Rock Art and Archaeology

Transcription

Rock Art and Archaeology:
Investigating Ritual Landscape in the Mongolian Altai
Field Report 2011
William W. Fitzhugh and Richard Kortum, Editors
Maegan Tracy, Producer
Published in February 2012 by:
The Arctic Studies Center
National Museum of Natural History
Smithsonian Institution
Washington, D.C.
National Museum of Mongolia
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
National
Museum of
Mongolia
Arctic Studies Center
Fig. 1: Study area highlighted in red on Mongolia map; highlighted in black on detail map
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Khoton Project Field Report 2011
Part II
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Study area highlighted in red on Mongolia map; highlighted in black on detail map
Richard Kortum, Theresa Markiw, William Fitzhugh, Daniel Cole, Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan (Bayaraa),
Tserendagva (Tsedo), Jagalsaikhan Bataar (Jagaa), Ken Lymer, Dave Edwards. Students: Tyler Wertsch,
Andrew Hyder, Elissa Bullion, Will Taylor, Luke Champouillon, James Mills, D. Rivers, Burentugs, Shinsaran
Dshinesaran (Shine), Enkhsaikhan (Enkh), Zayabaatar (Zaya), Sandanjants (Sanda). Cooks: Bakhidkuli, Janat.
Drivers: Suldbaatar (Sulda), Kassim, Canat (Conti). Photo By Dave Edwards
Base camp with Altai Mountains reflected in Khoton Nuur, view S
Excavating B1-1 khirigsuur, view S
Theresa, Elissa, and Andrew excavating Biluut 1-1 Feature 2, view NW
Biluut 1-1
Mongolian students mapping B1-1 khirigsuur mound
Crew at work exposing B1-1 burial, view SE
Dave Edwards photographing B1-1 khirigsuur
Dave scans burial B1-1 with metal detector, view SE
Dan Cole and Ken Lymer at work-central
B1-2 mound, level 2 rocks exposed, view S
B1-2 “Paleolithic” site, view S
B1-2 mound 3 iron knife from level 3 rocks
Elissa and Andrew at B2-4 with storms over Altai
B2-4 skull in situ, view E
Sum Center near Aral Tolgoi
N side of 3rd deer stone at Aral Tolgoi with animal figure and chevron emblem
B2-3 ‘zebra’ animal with hunter
B2-3 child burial, view E
Strange horned figure B-4
Rainbow on camp site.
Peat Valley Site Biluut 3-3 surface cleared, view NW
Biluut 3-1 Feature 4
B2-2, Pazyryk burial, view NW
B2-2 Pazyryk burial, photo by Dave Edwards
Theresa Markiw painting B2-4 individual
B2-3 (Pond Site) standing slab, view N
Excavation of B2-2 Pazyryk burial with storm coming in. Photo by Dave Edwards
B1-3 excavation with sheep and goats looking on
Local women selling wares at Aral Tolgoi Naadam
Luke wrestling at Naadam
B2-2 Argali sheep gold ornament from Pazyryk burial
Young horse racers
B2-5 Stone Man site, F1, view NW
Tsengel governor’s party with dig team
Excavating Pazyryk grave feature
Re-excavating looter’s pit at B2-6, view W
Biluut team at East Bay 3 deer stone, view NW
East Bay 3 view S
Nadaam Wedding
Hospitality in host’s ger at Naadam wedding
White Falcon, the cook’s daughter
Packing up camp and taking down gers
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Part III
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2011 overview of project sites.
2011 project sites.
B1-1 Feature 1 hearth, view N
B1-1 Feature 2 hearth, view S
Biluut 1-1 khirigsuur, view SW
Biluut 1-1 feature 2 map.
Biluut 1-1 skeletal remains, view W
Biluut 1-1 khirigsuur, deer stone with three-slash face, (after removal from mound for photograph)
Biluut 1-1 distribution
Biluut 1-2 mound 3, view SE
Biluut 1-2 charcoal sample location
Biluut 1-2 mound 3 surface rocks cleaned
Biluut 1-2 mound 3 map
Profile and map.
Biluut 1-3, Pond Site, view NW
B1-3 ‘grave’ feature, view NW
B1-3 cobble hearth (Feature 1) view N
B1-3 standing stone with rocks cleaned, view N
B1-3 Feature 2, charcoal sample #2, profile view
B1-3 Pond site.
Biluut 1-4 hillside site
Biluut 2-1 Surface Map.
Biluut 2-1 upper burial pit, view NW
Biluut 2-1 stone coffin with collapsed cover slabs and sheep bones outside east wall, view E
Horse skeleton from Pazyryk burial, view S, photo by Dave Edwards
Remains of log chamber beneath Pazyryk burial box floor, view S, photo by Dave Edwards
Biluut 2-2 Pazyryk Site
Biluut 2-3 Map 1
Biluut 2-3 burial slabs exposed, view W. photo by Dave Edwards
Biluut 2-3 mound with surface rocks cleaned, view W
Biluut 2-3 Map 2.
Biluut 2-3 coffin beneath capstones
Biluut 2-3 ‘child’ burial Finds.
Biluut 2-4 burial in flexed position, view S (trowel points north), photo by Dave Edwards
Biluut 2-4 2nd level rocks, view N
Biluut 2-4 Maps 2 and 3.
Excavation of Biluut 2-5, photo by Dave Edwards
Biluut 2-5 stone man, view NW
Biluut 2-5, 2nd level rocks, view SE
Biluut 2-5, pre-excavation, view SW
Biluut 2-5 Stone Man Site Map 1
Biluut 2-5 Stone Man Site Map 2
Biluut 2-5 Stone Man Site Map 3, Feature 1
Biluut 2-6 Hillside site Maps 1 & 2
Biluut 3-1 mound with gathering storm overhead, view NW
Biluut 3-1 stone boxes and possible seats, view N
Biluut 3-1 stone boxes, surface Map 1
Biluut 3-2 Empty Grave Site
Peat Valley Site Biluut 3-3 surface cleared, view W
Biluut 3-3, Peat Valley Site
Central Hearth East Profile
Biluut 3-3 microblade core
Biluut 3-3 hearth base
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Biluut 3-3 Test Pit 2 cultural level at old ground surface
B3-3 hearth, consolidated mass in SE
B3-3 finds
East Bay 1, hearth 7 completed
East Bay 3, view S
East Bay 3, hearth 1 completed
East Bay-1 Khirigsuurs, Hearth Circles Map
East Bay 3, Khirigsuurs, Deer Stones
East Bay 3 deer stone upright, view NW
East Bay 3 deer stone back in original position, view NW
Part V
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Major rock art sites at Biluut
Rock art team on Biluut 3, southern slope
Jagaa and Champouillon trace a panel
Tserendagva and Kortum examine a figure
Petroglyph locations on Biluut 3
Mounted archer with elaborate headdress (Turkic Period)
Ibex in early nomadic style (Early Iron Age)
Tamga (period uncertain)
Small Mongolian deer, less than 10cm (Late Bronze Age)
Human figure with bovids (Archaic (pre-Bronze) possibly Paleolithic)
Cargo, or caravan scene (Bronze Age)
Birthing woman (Possible Neolithic)
Unusual anthropomorphic figure (date uncertain)
Rare side-on view of a chariot, driver, and horses (possible Early Iron age)
Part VI
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Locations of 2011 and 2012 study area in Mongolia highlighted in Yellow.
Recently dug and back-filled circular khirigsuur mound. 2147m elevation; 597085.85, 5389527.61; 597084.79,
5389534.34; 597075.70, 5389534.26; 597075.26, 5389526.46 (UTM coordinates: E, N).
Rock art on a boulder on the slope of Broken Mountain at 2141m elevation; 600264.54, 5390947.23
Four visitors who came twice to check out my work
Large standing stone in a pasture over 1km north of Biluut 2 at 2115m elevation; 597605.07, 5392543.24.
2011 Field mapping collection localities and archaeological dig sites. Red dots indicate GPS collection sites,
yellow dots indicate Archaeological dig sites (some fall outside image area). Contour interval is at 15m.
Localities in relation to aspect: North (red), East (yellow), S (cyan), W (blue). While most archaeological sites
trended to S and W, the aspect of the petroglyphs were found to be more dependant on location of suitable
exposed rock sheen.
A significant majority of the archaeological features are found in relatively flat slope areas, whereas the
petroglyphs can be found on virtually any degree of slope. Green indicates flat slope, continuous to red (very
steep).
Directional stonework in the valley between B1 and B2 may align with the peak on Biluut 2. (Shown in red).
Alignment of the axes of a spoked khirigsuur, as well as the alignment of several burial mounds in a row may
point to distant peaks. (Shown in yellow).
Part VI
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A house built for the ‘Reindeer People’
Sh. Sodov, of Tuvan ethnicity, and his wife Kh. Puntsagjav, of Darkhad ethnicity
Ts. Sanji, of Tuvan ethnicity, and his wife Sh. Nansalma, of Darkhad Mongol ethnicity
L. Jajuur’s Tuvan birth certificate, 1941
L. Jajuur, of Tuvan ethnicity, and his wife S. Yanjima, of Darkhad-Mongolian ethnicity
Remains of fish factory house on the mouth of the Khodorgo River, photo taken in 2007
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Table of Contents
Map
Sites excavated in the 2011 Field Season
Part I
Introduction and Overview
William W. Fitzhugh, Richard Kortum, and Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan
1-2
Part II
Khoton Lake Project Field Journal 2011
William W. Fitzhugh, transcribed by Alyna Rasile
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Part III
Field Notes and Maps
Prepared by William Fitzhugh, Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan, and
Maegan Tracy.
Part IV
Report on the 2011 Khoton Lake Project (in Mongolian)
Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan
74-107
Part V
Latest Rock Art Research at Khoton Lake, Summer 2011
Richard Kortum
108-114
Part VI
Khoton Project Cartographic Diary
Dan Cole
Part VII
Ethnographic Research: Interethnic Relationships among Tuvans and
Mongols. Darhad, Northern Mongolia (2009)
Ts. Ayush
Appendix 1
Radiocarbon Date List
William Fitzhugh
Appendix II
GPS Data and Map
Appendix III
Site Reports
35-73
115-124
125-131
132-134
135-137
139-177
cover photo by Dave Edwards
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Fig. 2: 2011 Project Participants:Richard Kortum, Theresa Markiw, William Fitzhugh, Daniel Cole, Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan (Bayaraa), Tserendagva (Tsedo), Jagalsaikhan Bataar (Jagaa), Ken Lymer, Dave Edwards.
Students: Tyler Wertsch, Andrew Hyder, Elissa Bullion, Will Taylor, Luke Champouillon, James Mills, D.
Rivers, Burentugs, Shinsaran Dshinesaran (Shine), Enkhsaikhan (Enkh), Zayabaatar (Zaya), Sandanjants
(Sanda). Cooks: Bakhidkuli, Janat. Drivers: Suldbaatar (Sulda), Kassim, Canat (Conti). Photo by Dave Edwards.
