Evidence of Earliest Silkworm Farming Outside China Found, Upending Silk Road Timeline The discovery of 4,000 year old silkworm cocoons in Uzbekistan has sent shockwaves through the historical community, challenging our understanding of one of the world's most iconic trade routes.
The finding, published in Science Advances, pushes back the timeline for the spread of silk to Central Asia by a staggering two millennia.
The traditional narrative of the Silk Road's emergence during the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) has long been accepted as fact.