This article is from 1996, but its the first time I am learning about it.

A pair of mummies estimated to be nearly 2,000 years old have been discovered in the desolate desert sands of northwest China.

The bodies are those of a man and a woman. They were wrapped in beautiful silk clothing. With them when they died, was a lovely star map printed on silk cloth.

Archaeologists at the scene reported the couple were likely to have been members of the local nobility during the Han Dynasty that flourished from 202 BC to 220 AD.

The Takla Makan Desert where the remains were discovered was once a part of the Silk Road an ancient 'highway' linking China with the Egypt and Athens in the West.

Read the rest of the story and see the pictures here

http://www.dailyrepublican.com/mummiesinsilk.html