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PART I
Introduction and Overview
William W. Fitzhugh, Richard Kortum, and Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan
Fieldwork at Khoton Lake was undertaken in 2011 as the first year of the National Endowment for
the Humanities Three-Year Collaborative Research Grant: “Rock Art and Archaeology: Investigating
Ritual Landscape in the Mongolian Altai.” The overall goal of the project is to inventory the
archaeological and rock art resources of the Biluut Hills petroglyph complex, including surrounding
territory of Lake Khoton; to establish links between these disparate sets of data; and to explore the
changing cultural landscape patterns of this region from Paleolithic times to the present, especially
as revealed by ritual and ceremonialism. While previous studies have investigated the rock art of
Western Mongolia and Inner Asia (e.g., Jacobson, et. al.) or the region’s culture history––especially
of the Russian Altai––little research has been done to integrate or synthesize these two bodies of data
into a unified cultural reconstruction. The task is not an easy one, for without organic preservation in
archaeological sites, or contextual data from rock art, the archaeological and petroglyphic records do
not easily mesh into one voice. Nevertheless, it is important to attempt to assimilate finds from both
in order to discover where points of articulation can be found and to acknowledge where gaps cannot
be bridged.
The 2011 Khoton Lake Project conducted fieldwork on the northern shores of Lake Khoton (Khoton
Nuur) for six weeks from early June to mid-July. We arrived at Khoton Lake on June 6th and
departed on July 12th. A team of 26 Americans and Mongolians combined efforts at documenting
rock art and locating and excavating archaeological sites in the immediate vicinity of the three
Biluut Hills and around the drainage of Khuiten Gol, a modest swift-flowing stream that drains one
of the more fertile mountain steppe zones in the Altai Mountains less than 10 km from the Chinese
border. The Biluut Hills contain an estimated 10,000 individual petroglyph images. Surrounding
grazing lands and fresh-water lake shores offer excellent habitat for wild game and fish, as well
as for domestic animals, while valley connections permit communication with outlying regions
in all directions. The abundance of fresh water augmented by frequent summer storms makes for
relatively stable pasturage, while large stands of Siberian Larch on the northern flanks of the Altai
Nuruu across the lake provide a plentiful supply of timber for housing, heating, stock pens, and
lighting. 2011 fieldwork concentrated on recording all of the rock art on Biluut 3, and on excavating
a sample of archaeological sites of different types and suspected ages. In all, approximately 4,000
petroglyphic images were documented and more than 200 archaeological sites were mapped. Of
these, 14 sites were excavated and dated.
Results include detailed GIS databanks for all of the recorded rock art images and archaeological
sites. Biluut rock art spans more than 8,000 years; a small number of images may date to the late
Paleolithic. It remains unclear, however, when the Altai’s Ice Age glaciers retreated from the Khoton
Lake basin, freeing it for human and animal occupation. Given the fresh appearance of many rock
surfaces and well-developed glacial outwash topography, ice retreat may have occurred as late as
10,000 years ago, thus obviating any chance of earlier human settlement (or rock art). However,
by 6,000-8,000 years ago Archaic-style rock art images are clearly attested, and thereafter large
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quantities of images can be attributed to Neolithic, Early and Late Bronze Age, Iron Age, Turkic,
Medieval, and Ethnographic periods based on a combination of stylistic, subject matter, and
patination features. Damage to rock art panels from modern graffiti and vandalism also represents a
significant component of this record. While rock art panels frequently display palimpsests of images
from different periods, sometimes showing super-positioning over earlier figures, nothing like the
disastrous defacing by modern ‘graffiti artists’ seems to have occurred at earlier times. A large
number of special, rare, or otherwise highly significant images were discovered in summer 2011 by
the project’s rock art team.
Archaeological work resulted in a series of radiocarbon-dated ritual sites of which human burials
represents only one form of ceremonialism. Ten of the 14 sites investigated in detail were burials;
all of these produced radiocarbon dates, which ranged from 4,000 BP to 800 BP, spanning the late
Neolithic/Early Bronze Age to the Genghis Khan period. Among the earliest were ritual sites with
rectangular structures and large boulder pavements with central pit burials. One of these enigmatic
rectangular structures (near the mouth of Peat Valley) was constructed with internal trough-like
features. Late Bronze Age khirigsuurs are common, dating to ca. 3,000 BP; most have axial radials.
Two that we excavated contained Eurasian-style deer stones near the northern or eastern edges of
their central mounds. However, one extended human burial dating to the khirigsuur period (ca.
3,000 BP) was found under a simple stone mound without khirigsuur architecture. Pazyryk style
‘chained’ burials are also common. One that we excavated had been looted in ancient times; but we
nevertheless recovered several a fine pair of gold foil argali sheep horse ornaments and Pazyryk-style
pottery, dated by C-14 to ca. 2,000 BP. This is rather late for Pazyryk sites; indeed, this date places
this site and its cultural material squarely in the middle of the Xiongnu empire period, of which we
have found no sign in the Khoton Lake region. Several Turkic ritual sites we excavated, including
a carved stone man site, were found to contain no human remains and seem to have involved ritual
animal sacrifice. Finally, a single flexed human burial dating to the Medieval period was found
beneath a small 2m-wide pavement. Several of these sites demonstrated connections with rock art
from the surrounding hills. The iconic Mongolian deer image appears frequently in the rock art as
well as on deer stones, although not on those in the immediate vicinity of Khoton Lake. Mountain
goat images which predominate in the rock art were also found on some archaeological features,
including the Pazyryk gold foil argali heads.
Cartographic work provided a strong backbone for both the rock art studies and archaeological
research. Detailed GIS-based mapping is providing the Khoton Lake project with a means of
building topographic relationships within and between petroglyphic and archaeological data sets.
This will allow us to identify patterns in the landscape and thus to analyze multiple strands of rock
art, ritual, and settlement data.
One of the most surprising results was the consistent lack of artifacts in any of these ritual sites that
span a period of ca. 3,500 years from late Neolithic/early Bronze Age to Medieval times. Another
is the occurrence of multiple styles of burials during the same time period. Perhaps this results
from ritual variation within a given cultural group; alternatively, it may signal fluctuating cultural
boundaries or cultural margins where external intrusions occur in areas of long-standing ritual
stability. Perhaps Pazyryk culture persists longer here and resists Xiongnu incursion. Our research
thus far has raised many questions. We expect our research in summer 2012 will help to answer
some of these, and raise even more.
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PART II
Project Field Journal 2011
William W. Fitzhugh
(transcribed by Alayna Rasile)
Friday June 3rd
Ulaanbaatar
To museum at 10 AM. Hoped to see Dembereldorj, international relations secretary for the National
Museum of Mongolia, but he was not available. We spent four days in Ulaanbaatar, arriving late
Monday night [May 30] and staying at Zaya’s Hostel. On Tuesday we checked in at the museum
and found that Bayaraa was still in the field with Jean-Luc Houle in Khanuy Valley. Richard and
Tsedo arranged at the Office of Immigration to have our stays extended beyond the 30-day limit.
On Wednesday we had a tour of the Choijin Lama Monastery guided by Theresa Markiw’s former
US Embassy colleague, Otgon, who translated the monastery guides. Beautiful materials in these
temples. The day before, we spent several hours searching for a generator, eventually finding one
the right size, about 1,000 watts, made with Japanese parts and assembled in Singapore. Wednesday
night we went to the Tumen Ekh performance in their small theater south of the square. Brilliant
performance of traditional singing, music and dance. Among the performers was an amazing
contortionist. I met briefly with Robin Charpentier, local director of the ACMS office in UB, and did
some strategizing about getting a Mongolian program for the 2013 Folklife Festival. On Thursday
we had lunch with Ambassador Jonathan Addleton and his wife Fiona at their residence, and heard
his take on the political situation in Mongolia. His views were open and refreshingly realistic. He
may be able to help us with the festival proposal. It turns out that Otgon’s brother Otgonbayar is the
Minister of Culture, so we may have some help through these connections. However, he may have
left his post by then since there will have been a new presidential election.
Saturday June 4th
Ulaanbaatar to Ulgii
Left Zaya’s Hostel at 5 AM in two vans and a car with luggage just fitting 17 of us in all, and when
we got to the plane it seemed like we nearly filled the EZnis turboprop. We lifted off promptly at 7
AM. Beautiful weather, which we had for the past five days in UB. Flying east from UB, we could
see quite a few farmed fields, some newly plowed and many more than I’d seen before. Some
progress is being made on Mongolian food production! A nice lunch was served on the flight, and
we arrived with all baggage accounted for. Even better, the van with Tugsoo, the new Mongolia
National Museum curator, and the driver who came from UB with our heavy gear and freight, were
waiting for us at the airport. They had arrived this morning after driving straight through in three
days without any major problems. Their chief freight is our digging gear, Paula DePriest’s generator,
and our new spare generator. We drove directly to Canat’s in four vans and were welcomed at his
Blue Wolf Travel Agency with a nice lunch. I immediately realized we were in a new cultural area––
Kazakh and Muslim, not Mongol and Buddhist––by being presented with a fine salad of tomatoes
and cucumbers! This will be a big change from our past Darkhad (North Mongolian) fare. We went
together to the outdoor market around noon to buy shovels, picks, screening material, nails etc., and
found it packed with people. The museum in town was closed; its director had died during the past
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year and no one has yet been appointed. We had hoped to arrange some programs with them, but
this is questionable now. Dave Edwards scrounged for some wood to build a privy, but found only
trash wood and very expensive. We spent most of the afternoon napping and lounging around, telling
stories.
Dinner was at 7 PM and was a fish (tuna?)-flavored potato salad, tasty buuz soup, and cut fruit
for dessert. Canat had arranged for a couple of musicians, a father and son, to play dobros: twostringed traditional Kazakh instruments. Both were excellent, the father a statuesque, heroic figure
in his beautiful costume and hat, and his son, who was somewhat more reserved in appearance but
with a very engaging voice and personality. They sang in close harmony and performed traditional
songs from Kazakh, Russian, and Mongol repertoires, referencing the joined history of their region.
But no Chinese songs, or for that matter, Uighur, the Mongolians’ neighbors to the south, who are
today much swamped by Han Chinese expansion. I mentioned the 2013 SI Folklife Festival to him,
thinking the pair would be excellent candidates, and I purchased their CD to show the Smithsonian
Folklife staff who had hoped to come to Mongolia this summer to research possible performers for
the Festival. I sent a few emails––the last for several weeks––before turning in. We are staying in a
set of gers (traditional Mongol/Kazakh felt tents) behind Canat’s headquarters. These are Kazakhstyle gers with thin bent roof poles, making the roof about a foot higher than the Mongol ger, and
decorated with Kazakh wall hangings. Outside the lattice frames they use a lining of yarn-wrapped
reeds woven together in a basket-like construction. The yarn is wrapped around the individual reeds
in multicolored bands. About midnight the dogs started howling just like they did the last time
Richard and I slept out in Ulgii, and continued in waves all night. One of the dogs had a particularly
sonorous voice. Luke added his notes to the chorus with a small dobro he bought this afternoon at
the market. Sounds like he’ll get pretty good after a while.
Monday June 6th
Ulgii to Khoton Nuur
Bayaraa filled me in on the work being done on the Freer manuscript, which has been translated but
needs editing both for Mongolian and English. This project has been Saruulbuyan’s and is in limbo
for the time being because of his health problems. At present the Mongolia National Museum has
no specific plan for an exhibition or
publication. It took a while to get out
of Ulgii this morning because the
UB van had some engine trouble; the
fuel pump purchased in the market
yesterday had to be replaced. Dave
Edwards also needed to buy more
wood to make some dig screens. All
this was accomplished by about 11:30
AM and we set out in a caravan of
five Russian vans, one of which was
filled with our food and two cooks.
