Continuing Mis-Identification of the Altai Culture

[Alanus]

Thanks, Michael

Amazing that the silk traders received by the Roman court-- blue eyes, red hair, and harsh voices-- are exactly like the Wusun and Yue-chi described by Sima Quan in his history. The Yue-chi, due to their original location in the Takla Makan, also traded in nephrite jade. Of all the Indo-European tribes, the Wusun and Yue-chi were predisposed to trading with other cultures.

The most enlightening fact surfacing from this discussion seems to be the phase, "horsemen." All steppe cultures were horsemen, but in this case the connotation appears to indicate more, such as "horse breeders" as opposed to simply a "horse rider." This connection, "asvin" or "aspi" or "wusun" (corrected Chinse form, "aswin") is worth further research. :cheer:

I'm not surprised that the Turkic speaking Tashtyk appeared to have Indo-European physical traits. I would imagine a great number of Pazyryk--Northern Mongolian individuals remained behind to become a Turkic admixture. A great portion of the horses, themselves, remained in Ferghana and were bred by Turkic tribes for Tang China's aristocracy-- very high-priced.

A Turkic woman on an Akhal-teke influenced horse (not a small and shaggy Mongolian horse) examines a stele erected by the earlier Indo-Iranian tribes.
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