Hi, Jan
Thanks for the lead on John E. Hill's book. I just ordered it, plus an unduly expensive volume of Craig Benjamin's Origin of the Yuezhi etc. Hill's book has a decent price; and I noticed he went through Createspace (where I've published 2 books), so that's why it's cheaper-- 500 plus pages, 2 volumes, for $25. It'll be great to have an English translation of the Hanshu.
I'm working fulltime on 10-hour shifts, so I haven't come up with a list of "links" that connect the Pazyryks to the Yuezhi to the Alans... such as physical likenesses, similar weapon-styles, crenelated manes, etc. Here's an interesting illustration taken from an A.D. 1st Century Aorsi vessel buried in Kosika, Kuban. Here we see the collar-length hair and moustache shown on Kushan frescoes and textiles, the crenelated mane seen on the Pazyryk felt hanging, on the Baga Oigor petroglyphs (100 miles east of Pazyryk), and on the cavalry mounts in Shihuangdi's mausoleum.
Also notice he's wearing a head-band or diadem, so typical of individuals depicted in Kushana (Bactria). These tell-tale features run straight from Pazyryk to Bactria, then to Kuban and the Crimea, and they do not show up in illustrations of Western Scythians or Saka, both of whom wore full beards. To me, this is a unique link, not some ambiguous connection.
Thanks for the lead on John E. Hill's book. I just ordered it, plus an unduly expensive volume of Craig Benjamin's Origin of the Yuezhi etc. Hill's book has a decent price; and I noticed he went through Createspace (where I've published 2 books), so that's why it's cheaper-- 500 plus pages, 2 volumes, for $25. It'll be great to have an English translation of the Hanshu.
I'm working fulltime on 10-hour shifts, so I haven't come up with a list of "links" that connect the Pazyryks to the Yuezhi to the Alans... such as physical likenesses, similar weapon-styles, crenelated manes, etc. Here's an interesting illustration taken from an A.D. 1st Century Aorsi vessel buried in Kosika, Kuban. Here we see the collar-length hair and moustache shown on Kushan frescoes and textiles, the crenelated mane seen on the Pazyryk felt hanging, on the Baga Oigor petroglyphs (100 miles east of Pazyryk), and on the cavalry mounts in Shihuangdi's mausoleum.
Also notice he's wearing a head-band or diadem, so typical of individuals depicted in Kushana (Bactria). These tell-tale features run straight from Pazyryk to Bactria, then to Kuban and the Crimea, and they do not show up in illustrations of Western Scythians or Saka, both of whom wore full beards. To me, this is a unique link, not some ambiguous connection.
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