We have been told that Canat had
delivered two gers to our campsite
and had them erected. Weather was
beautiful and we made fairly good
Fig. 3: Base camp with Altai Mountains reflected in Khoton Nuur,
time, arriving in Tsengel at 3 PM for
view S
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more gas and a sign-off on our archaeology permit by the local administration. We had been able to
get the park permit signed yesterday (later on this turned out to be not quite sufficient!).
The run to Tsengel took about three hours, counting many stops for minor repairs on the vehicles.
After Tsengel we stopped for lunch along the Hovd River and then pushed on to the bridge, where
one of our vans lost a bolt from its drive shaft. All of the spare parts from the nooks and crannies
of the vehicles were dumped out on the ground, but to no avail, so it had to return to Ulgii (in fact,
they managed to make some repairs and reached camp that night). At that point all the vehicles got
separated and a free-for-all ensued. About 7 PM we reached the overlook above the NE corner of
Khoton Nuur and had a great view of the lake and mountains to the south before winding our way
through glacial moraines and glacio-fluvial deposits hundreds of feet above the lake, and then down
along its north shore past the three-building hamlet of Sirgal and its army base, where Richard’s van
caught up with us momentarily before falling behind again. We stopped to help a local guy get his
truck started, then forded the Khuiten Gol and rounded the north side of Biluut 2. However, darkness
fell, and we got led astray by one of our vans which took us on a wild goose chase west of Biluut
until we prevailed, knowing exactly where we would find camp south of Biluut 1. When we finally
pulled in we found two gers erected and all the other vans arrived, having taken a direct route around
the south side of the Biluut hills. We piled into one of the gers and after a bowl of soup, hit the hay,
our bodies looking like 22 spokes of a wheel, feet towards the fire and heads to the wall. Through
the night we heard the roar of rivers cascading down the mountains across the lake, accompanied
by Dave Edwards’ snores to anchor us at our new camp for the next six weeks. When the storm that
coincided with our arrival cleared we had a near full moon to welcome us as well.
Wednesday June 8th
As it began to get light it also started raining and sleeting, and the patter on the roof kept us cozy in
bed until the weather began to improve around 7 AM. First order of business was getting our tents
up. I soon found that Dave Edwards had recommended a very fine backpacker tent consisting of a
ground cloth attached to a pyramidal mosquito net with a central pole, and a shell fly that comes to
the ground. I have my doubts it will hold in a big storm, even with the heavy-duty pegs I supplied
instead of the small pencil-sized ones that came with the tent. I think I’ll be wishing I had my old
North Face! (Turns out it was a fine, strong tent that withstood some harsh storms.) Dave started
work on the privy, and others worked on a washing station that Dave, who had volunteered to be our
camp manager, had planned. Several of us went to check in at the Army base, Camp Sirgal, where
we met a young and business-like Lt. Amandes who welcomed us and stamped our park papers; so
we are allowed to travel about, even on the south side of the lake. We bought some boards at a new
ranger station under construction nearby. It’s nice to see
some infrastructure being developed! On the way back we
stopped at several sites we were considering excavating,
including the large khirigsuur we dated in 2008 and three
probable Pazyryk burial complexes. Later in the day we
climbed Biluut 1 and checked the rock art on the lower
faces, and visited a nice small but beautifully preserved
khirigsuur (Biluut 1-1), in which we found an Eurasianstyle deer stone with three slashes on the face and no other
markings. This khirigsuur is way up on a small plateau
called Biluut 1-C and looks out over Lake Khoton and the
Fig. 4: Excavating B1-1 khirigsuur, view
Altai Mountains along the Chinese border.
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F1
Biluut 1-1 Khirigsuur
We started work in the small khirigsuur at Biluut 1-1 with Will,
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Andrew, Elissa and Bayaraa’s Mongolian students. Beautiful sunny
F2
Hearth Features
Cobble
weather. The van could get us to the top of this plateau where the
Fence
site looks out over the lake. We set a grid and keyed in the two
hearth ovals, F1 (southern) and F2 (northern), which my team began
Mound
excavating while the Mongolians began trenching around the outside
C14
of the fence. By noon we had cleared down to the top of the F2
Deer Stone
hearth deposit and trenched the fence. The van broke down while
Skin/Bark (?)
taking us to lunch, so I walked down, arriving the same time as the
Fig. 6: Biluut 1-1
repaired van. Lunch was horshurs (a deep-fried Mongolian specialty
consisting of onions and chopped lamb in a pastry envelope) and
shredded carrot salad––both excellent. After an hour of rest we went back to work and got into
some charcoal and burned bone fragments in Feature 2––very small amounts of bone and charcoal,
unfortunately. During the afternoon we finished the western half of the khirigsuur and nearly
completed the hearth.
Dinner was an excellent mutton and noodle soup. I was a bit in recovery mode from a slightly
strained back and opted not to make a trip to visit the park ranger, who had insisted on seeing us.
Apparently we still need some kind of permit for the National Park system, and when Tserendagva
(Tsedo) drove down to ‘town’ with Richard they got an earful from a seemingly committed director
of the National Park. Luckily, on their way to see the park director, Richard and Tsedo ran into Jagaa,
who was on his way to our camp from Ulgii. Jagaa turned his jeep around and was an enormous
help in breaking the ice with the director. It seems that Jagaa knows just about everybody around
here, and everybody likes and respects him. In any case, we have to call UB and straighten this out
tomorrow morning. The evening was a bit warmer than last night, and very still.
Wednesday June 8th
A bit overcast early, but the morning later became bright, with thunderstorms building by midday.
We took a huge crew to Biluut 1-1 including Dave Edwards and James Mills, who did some video
filming. It was a spectacular view from the hill above the site, with floating ice in the lake and
reverse reflections of the mountains creating
strange visual perspectives, with the clean
geometric shapes of the mound and its cleanlyexcavated borders. We finished F2, getting a
bit more bone and charcoal, enough at least to
date. Bayaraa thinks some of the small bone
pieces are phalanges of sheep or goats as per
an observation by a zooarchaeologist who
observed similar material on a project with him
in the Khanuy Valley last year. We opened up
F1 just before lunch and nearly finished turfing
the mound before coming down for a lunch
of lamb and peppers. Dave and Tyler have
completed work on the toilet, shower, and water
purification stations, so we are now a certified
‘green’ operation. The only remaining task––
Fig. 5: Theresa, Elissa, and Andrew excavating Biluut
the hard part––is to get everyone to follow the
1-1 Feature 2, view NW
6
rules, especially about hand-washing before meals and after using the toilet.
The afternoon work was cut short by an oncoming thunderstorm that forced us to retreat to camp
but then did not materialize, giving us a couple of hours of holiday which we used to set up Paula’s
generator and catch up on battery charging and field notes. We did manage to clear and map F1, the
second hearth circle at Biluut 1-1, and had just started finding charcoal when the storm struck. So it
looks like we will get a second dated hearth. And today we also verified that B-1-1 has a cruciform
structure, with four radials aligned roughly N-S-E-W. Richard’s petroglyph crew has been working
at Biluut 2 the past couple of days, filling in some missing data from previous surveys. They have
also found a few ‘Paleolithic’ stone tools, one being a very nice large blade with lateral retouch.
During the morning we tried reaching the official at the UB ministry of Interior by satellite phone
to clear up the problem of our park permit. After many failed attempts we discovered his phone––a
cell phone––is turned off. I took the occasion to call Lynne and found her at home watching a Netflix
at 10 PM (we have a 13-hour difference
here in Bayan Ulgii). She had had a
great canoe trip on a northern VT lake
with 12 others. Weather has been fine
and she has been riding her bicycle and
tending her garden, which is flourishing.
Elaine Harp had called a few days ago,
upset after reading our report in the ASC
Newsletter––upset because it arrived by
mail on the anniversary of Elmer’s death
and on her (or his?) birthday. Too bad
Lynne could come with us to Mongolia;
Theresa Markiw is here with Richard and
is having a great time, getting her ‘fill’
of archaeology by helping us dig bits of
charcoal from F2 this morning.
Fig. 7: Mongolian students mapping B1-1 khirigsuur mound
Thursday June 9th
A beautiful clear day and quite warm but dry. After a breakfast of a kind of cream of wheat we split
into our two groups, with Dave Edwards and James Mills to do photo documentation. After dinner
last night I climbed about on Biluut 1E (east end) looking at the rock art, finding several halffinished Mongolian deer engravings and many interesting Bronze Age figures, including a chariot
drawn by two horses with a T-shaped harness. Richard showed me one his team found this morning
at Biluut 2––an extremely rare, if not wholly unique, side view. At the B-1-1 khirigsuur we quickly
finished the F1 hearth ring and by lunch completed cleaning the mounds. Lunch was a meat-filled
dumpling soup, after which I showered using one of Richard’s three neat black solar bags rigged up
by Dave behind a tarp barrier, so you could wash using only a few quarts of sun-warmed water. We
returned to the site and spent the rest of the afternoon gridding and mapping the mound. We also
got Dave up on top of the van to photograph the whole structure from high up. When he’s home he
will assemble them all into a mosaic of the entire khirigsuur. While the Mongolian students were
mapping rocks we surveyed the hill above, finding several circular hearth features and some possible
ancient tools, one looking like a Levallois core. Bayaraa had his students mapping the mound rocks
well into dinnertime, but they got it all done.
7
After supper Jagaa, Bayaraa, Will and I went to Sirgal to see about getting the permit or contract
we need from the National Park Director. We arrived about 8:30 and found him supervising the
construction of their new park building, which is coming along fast and has interior paneling up.
He is an interesting character––Kazakh and
a brother-in-law to Jagaa through his sister.
He seemed pleased to hear we had got an
OK from the central park director, but still
needs us to sign ‘contracts’ probably dealing
with environmental protection. Just before
reaching Sirgal our van died and the driver
found water in the oil, so we left him to deal
with it and got a ride back for 15K tugriks of
gas from the director’s driver in a very fine
jeep with a radio good for 500 kilometers.
The kids had bought some beer in the little
store and we sat around the fire shooting the
breeze for a while. The rest of the evening
was warm and windless. The driver thought
Fig. 9: Crew at work exposing B1-1 burial, view SE
we’d have rain tomorrow. About 11 PM the
van returned, repaired, for the moment.
Friday June 10th
The predicted rain did not materialize, although you could see plenty of it was falling to the east,
even in Sirgal. The reprieve and cool cloudy weather was perfect for the task at hand––cleaning
rocks from the mound. Fortunately, we had a large crew available including some brutes like Tyler,
Dave Edwards’ nephew, who is also
a great story-teller, like his uncle. We
cleared half the mound at the west side
by lunch (rice noodles and lamb) and
the east half in the afternoon. Dave
took lots of photos of the rock-heaving
and controlled shots of the mound
deconstruction. The American and
Mongolian crews are merging very
nicely and helping each other. About 5
PM we struck bone––part of a human
skull––just when we thought we might
have an empty grave. That brought us
to a halt, and having isolated the grave
area, which seems to have no defined
burial box or slab cover, we proceeded
excavating slowly. After another round Fig. 8: Dave Edwards photographing B1-1 khirigsuur
of photos we decided to call a halt as
we would not have time to finish before dark––here we were remembering the lantern-light burial
excavation Bayaraa and I had made at Tsagaan near Tsengel a few years ago.
After dinner, I walked east along the shore and was surprised to find our volleyball on the beach
8
across from the cove, apparently having
been blown off our camp and ‘out to
sea’ by the midday wind. Lots of nice
potential camp and settlement areas
along the shore, but I found no early
archaeological signs. Many of the crew
were in bed when I got back at 9:30 PM.
