Origin of the Alans

[Alanus]

Hi Childeric and Michael,

Thank you both for posting. The fresco from Gandhara shows the Yuezhi after Greek influence, and so we see classic beards. The Yuezhi rug fragments found in a Xiongnu grave (illustrated in Sergei Yatsenko's paper) show the Yuezhi at an earlier time, and we see no beards and just moustaches. This corresponds well with our rider on the wall hanging in Pazyryk 5. The depiction of man No. 10 leading a horse is almost identical to a figure with a horse on the famous carpet, also from Pazyryk 5.

The figure wearing armor in Fig. 3 suffers from deterioration, which is a shame. There are too few illustrated examples of Yuezhi armor. Within Pazyryk graves, we see no armor, lance heads, or even swords. To me, this implies the deceased were not riding off to war, but were going to a hunting-ground in their afterlife. Perhaps no war existed in their form of Elysium. Recently, Gala Argent gave a talk at a Paris symposium on this lack of swords and armor, and she noted the Pazyryks appear to be buried with "everyday items." I'll try to get a copy of the speech from her.

I might add that Sergei Yatsenko and Gala Argent are members of Academia.com, membership is free, and their papers are available to others. I respect both, each outstanding in their chosen field.