Origin of the Alans

[Alanus]

Where would You Live-- If You Were a Yuezhi?

Personally, I believe we've identified the eastern Pazyryk-Ukok Culture as the Yuezhi. Additional propositions by Sulimirski (The Sarmatians, p.67, 76) and Jettmar (Art of The Steppes, p. 212) identify the Arimaspians/Yuezhi as the Pazyryk "Scythians." Additionally, we know current Kazakh archaeologists take the same position-- that the Arimaspians of Greek literature and the Yuezhi of Chinese chronicles are the same people. Then we have the tree-ring studies, first by Rudenko, and recently by Slusarenko and associates.

That's a preponderance of connectivity beyond speculation. From this point on, I consider the Arimaspi/Pazyryk-Ukok Culture/Yuezhi/Kushans/Arsi/Aorsi-- and the Alans-- as a connective "culture" finally arriving in Europe and the Roman Empire.

However, Jettmar (1967) and Sulimirski (1970) also place the Yuezhi kingly burials in Chiliktin, Kazakhstan, a little too far to the east. These eastern burials at Chiliktin can be attributed to the Wusun, a confederation so close in culture to the Yuezhi that we see few differences in burial practice and art style. I'll discuss the Wusun problem in my next post. And I'll finish this one by illustrating regional locations where the Yuezhi elite lived. As a horse owner, accustomed to wide-open space (perhaps with a grand view), what landscape would you consider ideal?-- the Perfect Place to settle? Here are a few choices... if you were a Yuezhi. Don't short-change yourself-- click on these photos to view them correctly. 

   
How about Koton Nuur, maybe with a cabin facing north so you can view the Altai-- the resting place of your deceased chieftain... perhaps your ancestor.

   
Koton Nuur lies amid several rivers and lakes upon the steppe of southwestern Mongolia. The map shows a number of prime living areas for your summer residence. You're actually living in a future National Park.

   
Maybe you like fishing. Evidently, Koton Nuur would be the right place for you.

   
Or you could live at Tavan Bogd and enjoy the spectacular north-western view of the Altai. Of course, I'm a barbarian... but you wouldn't have to twist my arm to live here. And my horse likes the sweet-grass.

   
The locations above are in Tavan Bogd National Park. It's situated at the western corner of Mongolia and abuts the Chinese province of Xinjiang, about a thousand kilometers north of Gansu, Tarim, and the Ordos trading mart at the hump of the Yellow River.

   
Tavan Bogd looking up to the Ukok Plateau. Now this is prime steppe country!

   
You're standing in prime Yuezhi territory. This would be where the high king lived, along with the artisans needed to make life comfortable. Other portions of Yuezhi territory were assigned to the Left-hand and Right-hand generals, the sub-kings. These photographs illustrate a prime connection to higher altitudes, considered sacred, and pleasurable to gaze upon.

Thank you for following this thread. We're finding answers to questions dating back to the earliest archaeologists, and to the pioneering historians like Rudenko and Sulimirski.