Much heavy rock lifting! I picked up
a couple more ‘paleo’ artifacts on the
terraces above the shore and showed
them to Tserendagva. He shrugged, a
doubtful ‘maybe.’
Saturday June 11th
Today Dan Cole is supposed to arrive
Fig. 10: Dave scans burial B1-1 with metal detector, view SE
in Ulgii and drive to Khoton Lake. The
day began with beautiful weather and
the news that Tyler was sick––whether from the dried meat (lamb) in our supper or the lake water
is being debated. Several of us have had stomach problems, including Theresa. My own situation is
as in all the other years: complete intestinal shut-down. Not debilitating, but a huge nuisance. We
worked on our ‘guy’ in the mound all morning and found the bones in very poor condition, even the
long bones. But we can tell ‘he’ is about 182 cm tall and oriented about 340 degrees, slightly to the
north of the western radial. Richard’s rock art group showed up to see how things were going and
Theresa walked up about 11:30 AM for a look. Dave got some good overhead shots and I kept the
bones moist so they would not crack and spall. Meanwhile, I worked on excavating the slab-lined
foundation of the mound’s outer border. It looks like a pit was dug about 20-30cm deep and slabs
laid out around the perimeter, then a big fire was set, only around the perimeter, then the burial
was put down and the mound built. Quite a bit of ash was present between the humus level and the
subsoil. (Yesterday our van caught on fire about 200m from the site in a mess of smoke, a result of
either an electrical fire or overheating, so we hiked up the rest of the way).
The afternoon task was to extract the bones and finish
work on the slab perimeter, exposing the slabs attached
to the eastern radial. Plenty of ash was present under the
slabs. While taking a walk around the hillside during
the afternoon, Bayaraa found a small cobble with three
slashes and a circular mark above it on the surface a
few hundred meters north of the site, just sitting on the
ground by itself. Remarkable. Apparently, Kubarov has
published a similar find from Gorni Altai. Such a casual
creation (though not casual given the time required to
produce it!) gives new meaning to the slashed faces
Fig. 11: Dan Cole and Ken Lymer at workon deer stones, perhaps suggesting an eternal sky god
central.
or spirit rather than being a substitution symbol for a
human face, as we have thought it might mean on a
deer stone. We also have three slashes on our B-1-1 khirigsuur deer stone! Perhaps there is some
relation between the two. The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to back-filling the excavation; we
9
succeeded in getting all the dirt back into the mound area and tomorrow will do the rocks and sod.
Dan Cole arrived at 8 PM in a van filled with produce and other goodies that delighted the cooks––
and us, as well, when a bottle of Pepsi appeared on the dinner table. Lots of evening talk with Dan
about our work, his trip (amazingly uneventful) and news from the world (heat wave in DC already!)
I think we lost one of the four swan chicks (born in the kettle pond near camp) last night, and today
the goat herd was swarming around the pond. Whether they, a fox, or some other predator was the
culprit is a mystery [correction: Will saw all four swan chicks doing fine the next Sunday morning].
Bayaraa and Tsedo say the 40 larch trees stacked up near the pond, with their bark trimmed off, are
probably contraband from the forest across the lake; officially each purloined tree carries a fine of
one million tugriks, approx. $750––so 40 million tugs or approx. $30,000 for the lot, if they get
caught.
Sunday June 12th
We’ve been here one week now and have enjoyed excellent weather and great success with the
archaeology. The only problem has been health. Tyler is still down and not improving, and this
morning Ken Lymer turned up with gastrointestinal distress. Dave checked with the cooks to make
sure they were washing in boiled water, but made little headway as they do not think that that is the
problem. Dan Cole had a good night and climbed up the hill before breakfast. Black clouds over the
mountains at breakfast vanished by 9 AM, and we made our last trip up to the khirigsuur to move the
last of the rocks back in and re-sod inside the fence. We got started on back-filling the rocks at 8:30
and were done with the dirt by 11 AM. Great spirit among the team, as usual! The site looked very
fine when it was all done. Lunch was beef and fried peppers and rice. Soon after, black clouds rolled
in and it rained all afternoon until 6 PM. I caught up on documenting my photos and then napped
till 6:00 when Richard, Jagaa, and I took Dan for a tour of the surroundings by jeep. We got back
to camp at 7:30 PM for a dinner of noodle soup, and now the boys are running off their nap energy
playing soccer on the terrace behind camp. It’s turning out to be another nice evening. Tomorrow we
start on one of the ‘Pazyryk’ burials.
Monday June 13th
A grey cool morning with a breakfast of oatmeal and raisins. Left at 8:30 AM for the ‘Pazyryk’
mounds located between Biluut-1 and
2. Coordinates: Biluut 1-2 (probably
Turkic) 6/13/11. GPS N48 39.330, E88
19.501, 2090m. We picked for excavation
the large mound in the middle of the set
of five pavement mounds and found all
have been used recently for dumps and
contained old shoes, glass, ashes, and
other junk, including the lower leg of a
cow. Cleaning the grass was slow work
made interesting only by the appearance
of a young Kazakh boy named Berdbai
who appeared on horseback and watched
from the sidelines before inching in, and
in time, with Bayaraa’s encouragement,
Fig. 12: B1-2 mound, level 2 rocks exposed, view S
took up as Bayaraa’s assistant, excavating,
carrying dirt, and offering some of the
10
intrepid students a ride on his horse. Later he galloped off
and returned with a bag of fresh fish caught in the stream
nearby.
We returned to the site after lunch and while the students
finishing cleaning the pavement, I took Richard’s 2007
field notebook and tried to match it to sites on the ground.
Only problem was that his Lat/Long were in seconds while
my GPS is decimal minutes. Nevertheless I was able to
match most of his locations and add cultural data to the
descriptions. Bayaraa meanwhile went up the B-2 north
Fig. 13: B1-2 “Paleolithic” site, view S
side hill and found some interesting burials we might
excavate. By 6 PM the site cleaning was done and we were
ready to map; but alas we had no nails or string, so we’ll start in the morning. So far, we’ve found
small bones in grey ashy soil overlying the upper cobblestone mound cap.
Dinner was mutton soup and fried fish––greylings––and very tasty. In addition to the small fish
Berdbai had given us there were some two-three pounders that the herders brought later in the
afternoon; they come up the streams from the lake to spawn. Richard and Jagaa have gone off to the
hamlet at Sirgal for gas for the vans and generator. The Mongolians gathered in the cook tent and
sang old Mongolian classics, beautiful to hear in the still night from my tent where I’ve been trying
to sew up my trusty Millet pack and drinking the Borgeo beer Dave gave me the other day––a gift
to him from Canat who has been his friend and business partner for years while Dave has run horse
treks into the Altai Mountains with American clients. Almost a full moon tonight. The swan chicks
have all gone to the lake, I imagine.
Tuesday June 14th
Another gorgeous day, allowing us nearly a full day at the Turkic site, Biluut 1-2. Dave and James
came along to photograph the unveiling of the mound, making the van so crammed that we almost
tipped over on the steeply-sloped road leaving camp. It didn’t help having Tyler, who is six-footeight and must weigh 350 pounds, on the ‘down’ side of the vehicle. The morning was mostly just
moving rock and cleaning fill; but we kept finding small bones, including several horse canines.
I wandered off for an hour to look for materials eroding from an exposure along the north side of
Biluut 1. There were many signs of buried soil horizons, some fire-cracked rock and charcoal, but
no artifacts. However, in one spot I began to find quite a bit of quartzite that appears to have been
broken by humans. Here I found what looks very much like a Paleolithic cleaver and later showed it
to Tserendagva. This time he agreed. Seems like a workshop location, and I spotted what may be a
quartzite outcrop behind the big hillside boulder adjacent to Biluut 1-2. We’ll look into this more in
the next few days. However, it’s difficult to see how we could have legitimate Paleolithic finds when
all this land seems to have been covered by glacial ice in the late Pleistocene.
After lunch we returned to work below the rocks, where we thought we’d find the beginning of a
burial pit. The soil was very tough and gravelly, and varied from sterile to brown and ashy grey. No
pit outline could be discerned. Bayaraa began to suspect the grave had been looted; but if so, they
had gone to pains to restore all the boulders. We even found a large charcoal deposit under one of
the rocks. Then we came upon a small iron knife of Iron Age style, but in a stray situation without
other burial materials except scattered animal bones, mostly sheep or goat. Dave’s metal detector
11
gave us hope of more metal deeper in the ground, so we’ll see what happens tomorrow. (It didn’t pan
out!) We quit the site a bit early when a rainstorm threatened, giving me time for a shower.
Some kind of lentil or pea soup for dinner, and Jagaa and a few others went to Sirgal for more gas to
keep our generator going. The lake has been miraculously still all day, making a perfect mirror for
the mountains. Bayaraa talked to some herders who came by the dig and found out that most of those
who summer here winter 150km to the south. Our neighbor family living below Biluut 2 came past
our site in a huge truck with all their effects, heading for their summer place across the plain NW of
Biluut. So we may not see our young ‘assistant digger’ or get more fish, at least from them. They
use their Biluut place for fall and spring camps, making four moves each year. Some of their people
still use camels, but most have trucks or rent them. Most families still own three or four camels. One
herder reported seeing a lynx in the forest on the north side of Biluut-1 where Ken saw four deer a
couple evenings ago.
Dan GIS-mapped the B1-1 khirigsuur today, finding (or so we thought) that Richard’s GPS location
was quite a bit in error; I hope that’s not the case for the B1/B2 valley we want to survey tomorrow
with Dan. [Correction: after consultation between Dan and Richard, it turns out that Richard’s GPS
was not far off the mark, after all.]
Wednesday June 15th
Fine weather continues and hardly a breeze stirring. After a breakfast of fried eggs, we worked at the
Turkic site all morning beginning with a squirrel hunt to find the little guy who got caught out of his
hole when we arrived and ran into our stone pile. The boys gradually uncovered his hideout and he
grew increasingly upset, until Will offered a bit of a chocolate bar which he took with gusto.
This morning was not very productive, as the ‘burial’ bottomed out with no signs of a body or any
cultural deposits, all of which were in the upper gray sod zone. We now think this is a Turkic ritual
site, since two of the nearby features have vertically-set slabs. Our finds include horse canines, sheep
or goat teeth and small bones, a small knife blade, and some charcoal. The weather was so warm that
a few went swimming before lunch. Ken got sick last night, so everyone is on alert for continuing
food problems.
After lunch the crew backfilled the site while Richard, Tsedo, Bayaraa, Jagaa and I reconnoitered
the graves on the north side of Biluut 2 and picked out several for excavation, hoping for different
periods. By the time we returned, the restoration was
complete and we split into Mongolian and American
teams. My group took the small grave we designated
‘Biluut 2-4 West’ and the Mongolians the larger mound
site above the giant horse figures, Biluut 2-1. We spent
the rest of the afternoon cleaning and mapping ours, and
found that the feature has an oval arrangement of flat
slabs outlining a probable burial. The oval surrounds
a circular feature, and the area inside the oval is filled
with small cobbles/large pebbles, making for a nicely
structured grave arrangement. All the while, we were
blasted by a strong warm wind blowing from China
Fig. 14: B1-2 mound 3 iron knife from level 3 through the Altai passes. We walked down to Bayaraa’s
rocks
12
site at 7 PM and found most of the juniper/cedar removed. This site has very large rocks piled into a
high mound. This should be an excellent burial.
