As a member of the design research lab at the University of Arts in Berlin and the “Silk Road Fashion” team of the German Archaeological Institute, Rike Beck works with the traces and personal belongings of the deceased. Since these mummified corpses have been extremely well preserved, they silently carry information about their past lives. Using reconstruction techniques she extracts information about their identities, personal biographies and their culture.


publications:

Beck, U., et al., The invention of trousers and its likely affiliation with horseback riding and mobility: A case study of late 2nd millennium BC finds from Turfan in eastern Central Asia, Quaternary International (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2014.04.056