Mummies of Urumchi (2)

[JoatSimeon at aol.com]

Barber also notes, of course, that there are indications of contact between
early IE-speakers (Indo-Iranian, proto-Tocharian, and "just IE") and the early
Chinese.

The Old Chinese vocabulary for wheeled transport (chariot, axle hub, etc.),
and for some elements of magic and divination contains many IE loanwords.
This isn't really surprising -- it wasn't likely that the chariot was
independently invented in China, after all.

The remaining question (likely unsolvable) is whether the Shang Chinese simply
borrowed these elements, or whether they were transported there by IE-speakers
who were subsequently absorbed -- rather like the situation in Mitanni in the
Near East.