After another (good) soup supper I called Lynne and found her busy and well. Portia is having
trouble with her ankles, and the doctors feel they can’t do more operations on her now. Another
warm quiet night.
Thursday June 16th
A fine morning but with more clouds, and by noon
a brisk wind came up from the SW with rainstorms
over the mountains. Fortunately, none have hit us
yet. The overcrowded van broke down again after
leaving camp, so I went on foot and intercepted
Dan who was mapping the site (B1-3) SE of the
small lake. We walked on to Biluut 2-4 where we
spent the morning working down through a series
of slabs until we reached a layer of grey sand about
30cm below the surface. Just below that, we struck
human bone which turned out to be a small skull.
Fig. 15: Elissa and Andrew at B2-4 with storms
Here we took a break for lunch, visiting Bayaraa’s
over Altai
big chunky mound site on the way. He had finished
cleaning and found a piece of Bronze Age (?) pottery. Back at camp we found a couple of hikers
passing through on their trek around Lake Khoton: an Italian and a Spaniard. For some reason they
were not very communicative.
We were delayed getting back to work by storms and rainfall boiling over the mountains, but they
passed in an hour as now seems usual––a sort of regular mid-afternoon event. We all returned to the
big mound site (Bayaraa calls it ‘Biluut 2-1’) to help Dave photograph it in lieu of a torturous and
time-consuming chore of mapping squares full of rocks. That done, we left Tyler and Will to help
them clear the rocks while Andrew, Elissa and I continued the delicate task of uncovering the B2-4
burial in its tiny slab-lined crypt that Ken says sounds similar to Russian Andronovo burials. One
problem with that idea might be the small lump of material found next to the knees of the buried
body, flexed and lying on its left side, that seems to have a small piece of iron embedded in it. The
excavation went slowly as the condition of the upper bones is quite poor, but is getting better with
depth. Dave stayed with us and got lots of pictures of us digging. Andrew and Elissa are doing a
great job with the excavation, working at very tight quarters.
Another brilliant sunset with prospects for a good day tomorrow. Luke has discovered his Swiss
Army knife missing––the second article of his to go astray. More sightings of the deer on Biluut 1.
As I go to bed, it sounds like another Canat supply van just arrived!
Friday June 17th
The day began well with a hot sun, but turned cloudy by mid-morning. We began removing the
Biluut 2-4 skeleton feet-first and they came out pretty easily and relatively solid. We arrived at the
site just as an old herder, a huge blocky man from the farm below who looked uncomfortably large
on his small Mongolian horse, had left the site. He soon returned, and Jagaa had a conversation with
him. By lunch we had removed all but the upper body, finding no artifacts or physical peculiarities.
13
At B2-1 Bayaraa continued to uncover the big mound
above the giant horse petroglyphs.
Fig. 16: B2-4 skull in situ, view E
After lunch we returned, and by the time it started to
rain we had all the bones out and marked. I found iron
particles in the excavated dirt with a magnet, but they
are also in the soil outside the burial, so perhaps it’s just
natural hematite. Andrew and Elissa did a great job
with the rest of the bones. Meanwhile, Bayaraa had got
down to the burial area in his site with only one layer of
rocks to go. By the end of the afternoon it was raining
steadily––maybe this is Jagaa’s rainy season––2 PM to
evening?
Bayaraa and Jagaa tried to catch fish today, but no luck. The Canat jeep that arrived last night
brought us work tables and chairs, plus new food stocks. A good party was had on the occasion, also
celebrating the full moon!
Saturday June 18th
Yesterday, Bayaraa said the students were getting
restive, since they generally get one day a week
off; so Richard and I decided to call Saturday
(today) a holiday. Most people decided they wanted
to go to Aral Tolgoi, a prominent hill above the
northwestern end of the lake which Esther Jacobson
has surveyed and recently succeeded in having
declared a world heritage site. The road was quite
poor and snakes along the northern shore; we
passed quite a few ger camps along the way, some
in situations where one might find ancient stratified
living sites. We decided to come back later and
check them out. We had to cross the Tsagaan
Fig. 17: Sum Center near Aral Tolgoi
(white) River, full of glacier flour, across a rickety
log bridge, and then a second river draining from
the SW, a clear-water stream. The bridge over that one was precariously narrow and had many loose
poles in the roadway. One of our vans nearly slipped off into the stream. Close by Aral Tolgoi on its
southern extreme is a military base; at a tiny store just to the north we detoured to buy some beer
and sodas. We were surprised to find that the proprietors were the same folks who used to manage
the store in Sirgal, but had in the past week or so moved up here. A gathering of elders was in
process outside the store, and all their horses were tied up nearby. A small wolf pup cautiously but
with curiosity scurried around in the fenced yard. At the southern base of Aral Tolgoi we lunched
on sandwiches and drinks. The rocks here are in pretty poor condition; this hill contains relatively
few large polished panels of the kind that are so abundant at Biluut. Most of the figures are badly
deteriorated, but there remain a small number of fine images. In addition to those on the major locus
at the top of the southern side of the hill, on the second knob west of a small log-built guardhouse
overlooking the military base I found a few new images on an outcrop.
14
There are quite a few stone structures on the hill, including a
khirigsuur with an unmarked ‘deer stone’ in the NW side of the
mound, like the Biluut 1-1 khirigsuur we excavated. Perhaps
most interesting is a series of 25 or so small stone mounds
that run in a string aligned NNW-SSE across the crest of the
central rock art locus. Some have been disturbed, but many
appear intact. Probably they are not burials, but some kind
of ritual observances (one thing we’ve noticed is very few
ovoos––Buddhist stone mound shrines––in this predominantly
Kazakh region, probably due to the Islamic rather that Buddhist
tradition). On the plain south of Aral Tolgoi are many Turkic
structures and four deer stones, one very large, one of slate
that the Army may have erected from its fallen state but not
understanding the iconography, installed upside down. The
present north side has a necklace or belt, a large dagger, ibex,
a horse, and the body (without antlers) of a Mongolian deer. A
Fig. 18: N side of 3rd deer stone at
good example of a Sayan-Altai stone. I wonder what the top
Aral Tolgoi with animal figure and
(now buried in the ground) looks like. A smaller deer stone
chevron emblem
with circles is near, and a third lies flat on the ground. A fourth
is found to the north near the base of Aral Tolgoi hill. GPS
Coordinates: N48 39.031, E88 19.709, 2097m. This stone has many deer stone motifs, but placed
and executed in atypical fashion. There are no necklace pits, circles, or face slashes. The chevron
on the present north (broad) side is rendered oddly, with a broad band at the top and five chevron
stripes. Above this is a house-like image with an inverted heart-shaped figure in the center. A wavy
bolt-like band encircles the stone above the ‘house’, and above that is an indecipherable blob with
two leg-like extensions. The south side has two ibex. No face slashes, and the chevron would
normally be on the west, not north, side of the stone.
We endured a bumpy ride back to our camp, but arrived after two hours to a fine dinner of braised
lamb. Earlier in the day the drivers had gone off and returned with a sheep that was tied up alongside
our kitchen bleating plaintively, probably from premonition of its fate. The kitchen team must have
eaten the liver and other organs, since we have not seen these delicacies. I began to experience
stomach cramps in the evening and retired early.
Sunday June 19th (Fathers Day)
I felt spacey and un-energized all morning––the more so because we had to backfill B1-4 and clean
our next site B1-3. This was done with Will, Andrew and Elissa, and not the Mongolian students
who were busy digging the deep burial pit in Bayaraa’s site. Ours was pretty boring work and was
only half-finished by lunchtime. Bayaraa’s pit is now over a meter deep and has at least another
50cm to reach a slab they found in a sondage below where they are right now. Someone wanted this
burial to remain undisturbed!
Soon after lunch it began to rain. It continued all afternoon,
wiping out any chance of more work. I slept until 6 PM and
felt mostly recovered. At dinner we learned that one of the
Mongolian students, Enkh, had been suffering fever and
headache since the morning––possibly from being injured
15
Chevron Figure
Broad pecked groove
Ground level
GPS N48° 39.631’ E88° 19.709’, 2097m
during the wrestling contests a couple of days ago.
Bayaraa and Tsedo accompanied him in Jagaa’s jeep to
a small clinic in the high terraces north of Biluut where
some medical people serve the local herders. Since it is
Father’s Day, Dan treated anyone who wanted to call
home to a free sat-phone call, courtesy of the SI ADP
office. This was greatly appreciated.
Monday June 20th
It rained most of the night but cleared a bit in the
morning, so both teams got to work, except the rock art
Fig. 19: B2-3 ‘zebra’ animal with hunter
folks who need dry rock surfaces for photography and,
especially, for making transparencies (tracings on clear
plastic sheeting). The high site Biluut 2-3 was cleared of vegetation by 11 AM and Dave came up
from Bayaraa’s dig to photograph the rocks, which we then tossed out unceremoniously. On the way
to lunch we visited Bayaraa’s B2-1 burial which he had uncovered to the top of a splendid slab-lined
grave box with a thick slate cover slab. The latter was broken in two and the western end had fallen
inside the coffin box; the eastern slab is still intact. Outside the stone coffin to the north were sheep
or goat offerings, and inside a human had been laid out head to the north with more food offerings.
The grave pit was easily identified by the loose gravelly sand, and many large rocks had been put
into the grave over the west end of the coffin. A Mongolian guide with a German tourist couple
showed up as we ended the morning’s work. Thunderstorms brewed again after lunch. Happily, Enkh
is better today after his massage treatment at the clinic last night.
The Bridge Abutment Site: GPS 41 N48 44.259, E88 08.756, elev. 2097m. At first we thought this
was a Pazyryk site alongside the Khuiten Gol, a hundred meters upstream from the lower ford
crossing, but later found out it was merely an old bridge foundation. This embarrassing revelation
served as the basis of innumerable jokes (mostly on Bayaraa, and on Jagaa, who had ‘discovered’ the
site) for the remainder of the season!
Downstream from the pingo peat bog, south of the fenced
pasture in the mouth of Peat Valley, is a square khirigsuur
with three hearth circles, each with 10 stones. A heavy stone
boulder fence, with corner uprights, is located south of the
mouth of the bog ravine. GPS 42 N48 39.096, E88 22.057,
2124m elev.
Another khirigsuur is located alongside the peat bog stream,
below the bog and above the fenced pasture, with large
mound stones and small cobbles: GPS 44 48 39.289, E88
21.585, elev: 2124m.
Fig. 20: B2-3 child burial, view E
Large khirigsuur north of the peat bog, with no fence and six hearth rings with 10 or 12 rocks each:
GPS 48 N48 39.714, E88 21.366.
After lunch it rained, but let up, and the crews set out for our two sites. I went off with the rock art
team to Biluut 4 (a.k.a. Spring House Bluffs) to the east of Biluut 3 and Peat Valley, where Richard
16
had found a strange human figure with horns, no arms, two legs, and a large phallus. Richard calls
the figure ‘Pogo man.’ It’s up near the summit of the hill behind a herder’s place, now vacated for
the season. From that nice vantage point we spied several khirigsuurs on the valley between Biluut
3 and Biluut 4. I call this ‘Peat Valley’ because the small stream there has created a huge peat
field underlain with ice and full of cracks and pingo-like features that should produce some deep
stratigraphic sections for peat sampling for pollen and dating. One of the mounds (not a khirigsuur,
because it lacks a squared or circular fence and satellite mounds) near a small fenced paddock has a
rectangular structure attached to its west side and a circle feature to the east of the mound. We should
dig it. Another site we noticed is a possible Pazyryk mound eroding into the stream [see above], and
a third, at the north end of Peat Valley is a large mound with six circular hearths, but no apparent
fence.
