Origin of the Alans

[Alanus]

The "Argali" Charioteers: Part 1

If we discover the origin of the Yuezhi, we will find the ultimate origin of the Alans. That seems to be a popular consensus: the Alanic "royalty" extending from the Yuezhi. How far back can we go? I suggest going to the "beginning," even if it's conjectural and based on pictographs and strange, out-of-place, skull types in Bronze Age China.

The early Bronze Age is typified by an unprecedented migration (east and west) resulting in a huge geographical distribution of Indo-European languages. At the very beginning, we find the Sintashta and Arkeim complexes... where "bent-wood technology" developed the composite bow and chariots (2,000-1,800 BC).

   
Chariot burial of an Arkeim warrior. The tomb is "tiered," the chariot at the bottom, the warrior on the second level, the two horses at the top. The famous Ukok Priestess (well-loved in Korea) was also buried in a tiered tomb, her two servants on a platform above her. This uncommon grave style gives us a connection between Arkeim (below the Urals) and Ukok in the Altai.
 

At the crest of this period we find the "Seima-Turbino Phenomenon," a rapid spread of advanced bronze technology incorporating a lost-wax process (1,900-1,500 BC.) (see Prof. David Anthony; The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, pp. 443-447) 

By 1,500-1,300 BC, the direct ancestors of the Yuezhi reached the Minuminsk Basin, the Yenisi River, the Altai, and even Western Mongolia. At the same time, a western Chinese tribe, fleeing from Shang Dynasty expansion, migrated 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers northwest, settling in the Minuminsk basin where they adopted the lost-wax process. This "culture" has been designated as Karsuk, predominantly Mongoloid with a "European" admixture. Strangely enough (or not), peculiar "Karasuk knives" begin to appear in Shang Dynasty graves almost precisely in 1,2500 BC.

   
Two Karasuk bronze knives found in a Shang chariot burial in Anyang. The left-hand knife finial represents a male argali sheep, the Altai ibex. I believe these belonged to members of the "Argali Clan." These are not "realistic," as the horns arch back to allow a hand-grip. The right-hand horn appears to represent an immature argali or domestic ram. In either case, the owners used sheep totems, just as the Yan officer (in a previous post) identified himself with the White Ram.

   
An Anyang chariot burial. The chariot in size and construction is nearly identical to the Sintashta-Arkeim originals. The charioteer is a tall Europoid, I believe a member of the Altaic Argali family.

   
One of the Caucusoid skulls from Anyang chariot burials, discovered in 1928.

Where did these chariot drivers come from? They arrived in downtown Anyang from the northwest, bringing chariot technology to King Wu Ding, ruler of the Shang Dynasty at its height. Here is a reconstruction of the chariot drivers on their homeground, the Minusinsk Basin and Western Mongolia:
   

I need to take a break. But I'll be back with the conclusion of this story... and how it connects to ancestors of the Yuezhi.