Xiongnu hair from royal tombs of Noin Ula 1st C. CE
From Xiongnu Encyclopedia:
"According to Mongolian historian G.Sukhbaatar states on the Xiongnu hairstyle, “Qian Hanshu” writing’s information “Xiongnu men tressed their hair as the hummer” and interpreted it as “the Xiongnu wore their hair in braid as tightly as possible”, which shows the Xiongnu men had braids. It reveals the different hairstyles of the Chinese and nomads. Historically the Chinese had strong fixed tradition to cut their hair in which they kept their hair by piling on the head and wore pointed hat or cap suitable with the hairstyle. However, the nomads wore their hair in a way that is different from the Chinese in which they hung their hair by wearing it in many plaits. The Chinese, named their traditional hairstyle as “biang-fa” whereas the nomads tradition to tress into two separate trait called as “pei-fa” which was offensive for them as northern barbarian habit. A Chinese historian, Liu Baonang, explained “When young boys or girls become adults, they pile their hair up on the head whereas hu’s do not follow the custom but hanging their hair down by wearing in plait. Therefore, “the term, “pei-fa” refers to hair hung down in plaits”.
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From ScienceDirect:
"The Noin-Ula burials were intensively studied, but because the cemetery was desecrated in antiquity and bodies removed, no craniological, odontological, or genetic studies could be conducted. One exception is the odontological study of preserved enamel caps of seven permanent teeth belonging to a young woman. The study describes highly diagnostic traits with a very rare combination found in certain ancient and modern populations of the Caspian–Aral region and in the northern Indus–Ganges interfluve. A Parthian woolen cloth in the grave indicates that the woman was of northwestern Indian origin associated with the Parthian culture. The finds suggest that at the beginning of the Common Era, peoples of Parthian origin were incorporated within Xiongnu society."
The Parthians were a Scythian people from the Parni tribe, which was a member of the Dahae Confederacy originally located between the Caspian and Aral sea. The specific branch of Scythian seems to be generally considered to be relative of the Massagetae. Northwest India around this time was part of the Indo-Scythian Kingdom, ruled by Saka Scythians from Central Asia. Then the Parthians, then the Kushans.
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