We all arrived back at camp at the same time, wet from rain, and warmed up in the kitchen/dining
ger. During the afternoon, at Biluut 2-1, Bayaraa had come down on a second, deeper slab grave
cover, this one not smashed or opened, or so we hope. My team had cleared down to some flat cover
slabs that we also hope have not been moved.
After dinner, Tsedo gave an excellent lecture on Mongolian rock art. Among revelations were the
absence of mask images at Biluut, which are quite common in South Gobi and Inner Mongolia.
(NOTE: Anati wrote about South Gobi ‘Neolithic’ masks.) After that, Richard and I talked about
why rock art seems to be so conservative in terms of style, at least until about 2,000 years ago, or
later, and whether this results from tools, a difficult medium, religious tradition, or constant public
view. I suggested he try the metal detector around large rock art complexes to hunt for broken or lost
tools. Still rainy, damp and cold tonight.
Tuesday June 21st
It was bright and sunny for about an hour this morning, then black clouds rolled in from the west.
We sat in the vans for an hour until it let up and then had three hours of digging, pedestaling the
big slabs in the center of our mound. By lunch we were ready to photograph and remove them.
Meanwhile, Bayaraa worked around the outsides of the burial box, finding some sheep or goat bones
at the NE corner. The bones recovered yesterday were scattered around the outside and are probably
dog. There is a large deer image (or horse?) with vertical stripes down its body, with a warrior on
horseback, armed with a lance, and accompanied by dogs on the granite conglomerate outcrop above
our site, Biluut 2-3. Kassim, our driver, is a very helpful and cheerful fellow, but today he almost
caused our van to flip over going up the steeply
inclined part of the road from camp when he took
his eyes off the road for just a second to rescue
his cassette tape collection which was falling off
the dashboard. He got back on track just in time
to avoid ramming into a boulder that would have
thrown us over.
A nice rectangular stone slab box appeared in
our site just under some large slabs. We were
anticipating a fine undisturbed grave, but when
we got into it later in the day we found it is a very
shallow grave, which, except for the skull and
Fig. 21: Strange horned figure B-4
17
long bones, is poorly preserved. We’ll know more in the morning. Bayaraa’s dig progressed slowly.
The students managed to wrestle the huge boulder out of the grave circle so it does not collapse the
pit walls on the diggers below. What they found around the outside of the stone box was the bones
of three sheep or goats, mostly disarticulated, suggesting a funeral feast. They still have to remove
the lower stone slab to see what may lie beneath. All this material was lying uncovered in the stone
coffin, just as it had been left, but without meat on the bones!
Yesterday five UNDP vehicles stopped at Bayaraa’s dig. Turns out they were park officials and
checked Bayaraa’s papers. A-OK on that score. Apparently the United Nations provides Mongolia
with some of its used vehicles. The purpose of their excursion was not clear––perhaps just a summer
junket––but it’s certain that plans are being made for tourist development here; and the rock art is a
major attraction.
Tonight we returned to find an Italian tourist group camped on the other side of our peninsula. The
crew is doing well and is mostly healthy now––only the weather is not cooperating. It’s less than
a week now until Ken, Theresa and Tyler leave for home. Theresa has done some sketches in ink
and watercolor of the B1-1 khirigsuur we dug, and of the ‘toothless old gentleman’ from our last
excavation (B2-1). Dan Cole has made considerable progress mapping the rock art and burial sites in
the area, and amazingly, the vans have not been breaking down recently. They are great rain shelters
at our digs.
Wednesday June 22nd
Most of us had a miserable night. About 9:30 AM a black cloud bank moved in from the west, and in
short time we were hunkered in out tents being pelted by lashing wind and torrential rain. Most of us
felt certain our tents would carry away, but miraculously all held and only a few of the Mongol tents
got wet inside. Dan’s tent skirts shook loose from two pegs and he had to venture out to fix them.
The roar of the lashing rain on the fabric next to my head was so deafening I had to muffle it by
ducking my head inside my bag. The storm lasted about two hours and was followed by a tamer one
about 4 AM. Kudos to the manufacturer for a great waterproof fabric!
The morning arrived clear and cold, but dry, so we got lots of work done, finishing the excavation of
a pre-adolescent from B2-3. His or her joints had not fused and baby teeth were just being replaced.
The new molars show no wear at all. No artifacts present once again. Bayaraa found many more
sheep bones outside the northeast corner of the stone coffin, totaling six mostly disarticulated. But
some limbs and intact skulls were present us well. The Italian tour group that camped near us last
night visited Bayaraa’s dig. They turned out to have two archaeologists and a paleontologist in the
party. They’re touring many places in Mongolia and just
came from Aral Tolgoi.
Fig. 22: Rainbow on camp site.
During the afternoon we back-filled Biluut 2-3 and
Richard, Dan and I visited the sites that Richard and Jerry
Nave (with RK in 2007) and now Dan had recorded, so
we could all have our data coordinated. This turned out
to be very useful as it will help us clean up the master
database and map. Most of the team hung out with
Bayaraa who had lifted the final cornerstone from his
B2-1 grave and found a man lying on his left side, flexed
18
loosely, facing east, but with his body aligned to north, the orientation of the coffin. No dirt had
entered this space, and so all his bones were in full view. Only his hand and pelvis had been badly
crushed when the covering slab had broken and fallen inside the box. Some remains of fabric were
found around his spine which should give us some good analyses and a date.
It was very cold all day, and windy, so the crew took a good beating. Only in the evening did a bit of
warmth creep in with the sun. Ken gave a talk on Kazakhstan rock art after dinner. The Mongolian
deer there lack bird heads mostly, and the Saka period rock art shows few Scythian-style figures.
Jagaa noted that many Kazakh place names are Mongolian; but that does not greatly please Kazakhs
today. There also was an 18th-century Mongolian invasion by the Djungarians––western Mongols
from Inner Mongolia––but they were eventually defeated with the help of the Chinese.
Thursday June 23rd
Once again for an hour around breakfast we had a bright clear sky, but by 8 AM gray clouds
descended and it poured here and showered in the mountains until 1 PM. We worked on notes in
the ‘office ger’ while most of the crew slept or played cards. Another sheep had shown up tied
to the cook’s tent this a.m. and later was dispatched, without much attention this time. It did not
even interrupt the card game taking place in the cook’s tent. All the organ meat got presented to the
Mongolian table at dinner; next time I’ll make a pitch for including the rest of us in these delicacies.
After lunch the US team went off to try our luck at the unusual structure we found alongside a
mound in Peat Valley between B3 and B4. It’s rectangular and about 7x8 m in dimension, has
walls three stones thick, a doorway, and four internal dividers making several stall-like enclosures.
No artifacts yet and a small test deeper did not show any signs; but it is an intriguing architectural
structure nonetheless.
We all finally got rained out about 6 PM and returned home to a great dinner of mashed potatoes,
carrots, and lamb. Watermelon for desert! Vastly different from Amra’s cooking in Khovsgol! We
had quite a sensation today when two deer appeared at the base of Biluut in plain sight; after some
minutes they climbed over the ridge near the B1-1 khirigsuur and out of view. One was a large buck
but without antlers this time of year. In the morning I gave Ken some slides for my part of our joint
presentation at the Lincoln England Deer Conference. Called Lynne this evening. A-OK. Rainy and
cool in VT also this summer.
After dinner we strategized a bit to see how we might find more artifacts. So far we’re doing well on
burials and human remains, but a single potsherd is the
only artifact recovered. We are thinking of a survey of
the south shore of the lake and a concentration there next
year: it gets more rain, more snow, lies longer in shadow,
and has far richer pastures! Perhaps we’ll find a frozen
tomb.
Fig. 23: Peat Valley Site Biluut 3-3 surface
cleared, view NW
Friday June 24th
A nice morning, and it remained pleasant through lunch.
Bayaraa went off searching for a new site to dig, and
we returned to our Peat Valley ‘palace’ with Dave and
Tyler as reinforcements. Will and I worked all morning
19
at the central hearth, which turned out to be full of bone and
charcoal. All the bone was calcined; it seemed to be of small
mammal, perhaps marmot, and maybe some birds. Probably
more than a single fire as there was a lot of bone and the
deposit was quite thick. Dave and James surveyed the area
with the metal detector and found two lumps of sprue a few
inches below the surface, one of iron and the other may be
bronze. So maybe there is some casting or metal smelting
going on in the vicinity. Andrew found a small Neolithic
microcore on the surface of his square and a couple of flakes
Fig. 24: Biluut 3-1 Feature 4
showed up nearby. Bayaraa’s team showed up at 11 AM
and checked out our site and the valley. We had a series of
mishaps getting back across the river, stalling in the current in front of a bunch of amused herders.
When the motor refused to start, we got the van out by propelling it by means of the engine crank.
We continued after lunch in unusually fine weather. We found a few more flint flakes and I finished
the hearth and made a profile. Meanwhile, Bayaraa started working on the riverside ‘Pazyryk’
mound. He had nearly completed cleaning the surface when some local herders came by asking what
he was doing. ‘Excavating a 2500-year-old Pazyryk burial,’ he told them. ‘Well good luck,’ they
said. ‘The army built this as a bridge foundation!’ In mid-afternoon I got a holler from Richard up
on top of Biluut 3––800 feet above me––wanting me to come up and see some exciting rock art and
a curious hilltop stone structure he’d found. The structure turned out to be a circular ring of rocks,
mostly fallen, that probably had been a hunting lookout or blind as it had a commanding view of the
valley all around.
Saturday June 25th
This was a fine day for weather and digging and we finally got in two full sessions with no
interruptions. Dan came along to survey, but forgot his GPS and so borrowed mine. When he arrived
back at the van for the ride home he discovered he had lost the walkie-talkie Dave loaned him, so he
backtracked his route––twice––while we were at lunch, to no avail. It had somehow slipped off his
belt. We finished clearing the entire rectangular structure, photographed it, and excavated one of the
four internal dividers which turned out to be a trough-like feature bounded by slabs of shale slanting
in from both lateral sides. Several chert flakes were found in the feature’s fill, giving some evidence
to the idea that the whole structure may be Neolithic or Early Bronze Age [this was later confirmed
with a radiocarbon date of cal. BC 2130 to 1900
(cal. BP 4080 to 3850). We’ll do more tomorrow.
Fig. 25: B2-2, Pazyryk burial, view NW
Lots of baths and clothes washing today, thanks
to the warm weather. We had a group of small
white-winged songbirds about the site most of
the day. Richard’s team came by at the end of the
day and were quite impressed with our structure.
Jagaa thinks our hearth bones are either marmot or
rabbit. I walked up to the point north of our camp
peninsula but had to turn back when I discovered
the ‘wild’ horse herd was there. We had much
discussion about the mean stallion that defends this
20
herd by charging anyone who approaches. Elissa, who is
an accomplished rider, nearly got run down when she got
too close, barely escaping by running full-tilt into camp. I
did not want to have a similar encounter far from camp.
