Quote Originally Posted by Jolt View Post
Nop, because Celts have also been found there. And plenty of them. Red haired, high cheekbones and a long nose. All pattern physical characteristics of the Celts. Furthermore, the DNA is also alike. And it ain't skeletons, it's mummies. According to one of my archaeological teacher, it's even better preserved then Egyptian mummies.
As to "Celtic" mummies being found in China, there have been some discoveries of the mummified remains of Caucasoids bearing clothing and symbology consistent with Celtic culture (Lots of "C's" there....). Probably part of a people who originally lived in the modern Eastern Ukraine and went much further eastward, while the rest went westward Into Europe most likely after the invention of the Chariot around 2500 BCE?. Or as some have speculated, moved by the vacuum created during the "Sea Peoples" invasions around 1200 BCE or so.
The Tarim basin mummies are remarkable and very well preserved, but they are not Celtic and any claim to the contrary is just sensationalism. The two characteristics that led to this claim were firstly that the mummies were tall with fair skin and hair and that they wore some clothing with a tartan pattern on it. The first is entirely irrelevant because many Central Asian peoples were Iranian and thus tall and fair (nomadic skeletons of Sarmatians have been found which measure almost 7 feet in height!), while the latter is almost certainly just coincidence. Basically, a single author postulated that they could have been a group of Indo-European peoples who migrated to central Europe and later became the Celts, and this was picked up and amplified in the echo chamber that is the media. As to the claim that the DNA matches, could you cite a source for this? With what did they match the DNA?

Also, words in ancient Chinese seem to have been borrowed from Indo-European. Chariot, horse, warrior, prince, spear, axe and ruler/emperor. Even the Chinese character for king seems to come from elsewhere. In modern Chinese it is “wang,” but the ancient Chinese pronounced it “gwang.” Chinese characters "White" + "King" = Emperor. "White" + "Man" = Duke. So, (the theory goes) a white man is an Emperor or a Duke. The common folk were called the "Black haired people". Even much later in history, there are tales of the "Orangutan" barbarians. Hairy, wild-men with reddish hair north and west of their borders.
This can all be explained by the fact that the Tocharians were a group that spoke a language from the easternmost branch of Indo-European and seem to have been fair. No ridiculous link to the Celts is necessary.

It has also been commented by some historians, (white racial bias not-withstanding), that Temujin himself was tall, red-haired and blue eyed. Much debate about this has been around for centuries... after all, Alexander the Great, and even Jesus Christ have all been portrayed in this manner. Be that as it may, a recent genetic study of a small clan of folks living in northern Pakistan have claimed that they are descended from Alexanders Macedonians (stationed in what was then Bactria). The testing did indeed prove the clans story to a certain degree. As the DNA showed a very close relationship to the Greeks as opposed to the Central Asians and Indians typical of the area. So, I guess anything is possible.
There are Mongolians today with reddish-blond hair, light skin, and light eyes. There have been various peoples living in Central Asia throughout history who were fair.