Origin of the Alans

[Alanus]

Thank you, Jan

Your above post is very informative, the references linking the Chinese culture to that of southern Siberia... which in turn, creates a connection between a vast ethnos occupying Minusinsk, then the Altai, Xinjing, and the Illi Valley. In terms of tribes, east to west, the cauldrons would be connected to the Loufan, Yuezhi, Wusun, and Saka. Possibly, these cauldrons were a Sibero-Scythian version of the Chinese di or ding created by piece-mold casting. On the other hand, we have Siberian lost wax and hollow-shaft weapons entering China.

I'm pressed for time, working on a Powerpoint presentation for next weekend. But offhand, we appear to looking at an incredibly broad spectrum of likened bronze technology in a era centuries prior to the popularized, so-called, "Silk Road." This interaction, along with a fluxing ethno-genesis-- Siberian, Yuezhi, Wusun, and Saka-- appears to be the formative cultural core of the Aorsi. Interesting how the sources mention the Altai, time and again, which might aid the Pazyryk=Yuezhi hypothesis of Haskins, Rudenko, and Enoki. Thanks for the post. (I've yet to add more about Generals from the North, but I'll get more info together at some point.)