04-14-2011, 03:33 PM
Back to you, Robert
I don't think we're in disagreement. I just felt my post was getting a little long and didn't mention all the Alanic connections. That's why I left out Africa but enclosed it in a blanket term-- "three continents." They even made a northward swing onto Sardinia and almost arrived back in Europe.:wink:
I have always avoided ethnicity, because as you say, the Alans were a confederation of peoples, probably oft disparate, including Turkic, Altic, and Uralic speakers. Most likely, this entire eastern population-- from Saka Haumavarga, to Massagetae, to Aorsi and Alani (as they moved through the historical continuum)-- was a singular evolving culture recorded under its several names.
The one thing the culture has in common, and this accounts for differing languages and ethicities, is its uniform anthropological varience going back to the Altai. One noble, already mentioned, was buried with a prostetic beard. The Altai population runs roughly 30% Asiatic, 70% Europoid, based upon facial and nasal bones. This is the same eastern group that supercedes the Sauromatae and shows up in the Filippovka kurgans:
"The eastern Asiatic admixture was likely of Altai origin. In skull shape and facial structure, the Filippovka specimens differ considerably from remains of Scythians and Volga River-area Sarmatians. The Filippovka skulls most closely resemble those of Saka from Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea region and those of the Usuns of eastern Kazakhstan." (R.M. Iusupov, p.39, Golden Deer of Eurasia, 2000)
This seems to be a general view of Russian anthopologists in the field, and Andrei Alekseev seconds Iusupov. Then we have agreeing Americans: Dr. Anthony and Dr. Kelekna, both anthopologists. Most important for me is Iusupov's phrase "Usuns of eastern Kazakhstan." The Filippovka group was a frontier population of Wusun, the Alans, as they migrated west in front of the Xiongnu. This is why I said Ammianus failed to get it completely correct.
I'm sure the Stormfront people are crying in their beer, but all Alans were not blue-eyed blond-headed Aryans. Even the term Roxolani, "the shining Alans," did not refer to white faces but probably described their armor... or their keen intellectual ability, as in "
"
Well, anyway. Thanks for enlarging my post to include such notables as Aspar... who might have become Emperor of the East if it wasn't for his religion and Gothic mistress.
mile:
I don't think we're in disagreement. I just felt my post was getting a little long and didn't mention all the Alanic connections. That's why I left out Africa but enclosed it in a blanket term-- "three continents." They even made a northward swing onto Sardinia and almost arrived back in Europe.:wink:
I have always avoided ethnicity, because as you say, the Alans were a confederation of peoples, probably oft disparate, including Turkic, Altic, and Uralic speakers. Most likely, this entire eastern population-- from Saka Haumavarga, to Massagetae, to Aorsi and Alani (as they moved through the historical continuum)-- was a singular evolving culture recorded under its several names.
The one thing the culture has in common, and this accounts for differing languages and ethicities, is its uniform anthropological varience going back to the Altai. One noble, already mentioned, was buried with a prostetic beard. The Altai population runs roughly 30% Asiatic, 70% Europoid, based upon facial and nasal bones. This is the same eastern group that supercedes the Sauromatae and shows up in the Filippovka kurgans:
"The eastern Asiatic admixture was likely of Altai origin. In skull shape and facial structure, the Filippovka specimens differ considerably from remains of Scythians and Volga River-area Sarmatians. The Filippovka skulls most closely resemble those of Saka from Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea region and those of the Usuns of eastern Kazakhstan." (R.M. Iusupov, p.39, Golden Deer of Eurasia, 2000)
This seems to be a general view of Russian anthopologists in the field, and Andrei Alekseev seconds Iusupov. Then we have agreeing Americans: Dr. Anthony and Dr. Kelekna, both anthopologists. Most important for me is Iusupov's phrase "Usuns of eastern Kazakhstan." The Filippovka group was a frontier population of Wusun, the Alans, as they migrated west in front of the Xiongnu. This is why I said Ammianus failed to get it completely correct.
I'm sure the Stormfront people are crying in their beer, but all Alans were not blue-eyed blond-headed Aryans. Even the term Roxolani, "the shining Alans," did not refer to white faces but probably described their armor... or their keen intellectual ability, as in "
"Well, anyway. Thanks for enlarging my post to include such notables as Aspar... who might have become Emperor of the East if it wasn't for his religion and Gothic mistress.
mile:
Alan J. Campbell
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
member of Legio III Cyrenaica and the Uncouth Barbarians
Author of:
The Demon's Door Bolt (2011)
Forging the Blade (2012)
"It's good to be king. Even when you're dead!"
Old Yuezhi/Pazyrk proverb
