FrankN
Regular Member
There is another major tin belt that is known to have been exploited in antiquity, and is accounting for most of today's tin production. It runs from Yunnan in SW China through the Malaysian peninsula down to Eastern Sumatra. If you would like to get control over these mines, or at least their possible export routes towards the Middle East and the Mediterrenean, where would you go? Down the Ganges, and then further along the North-Eastern tributaries, especially the Brahmaputra, doesn't seem a bad idea. Now, check the R1a-M780 distribution map ... For R1a-Z2125, note how the largest concentration occurs between the tin and Lapis Lazuli mines in NE Afghanistan, the Muruntau ore district in central Uzbekistan that is mentioned in the quote above, and along the Tianshan mountains in Uzbekistan and southern Kasachstan.
The Z93* cluster in the Altai, finally, seems to compare well to the late 3rd/ early 2nd millennium BC tin & copper mines that have recently been discovered there (http://www.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/?page_id=76357, in German) .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_sources_and_trade_in_ancient_times
I found it a bit strange that people which, according my theory, would cross most of Eurasia for control of tin mines should stop just west of what today is the largest tin producing area in the world, namely Gejiu/ Kokiu, near the middle Red River in Yunnan in SW China. So I looked a bit more into the development of bronze technology in East and Southeast Asia. There appears to be a consensus emerging that bronze technology spread into NE China from the West, especially with the Seima-Turbino phenomenon that evolved around the Altai (see my second map in the quote above). Another route that has been established is from Yunnan, and more specifically Dali district in West-Central Yunnan, towards Vietnam, Thailand and ultimately Malaysia and Indonesia. The linkage of these two routes, however, is still obscure, as the Central Chinese plain has obviously been by-passed (http://sino-platonic.org/complete/spp213_bronze_metallurgy.pdf, p.6).
Especially the Dian Kingdom that evolved in Yunnan before the region became part of the Han Empire had developed a sophisticated bronze culture that, however, doesn't really appear to display Central Asian influence. Instead - well, judge by yourself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dian_Kingdom
And then there is the location from where bronze technology started its course into SE Asia - the upper valley of the Red River, in the administrative district of Dali, home to the Bai or Baip people, an ethnonym that means "white". I guess anybody with a bit of linguistic knowledge knows what kind of evidence I am trying to build up here. However, before going any further: Is anybody aware of DNA studies for Yunnan province, especially among the ethnic minorities, e.g. the Bai, in West Yunnan? Any R1a found there?