Tarim Basin on the Silk Road, and the site of a multi-year Sino-Japanese archaeological collaboration. Provided by Susan Whitfield.

Copyright © 2022 Oliver Moxham, ℗ 2022 Oliver Moxham. May be freely distributed for education purposes.