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Anthropologists looking for Roman legion in China
Newstrack India ^ | Sunday, November 21, 2010 | ANI

Posted on 11/22/2010 4:06:21 AM PST by SunkenCiv

Experts at the newly established Italian Studies Center at Lanzhou University in Gansu province are looking into the possibility that some European-looking Chinese in Northwest China are the descendants of a lost army from the Roman Empire.

They will conduct excavations on a section of the Silk Road, a 7,000-kilometer trade route that linked Asia and Europe more than 2,000 years ago, to see if a legion of Roman soldiers settled in China, said Yuan Honggeng, head of the center, reports China Daily...

Before Marco Polo's travels to China in the 13th century, the only known contact between the two empires was a visit by Roman diplomats in 166 AD.

Chinese archaeologists were therefore surprised in the 1990s to find the remains of an ancient fortification in Liqian, a remote town in Yongchang county on the edge of a desert area, that was strikingly similar to Roman defense structures.

They were even more astonished to find Western-looking people with green, deep-set eyes, long hooked noses and blond hair.

DNA tests in 2005 confirmed some of the villagers were indeed of Caucasian origin, leading many experts to conclude they are descendants of an ancient Roman army headed by general Marcus Crassus.

Though some anthropologists are convinced the Caucasian-looking villagers in Yongchang county are the descendants of the soldiers, others are not so certain.

"The county is on the Silk Road, so there were many chances for trans-national marriages," said Yang Gongle, of the Beijing Normal University.

"The 'foreign' origin of the Yongchang villagers, as proven by the DNA tests, does not necessarily mean they are of ancient Roman origin," said Gongle.

(Excerpt) Read more at newstrackindia.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: china; dna; emptydna; godsgravesglyphs; homerhdubs; india; liqian; liquan; mtdna; romanempire; romansinchina; uzbekistan
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To: Condor51; SunkenCiv
"What in heaven's name brought you to Liqian?

My health. I came to Liqian for the waters.

The waters? What waters? We're in the desert!

I was misinformed."

21 posted on 11/23/2010 12:43:39 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: wildbill

:’D Besides wine, great roads, aqueducts, etc etc, what have the Romans ever done for us?


22 posted on 11/23/2010 7:57:57 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: blam

That’s probably who invented those great knives, the Caucasians of Gansu.


23 posted on 11/23/2010 8:00:50 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: Pecos

Hey, if you’re gonna get lost, that’s an easy place to do it.


24 posted on 11/23/2010 8:03:14 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng Legends of the Chinese Jews of Kaifeng
by Xin Xu
tr by Beverly Friend
illus by Ting Cheng

reviewed

25 posted on 11/23/2010 8:03:44 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: ZULU; bruinbirdman; Grimmy; SunkenCiv
Tocharians
26 posted on 11/23/2010 10:02:52 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

Thanks for that link.

Fascinating stuff.


27 posted on 11/24/2010 6:34:10 AM PST by ZULU (No nation which tried to tolerate Islam escaped Islamization.)
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To: ZULU; blam; SunkenCiv

Trojans, Caucasians,Tocharians, Scandinavians, Romans, Chinese Jews, Gensu Masters...

As Jimmy Durante once said, “Everybody wants to get into the act.”


28 posted on 11/24/2010 1:20:12 PM PST by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: wildbill
"As Jimmy Durante once said, “Everybody wants to get into the act.”

I loved Jimmy Durante.

He also said this too. ( Mrs Calabash)

Anyway:

On The Presence Of Non-Chinese At Anyang

29 posted on 11/24/2010 2:13:01 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

Dink-a-dink-a-doo.


30 posted on 11/24/2010 5:02:39 PM PST by wildbill (You're just jealous because the Voices talk only to me.)
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To: wildbill

“Good night Missus Calabash, wherever you are!”


31 posted on 11/24/2010 7:44:17 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: blam

Ooops.


32 posted on 11/24/2010 7:50:21 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: colorado tanker

"You know what it's gonna be? It's gonna be SAND!"

A-holes!

33 posted on 11/27/2010 2:44:15 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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To: SunkenCiv
Doncha just love it when two threads intersect?


34 posted on 11/29/2010 3:47:57 PM PST by colorado tanker
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To: colorado tanker

;’)


35 posted on 11/29/2010 4:10:52 PM PST by SunkenCiv (The 2nd Amendment follows right behind the 1st because some people are hard of hearing.)
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