Sunday June 26th
This was a pretty nice day all around, with sunny weather
until evening. Elissa, Andrew and I returned to the Peat
Valley structure and spent most of the day cleaning up
the excavation and testing another trough (Feature 5),
Fig. 26: B2-2 Pazyryk burial, photo by
but found nothing in it. During the morning, Dan and
Dave Edwards
I surveyed the west Peat Valley terrace, recording ten
structures, the most interesting being two rectangular tent rings overlooking the pond to the south,
each with an oval grave-like feature in its north end. The large boulder pavements we saw seem like
cultural features but I can’t think what they would be for. Maybe they’re natural. On the way back,
on the north side of the river we stopped at a small herder’s cabin in a hollow, now vacated until fall,
and found two large square khirigsuurs nearby, one with four huge hearth rings.
We returned to the Peat Valley site in the afternoon and decided to excavate another test pit (#2)
north of Feature 2 trough. Several flakes, fire-cracked rock and a core preparation flake appeared.
Meanwhile, Bayaraa’s group made progress removing huge numbers of stones from their Pazyryk
grave (B2-2).
At dinner Luke made a surprising appearance in his skimpy wrestling outfit as a goodbye stunt for
tomorrow’s departing crew. This was a big hit. Rain in the evening, when Dan gave a talk on his GIS
work at the SI and a short summary of the Biluut GIS data from previous years.
Monday June 27th
Rain showers early, but they cleared off before returning again in the evening. We now (8:30
PM) have a beautiful full arcing double rainbow. The departees ––Theresa, Tyler, and Ken––were
packed and ready and left soon after breakfast. Theresa had given us a stunning gallery show of
the watercolors she painted over the last three weeks. They were gorgeous and included many
landscapes, a scene of our camp, ‘old Harry’ the toothless skull from Biluut 2-1, a horse skull,
and our B1-1 khirigsuur. I made a photo record of most of them; some should be useful for our
publications.
When I woke up I found a note of thanks from Tyler under my
tent flap. It was a very appreciative note and very appreciated
by me. He’s going back to do some teaching. All three made
excellent contributions to the project. Ken for his knowledge
of Central Asian archaeology and rock art; and Tyler for his
entertaining stories and knowledge of just about everything. I
called Canat this evening and found all arrived in Ulgii safely.
After the departure, Will and I returned to finish the PV TP2,
backfill the site, and sample the peat bog. We found the bog
Fig. 27: Theresa Markiw painting B2-4 has subsided more than three feet in recent years due to loss of
individual
21
underlying ice, leaving large caverns in the slumping peat where lenses of ice could be seen. We took
five samples in one exposure, hoping for some useful result from its analysis, perhaps by an ETSU
student. Richard was recording petroglyphs on the slopes of B3 above.
After a mutton soup (hated by Andrew) we returned to the Pazyryk site, finding a rectangular
boulder-filled pit beneath its mound. This morning they found a whetstone in the upper part of
the pit, which is an indication the site was looted. Andrew, Elissa, and I started clearing a small
mound (Biluut 3-20; GPS N48 39.137 E88 21.642; elev. 2118m.) across the stream near the large
rectangular structure Richard had us look at a couple years ago.
Now the evening crew is busy at cards. The rain stopped and the sun emerged long enough for a
rainbow. It promises to be a quiet night. I finished my Peat Valley notes and Dan caught up with his
survey notes. Richard found a ‘birthing woman’ image on the northern end of the eastern escarpment
of B3: a female with arms and legs spread, breasts to each side, and a baby(?) emerging from her
vagina. It reminded me of the Kodiak Island birthing charm excavated by Dick Jordan and my son
Ben years ago. According to Esther Jacboson-Tepfer, such figures as Richard found date from the
Neolithic period. Richard and Tsedo consider this a major find.
Tuesday June 28th
Fair weather again this morning until 12:30 when a mass of dark clouds and rain drove us back to
camp. We finished B3-20 mapping and threw out the center mound rocks. Will made a nice map
while the rest of us took a walk up toward the canyon. Lots of small-scale irrigation ditching has
been going on here in what looks like the best pasture around Biluut because of the way the stream
can be spread out in the basin. Many old ger campsites are around this area. Afterwards I had a talk
with Jagaa about camels. Each family may own one or two, and related or close families pool their
camels into a herd and take turns using the herd for transport. Today this is needed less because
of access to trucks, so camels are kept mostly for the value of their hair, meat, and hides (it’s a bit
ignominious, but one of their most important uses of the hide is for the thin strips used as fastenings
to attach ger lattice slats together!). Nevertheless, the camel population is dropping and many
herders no longer own any.
The sun came out after lunch and we returned to our site. After removing the pavement rocks and
clearing the loose rubble we found two small rectangular slab boxes side-by-side in the middle of the
ring. Both had their long axes oriented N-S and were about 50cm long and 30cm wide, the eastern
box having a single cover and the western, a series
of small cover slabs. Both boxes were empty and had
lots of mouse bedding inside; recently these have been
veritable ‘mouse houses’. Nothing else was in them
except plant fiber and a few seeds or nut shells. The
boxes are too small for human infants, whose bones
would have been preserved, so some other ritual or
organic material may have been provided originally.
Another mystery! We’ll dig deeper and see whether
anything else shows up. At the Pazyryk site (B2-2)
Bayaraa meanwhile had come down on logs from a
burial chamber that seems to have been disturbed.
Fig. 28: B2-3 (Pond Site) standing slab, view
Tomorrow, they should find grave remains. The
N
22
afternoon remained cool. Richard’s crew
keeps finding more interesting rock art
on B3 above the peat bog.
Wednesday June 29th
Our spell of good weather continues.
Last night Canat (Conti), one of our
drivers, returned from Ulgii with
supplies—much appreciated as the
portions of mutton in our soup and
noodles/peppers/potatoes, are getting
smaller. We returned to B3-20 to clean
up the excavation and excavate around
and under the stone boxes, finding
Fig. 29: Excavation of B2-2 Pazyryk burial with storm comnothing. Dan and I surveyed the western ing in. Photo by Dave Edwards
lower slopes of B3 to the Khuiten Gol
(Canyon River) recording about 30 sites, some of the most interesting in a ‘pocket terrace’ SE of
the gorge. There is a fall/spring herder place there under the shadow of ‘Broken Rock Mountain’,
deserted for the summer like most of those log dwellings. While investigating that terrace a couple
of young herder kids left their horses on the other side of the river, waded across, and came up to
see what we were up to. The gorge is quite spectacular, cut deeply into rock on the west side and
moraine on the east, with its sides filled with ancient larch trees and its broad bottom a vast field of
water-tumbled boulders from small in size to huge. We returned to back-fill B3-20 and then were off
to lunch.
In the afternoon we visited Bayaraa’s Pazyryk dig, and found them excavating a horse’s head that
had been left undisturbed by looters who seemed to have displaced the tomb chamber logs. They
had found an iron horse bit and small remains of a decayed, decorative wood carving from the
harness. Elissa, Andrew, Dan and I then surveyed up the west bank of the river, recording about
20 sites/features including several good excavation prospects. On one of the high terraces we
found a partially built modern stone barn structure with three of its four sides complete. It is being
constructed almost entirely of stones taken from Turkic and khirigsuur features from this locale.
In addition to several large standing stones
in box enclosures, there were mounds and
other features, all heavily damaged by modern
cannibalization.
Since tomorrow has been declared a (project)
holiday, the evening turned into a night of
revelry with much singing and antics by the
younger members while the rest of us tried
to sleep. Earlier in the evening the shore was
lined with our team’s fishermen; but only
Bayaraa caught any fish––two small ones.
He claimed that a ‘big one’ got away with his
only hook! If not already recorded here, we’ve
been wondering about reforestation since there
Fig. 30: B1-3 excavation with sheep and goats looking on
23
are no young trees along the shore or river banks––only in the gorge and high north hillsides. Are
sheep eating the young sprouts? Soon there will be no trees in these lowland areas, as many of the
present ones are over 100 years old. Perhaps this is a process that has been going on for hundreds,
or thousands, of years, leading to the formation of this part of the steppe. The problem is not a lack
of seeds, because these trees are producing huge numbers of cones. But we never see any seedlings
under them.
Thursday June 30th
A gorgeous morning, and a very slow camp awakening from the partying last night. Most of the
team wanted to spend their day off taking showers, washing clothes, and sleeping or fishing. Dan
and I made a six-hour hike west along the shore to check for sites, especially shore-side settlements.
We made good progress, encountered a few herders who always were friendly and curious, and
recorded some sites. We checked around the inlet and the outcrops of pure white clay near the east
end but found no shore-side camps. All the dark soil showing was from eroding peat deposits. The
local herders we met there were off on horseback with their fishing rods fitted with modern spinning
gear. We found only six sites the whole day: a circular
khirigsuur, a Pazyryk mound, and a few other features.
The lack of a broad pasture along the shore probably
kept the population down. There are a number of small
ponds and bogs. We had to walk halfway back to camp
before we were picked up by one of the vans; by that
time my legs were pretty nearly shot, after having
walked about 12-15 miles, a record for me for many
years. But at least no damage was done to my arthritic
right hip and I’m fine today. Just as we were picked
up, a series of thunderstorms set in. They kept up
well into the night with amazing acoustics. The claps
echoed back and forth from the southern mountain face Fig. 31: Local women selling wares at Aral
and the Biluut hills. I tried calling Lynne but could not Tolgoi Naadam
keep a connection, but I did manage to leave a birthday
greeting for son Joshua on his message board in London.
Friday July 1st
This morning we were at the edge of storms to the west and clear weather to the east. The weather
improved after we arrived at the Turkic site (B1-2) by the pond at the eastern base of B1. We decided
to work here because the complex has a rectangular slab and cobble border, a large standing stone,
and a looted burial. It should make for an interesting dig, especially if we can find some datable
material and can link these features in a single complex. Bayaraa continued to excavate his horse
skeleton and has uncovered a set of logs running lengthwise that might be the undisturbed top of a
burial crypt.
Luke makes progress on his dobro and has been composing a ballad he calls ‘Bayaraa.’ We barely
got back to work when it started raining again, but still got three hours in and nearly completed
excavating the walls of our rectangular structure. No artifacts, bones, or charcoal, but good
architectural detail from the slab settings. Because we are located above the pond, we got serenaded
by the swans and sheldrakes that drop in periodically.
24
Bayaraa gave a talk this evening on the Xiongnu excavations he’s done with Byran Miller. I left
a message for Lynne and spoke with Lauren, who says all is fine in the office. The weather in DC
is cool. One of the cooks and her driver-husband have a daughter here in camp; her name is (in
English translation) White Falcon. She’s six years old and quite delightful. The food continues to be
spectacular. We even had fresh peaches today!
Saturday July 2nd
Overcast all day with small showers off and on. We worked at the Overcast all day with small
showers off and on. We worked at the Turkic pond site and finished excavating the rectangular
structure. In the process we found a charcoal sample in a hearth circle that’s part of the cobble ‘wall’
on the southern side of the rectangle, as well as two other samples near each other in the structure’s
center. One turned out to be a 15cm-wide concentration that started near the surface and extended
down into the subsoil. I haven’t reached its bottom yet: thick concentrated charcoal powder with
some chunks. (It turned out to be about 10-15cm deep.) The third was a small concentration just
beneath the sod about 25-30cm to the south of the second. We have dating samples from all of them
now. About a meter to the east I found a small disc-shaped object about the size of a small button
with a lip or raised rim on one side and flat on the other. However, its corroded edge looks green, so
it might be a coin. Coming from 10cm or so below the surface, it should belong to the slab rectangle
people. It would be exciting if it could produce a date. (These samples turned out to date ca. 16001800 B.C.)
