Origin of the Alans

[Alanus]

Jan,

That's a good idea. The table would show both similarities and evolution. For instance, the bow-case quiver depicted on the Pazyryk K5 hanging isn't quite the same as the Western Scythian goryotos; it then gets an additional quiver and the bow receives siyahs as the centuries pass. The crenelated mane reaches the Pontic, then adopted by the Sassanians, and it shows up again in China during the Tang Dynasty. In the latter case, it could extend from middle Chinese dynasties (although no surviving illustrations) or it may have been reintroduced through documented contacts between the Tang and Sassania. The sword and scabbard slide is fairly straight-forward, although we have a lack of evidence it originated beyond the Chinese themselves (a position taken by Trousdale and, I think, Maenchen-Helfen). As for physical appearance, it carries through from Pazyryk to Kushana to the Pontic, including the description by Ammianus, with these people being "non-Aryan." We are looking a Scytho-Siberians, just as DNA results are showing.