Sarmatiana: A List of References, Old & New

[Alanus]

Alan, great list of things, thanks. Also Davis-Kimball is pretty...ahem..idiosyncratic I guess.
How acquainted are you with Sima Qian btw? I found the histories very very awkward to grasp with myself and have only met a handful of people who've even heard of them.

The 2 references I cited were edited by Davis-Kimball, but all the chapters were written by Russians. I see no loss of objectivity with Ms. Davis-Kimball as simply the editor. Sima Qian is not easy to read-- I have his complete works-- but his history is all we have from the Far East. Most interesting is the Wusun/Alanic origin of the "heavenly horses" of Emperor Wu-di, a breed perhaps originating in the Ili River Valley, but likely extending from the Payzryk culture. We also see incidences of Chinese princesses married into the Wusun nobility.

"Unfortunately, there are no Roman references that describe the technique. Pliny does mention that the "best iron' (sword blade blanks?) "arrives upon camels from the east."

This doesn't mean much btw, it could even reference wootz steel from India or the wonderful Persian iron - both of which were considerably better than anything the steppes were producing. Also bear in mind the lust felt for Greek metallurgy by various nomadic peoples around the black sea. And the Greeks weren't objectively that good either, so...

For Western iron, Pliny mentions Raetia. Don't forget the term chalybis, from the Chalybes, a south-eastern Black Sea tribe mentioned by Herodotus. Also, we must include the Afgani, since early Viking steel has been metalurgically analysed to an Afgan origin. I quoted Pliny verbatum, "from the east."

If those following this thread go back to Page 1 and study the techniques used to create the 2 Early Sarmatian (4th century BC) swords found at Filippovka, there can be no doubt that these craftsmen were far ahead of the Romans and Greeks. I maintained that Early Sarmatian technology was borrowed by the Chinese, as per Truesdale. Wootz and Persian steel also would arrive "from the east." But to consider Roman metalurgy as equal to 4th century BC eastern steel is stretching it a bit. :whistle:

If the "industry standard" for Indo-Iranian history is someone named "Bryant," how do we get leads on his/her publications? :dizzy: