Secret waste and its storage in Manichaean manistans and Buddhist viharas of Uygur Kocho along the Silk Road in East Central Asia

This study focuses on Manichaean and Buddhist archeological finds dating from the 9th-13th centuries that were discovered by German and British expeditions (1902-1916) at Kocho (Ch. Gaochang) in the Turfan region (Xinjiang province, PRC) of East Central Asia and are housed in the Asian Art Museum in Berlin, the British Museum in London, and the National Museum in New Delhi.  The examples examined derive from Ruins α and K, both of which attest an initial Manichaean and subsequent Buddhist occupancy.  Their specific find sites have traditionally been interpreted as “library rooms.”  The material evidence supplied by the physical conditions of the fragmentary manuscripts and painted textiles, however, indicates otherwise.  This study argues that the objects in question were found preserved as sacred waste in geniza-like repositories that were set up during the Manichaean phase (9th-10th century) and continued to be used during the Buddhist phase (11th-13th century) of these monastic sites.