Lambs to the Slaughter: A Zooarchaeological Investigation of Stone Circles in Mongolia

Stone circles are a common monumental feature of the Mongolian Bronze Age (c. 1500–800BC), frequently occurring in association with other monument types, especially khirigsuurs. Until now the content of the stone circles has not been identified, a fact which has hampered our understanding not only of khirigsuurs and their related cosmology but also of the contemporary economy, owing to a research paradigm that was monument‐focused until very recently. The identification of domestic bovids in these features thus has profound implications for our approach to studying the society of this period and region. These implications, including a well‐developed cosmology and economy which included the ritual sacrifice of at least three different kinds of livestock, are introduced here. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Proto-Urban Establishments in Inner Asia: Surveys of an Iron Age Walled Site in Eastern Mongolia

Walled sites attributed to the Xiongnu steppe empire (2nd century b.c.–1st century a.d.) constitute the earliest investments in explicitly non-mortuary built environments among pastoralists of the Mongolian Steppe. These permanent constructions are important precedents to the medieval towns of subsequent steppe empires, yet very little of the complete layouts and surrounding remains of the large enclosures are understood. Our investigations of the walled site at Kherlen-Bars in eastern Mongolia are among the first surveys to fully document all aspects above and below ground across an entire Iron Age walled site area. In addition to detailed documentation of the large structures, our geomagnetic prospections and digital elevation modeling brought to light numerous small sub-surface and subtle-surface features that show such early walled sites, often deemed virtually empty, to be far more complex and diachronic in their formation processes and possible functions.