A number of mummies, now known as the Tarim mummies, have been found in Loulan and in its surrounding areas. One female mummy has been dated to c. 1800 BCE (3,800-year-old), indicating very early settlement of the region. The disinterred corpses were not Chinese or Indian but had fair hair and light skin, some over six feet in length; this has led to suggestions that those from the Shanshan kingdoms were descendants of migrants from the Iranian plateau. The mummies were wrapped in cotton and silk, the former from the west and latter from the east, further providing evidence as to Loulan's commercial importance.