[Fedora]

Thanks--I skimmed the "Red-Headed Mummy" thread and copied it for future reference. Red-headed traits seem to be another important aspect of research into pre-Columbian migrations. As you're probably aware, Heyerdahl also discusses red-headed mummies when advancing his argument for Phoenician influence in the Canary Islands, Central America, and Easter Island.

The information about the Xiongnu is also interesting. I don't know much about them, but Scythian influence seems to have spread east into Iran and Russia as well as west into Europe, so the possibility of the Scythians as a common point of diffusion between the Celts/Picts and Xiongnu might be explored. Here are a couple links discussing hypotheses about Scythian influence in Iran and Russia:

ETHNIC ROOTS of the TATAR PEOPLE

THE SCYTHIANS, SARMATIANS, MEOTIANS, RUSSIANS AND CIRCASSIANS: INTERPRETATION OF THE ANCIENT CULTURES

On a related note, I'll also mention that the Norse epic writer Snorri Sturluson records a tradition tracing the origins of the German/Frankish/Norse tribes to the Black Sea, where the Scythians originated.

On Oetzi, I'm trying to find a link which mentions exactly where his tatoos are--do you happen to have that information? I know something about acupuncture, so I'm curious at which points the tattoos were made and what that might entail about their significance.

[blam]

Here's something abot Oezi's tattoo's. The article I read some time back said that Oezi's tattoo's would raise serious questions about the origins of acupuncture.

Also, I've read that the copper axe found with him moved the copper age back by 1,000 years.

[blam]

"I skimmed the "Red-Headed Mummy" thread and copied it for future reference."

If you're interseted in the red-headed mummies and that whole steppe culture, here's the book to read: The Tarim Mummies

Another good one is: The Mummies Of Urumchi