Albert von Le Coq

Adding to a past post of imperialistic looting of treasures along the Silk Road, that I learn about reading Bill Porter's The Silk Road (2016), is Albert von Le Coq (1860-1930). He's the one who found this little number in a cave buried in the sand outside Turfan in the Bezeklik Caves. Seems around 1905, publishing in 1913. Wikipedia lists the expeditions around 1902-1914.

It seems like different ethnic groups passing on Buddhist knowledge, maybe Tocharians or Sogdians.

Wikipedia: "In Buried Treasures ..., Le Coq defends these "borrowings" as a matter of necessity, citing the turbulent nature of Chinese Turkestan at the time of the expeditions. Chinese consider this seizure a "colonial rapacity" comparable to the taking of the Elgin Marbles or the Koh-i-Noor diamond."

You can go to Harvard, or the British Museum and now I've learned Berlin Germany, to see precious Silk Road treasures. Unfortunately during WW2 many precious items were lost due to bombing.

Le Coq also found great Nestorian and Manichean relics.