Orlat Battle Plaque\'s Importance

[MeinPanzer]

What the Ordos bronzes do show is a lively cultural interaction in Inner Mongolia and northwest China, exactly as expected. And the dates line up with the introduction of cavalry and steppe tack and clothing by Lord Wuling (Zhou) just before 300BC, laying a foundation that helped Shi-huang consolidate the warring states into the first dynasty

I'm glad we can come to an agreement, and I think you're spot on here - we find a mass shift in Chinese-steppe nomad interaction beginning in the second half of the 4th c. BC which culminated in the ultimate expansion of Qin at the expense of its neighbours. Another good source on Chinese-steppe nomad interaction during this time is Sophia-Karin Psarras' article "Exploring the North: non-Chinese Cultures of the Late Warring States and Han," in Monumenta Serica 42 (1994): 1-125. In this respect, it is interesting to note that the perfectly preserved saddle from Subeixi in eastern Xinjiang which dates to between the 5th and 3rd c. BC matches almost exactly the kind of saddle depicted on cavalrymen's horses from the terracotta army - that's about as clear a piece of evidence supporting the literary tradition as one could hope for.

(According to Kalenka, Shi-huang carried Europoid features, likely indicating he descended from one of the steppe tribes.)

I'm not familiar with Kelekna's reference to the First Emperor, but does she mention what sources depict or refer to him as having Europoid features? That seems like an awfully bold claim.

I have been long fascinated by this "Chinese connection," first to the Sarmatians, then the Roman cavalry, and finally late Roman Britain. This is what the Orlat plaque points out simply by existing.

With respect to this point, you should have a look at Veronica Schiltz's article, "Les Sarmates entre Rome et la Chine. Nouvelles perspectives," in Comptes Rendus des Seances - Academie des Inscriptions & Belles-Lettres 3 (2002): 845-87, if you are not already familiar with it. It includes a fairly extensive discussion of daggers carried in multi-lobed scabbards between the Altai and the northern Black Sea, and gives an up-to-date overview of the Sarmatians between East and West more generally.