After lunch some park officials from UB stopped by, asking questions. Fortunately Bayaraa came
by and accompanied them back to camp to inspect our permits. Dan spent the day surveying east
of the Khuiten Gol mouth, mostly along the shore, recording a number of round and square spoked
khirigsuurs. He was to make his own way home, but when he did not show up by 5:30 Jagaa and I
went searching and found him––a bright yellow spot––hiking along the far side of the stream near
the herder’s ger and below the upper Khuiten Gol ford. A 15km hike he made, and good finds, but
probably went too much off-trail for a solo hike.
Shine made a nice map of the pond site. It was quite chilly and windy today. The Mongolian
National Park officials who appeared at our site gave Bayaraa a tough time when he presented our
papers. Since we lack a piece of paper and only have permission by word of mouth (Bayaraa’s
telephone call to UB weeks ago), we were open for criticism. They insisted that this place is not
‘Biluut’ but is known by another name, so maintained that our other permits (archaeological, etc.)
are invalid. They threatened to close us down and to refuse us next year, etc., and to give us a ticket.
Whether these are threats for money or other purposes
(local herder complaints? We don’t know of any) are
not known, but it could be any number of issues. They
had also been drinking. But when they met Dan Cole
on the road after their testy meeting with Bayaraa, they
offered him a beer and were courteous. One of the
guys took the beer cap off with his teeth!
Sunday July 3rd
Aral Tolgoi
Many of the students have wanted to wrestle in a
local Naadam because we will not return to Ulgii until
25
Fig. 32: Luke wrestling at Naadam
the last day of the National Festival there. So we all
trekked off in two vans to Aral Tolgoi, where we heard
a local festival was to take place today. Only Richard
and Tsedo stayed back, and the cooks. The day was
windy and cool with bouts of rain, but didn’t dampen
spirits.
A large crowd had assembled at the market hut west
of the army base. A wrestling arena was laid out, large
cauldrons of mutton and bubbling rice soup were on
the ready, and many local people with vans displayed
wares to sell, spreading them out on tarps, more or
Fig. 34: Young horse racers
less in heaps for people to pick over. Shoes for kids
were a hot item. Even though she was under cover,
one sophisticated woman sat under an awning beneath a chartreuse parasol. The dignitaries arrived
early and took their places at the head table, including the governor of Tsengel Sum (who visited us
later at our camp) and several local elders, one in a great fur-trimmed blue hat and coat and another
in a peaked yellow Kazakh hat. At one point in the match, wrestlers spilled over the boundary
and tumbled into them, and another time two grapplers fell into a front-row group of old women.
Fortunately there were no injuries. Several of our group wrestled, and some won their first rounds.
Luke was a big hit with the crowd for his unusual tactics and fierce, bearded demeanor. Bayaraa lost
in the second round when he thought he had an understanding with his opponent to take a break to
fix his loose belt; but when he turned away, off guard, his opponent tossed him down immediately.
After which the wrestling was won by a huge six-four fellow. Besides the cauldrons of mutton and of
rice soup, horshurs were for sale, along with beer and other drinks from the little store (that has some
of everything!).
Wrestling was followed by the horse races, which finished at a special glade with all vehicles and
horses gathered around. After something like a 14km race, the winner won by the proverbial ‘nose’.
We had a great time and found the local people friendly and curious about us. Most of the men
wore black western-style clothes (only a few in Mongol deels), and the women were attractive and
brightly dressed. Almost all communication was in Kazakh. We were initially accosted by three army
or police officials who wanted our ‘papers’ (not passports); but when they discovered that we were
with Jagaa, all was fine. One young officer knew him well from childhood. Very little rowdiness
or drunkenness was seen. This event was a Mongol Naadam; a Kazakh one had been held a week
earlier, with their special games including a tug-of-war on horseback, in which each acrobatic rider
vies to snatch free a fox pelt from the clutches of the other.
At one point I counted 35 jeeps lined up on the terrace overlooking
the wrestling. There were very few vans, but lots of motorcycles, and
probably 200-300 horses. A conversion is underway, but clearly motor
vehicles are on the upswing. I noticed few women on horseback. All
young men were on horses and carry the Kazakh crop when riding
about––a badge of manhood, it seems.
Our ride home began with a look at a large burial ground with many
Turkic and Pazyryk mounds all looted and robbed of top stones for
26
Fig. 33: B2-2 Argali sheep
gold ornament from Pazyryk
burial
road or bridge construction. The ride home was
uneventful and a great dinner of beef, potatoes,
carrots, and folded Kazakh pasta was waiting.
Monday July 4th
A special day, and not just because of the U.S.
holiday. At noon Bayaraa called his wife who was
ready to give birth and found he had a second son
born two days before! And from our perspective it
was a banner day because he lifted the apparently
undisturbed cover logs from his Pazyryk burial and
found a piece of gold leaf adhering. Below, lying
on a bed of small cobbles, were decayed remains of Fig. 36: Tsengel governor’s party with dig team
many organics including birch bark, felt (probably),
and a fine (though crushed) ceramic vessel with
the typical Pazyryk spiral and zig-zag punctate pricks on the neck. There were many pieces of
unidentifiable gold leaf and––most special––two silver-dollar-sized argali sheep heads, also typical
of Pazyryk decoration. The log crypt was decayed but intact. Unfortunately, it can’t be dendro-dated
as it is too far gone (there was no frost in the grave) and all other wood was mush. Strangely, no
human bones were present––very unusual for a Pazyryk grave. The grave itself was aligned E-W.
The single, entire horse was laid out along the north side of the tomb, facing east. Bayaraa had sent
Tugsoo to tell us that gold had appeared, and we thoroughly enjoyed the scene of discovery. Dave
Edwards covered it all with photography. Now we need to keep this news of gold from the herders,
or we will return next summer to find the other graves looted.
At the pond site we began working on the grave (?) and standing stone, hoping we can make some
useful finds. The wind was raging from the SW, making dirt fly everywhere. Pretty uncomfortable
work, but at least no rain––at least not until evening, when sleet fell and it suddenly grew cold again.
Some July 4th!
After dinner we had a visit from the Governor of Tsengel sum
who had seen us yesterday when he presided over the Naadam.
He seemed quite interested in our work. He is also concerned
about site preservation and the need to educate the herders
about preservation. We offered to prepare some posters and
to do a museum or school display. For his part, he said he
would appoint a local warden for this area. Hard frost tonight?
Sleet and snow even here at lake level, and in the morning
our tents were frozen and new snow cover lay far down the
mountainsides.
Tuesday July 5th
Frosty morning. My tent was coated with ice much of the
night and couldn’t flap in the wind. By morning the wind had
died completely and the bright sun was stunning. No clouds
all morning, either. At the pond site we continued the elusive
search for a burial in the large stone pile, to no avail. I finished
27
Fig. 35: B2-5 Stone Man site, F1,
view NW
collecting burned bone and charcoal from the
central pit, which reached 30cm deep. All tiny
calcined bones, mostly of bird, I think. Many of the
slabs on the surface around the site seem to have
been broken from their settings in the southwest
wall when a cobble line was built.
Last night, the Governor mentioned that some
locals had told him that two large black helicopters
(shades of the Osama bin-Laden raid?) had landed
at our camp in the wee hours and took things
away! And that we were digging up skeletons with
big heads! Amazing how rumors fly!
Fig. 37: Excavating Pazyryk grave feature
Lunchtime today was the first time warm enough
for people to shower and wash clothes in many days. Will was planning to jump into the lake. Did
he? Yes, and found it cold but exhilarating. Archaeologically, the afternoon was not very productive.
Bayaraa thinks his Pazyryk skeleton was looted and carried off by being placed above the bottom
logs he found undisturbed, and that the grave goods had been hidden below it, not with the body. The
upper part of the grave was definitely disturbed. So, if this was the intent, it may have worked. Our
pond site did not give up any more secrets. We found nothing in the ‘grave’ stone feature or around
the standing slab. So, toward the end of the day we checked out the four-enclosure Turkic Stone Man
site north of Biluut 2 and will dig one of these next.
The entire day was great weather, and we had a pink sunset and new moon in the evening. Richard
gave a good lecture overview of the project and the drivers went for gas. We heard today that the
park director will provide our permit and back us up, if the officials of the other day cause any
trouble. We have only five or six working days left. Lots of snow remains on the mountains from
last night’s fall. A few fish were caught, but not enough for a general meal. I had a young attendant
for my shaving today: the young daughter of our cook and driver. Intensely curious, she studied my
every move, then, just at the right moment, handed me my towel!
Wednesday July 6th
Good weather all day today. We spent the morning backfilling the pond site and working on Shine’s
excellent map. We finished at noon, had lunch and went off to start work at the Stone Man Site (B25) out on the plain north of B2. We chose Mound #1, the southernmost, the only one with a face––
though small and incised, not sculpted, on its east-facing side. There are four stone man units here,
but the other three are just standing slabs or are broken off, like #4, the northern one. The enclosure
#1 had been destroyed by looters, but we chose it anyway, hoping to find some means to date it. Our
hopes were high when Andrew immediately found a piece of thick ceramic in the turf; but that was
the last artifact we found. The vertical slabs that formed the square enclosure were all torn up and
scattered about, barely allowing us to determine its original form. We were pleased, however, to find
quite a bit of charcoal beneath the rocks and slabs, and a few pieces of bone, including a cow or yak
tooth. We presume these will date the construction rather than its destruction. The date turned out to
be cal. AD 540 to 640 (cal. BP 1410 to 1310). It was not clear whether the other three units had also
been trashed. But since these supposedly Turkic features are known not to be burials or have artifact
deposits, yet have almost always been found trashed, it makes a good argument for the desecration
28
hypothesis: breaking a clan’s leadership or claims to land via
ancestral rights legitimized by ritual sites.
At lunchtime a jeep full of friends of Dave Edwards from
Flagstaff appeared, creating a flurry of greetings. One was
his personal doctor who had teamed up with a kayaker and
river guide who were scouting river trips to offer clients from
home. They had two kayaks, and after running several rivers
in Bayan Ulgii were off to check out the waterways west of
Aral Tolgoi.
Thursday July 7th
Jagaa left for Ulgii this morning. He’ll be competing in the
archery competition there. Another fine day. We returned to
the standing man, and Shine undertook to map the entire site
including the three unexcavated portions, doing her usual
fine job. Yesterday she and Will dug some test pits east of
the constructions in an attempt to see whether other activities Fig. 38: Re-excavating looter’s pit at
B2-6, view W
might be occurring off-site as we found in the case of deer
stones. But they found nothing. They also counted and
mapped the standing bal-bal stones that had been erected in long lines east of the four enclosures.
While this was going on Elissa, Andrew, and I tested the center area of a hillside mound/pavement
(Biluut-2-6) that Dan Cole had found, and ended up spending a day on this project. It had been
looted, and some huge rocks including a granite capstone were askew in the central arena. We found
some large slabs that had served as retainers, but otherwise the pit was filled with jumbled rocks and
slabs tossed in by the looters. Occasional small pieces of bone and quite a lot of charcoal [a dating
sample produced cal. BC 1890 to 1740 (cal. BP 3840 to 3690)]. We found a marmot skeleton 75cm
below the surface, but no culturally modified material. No human bones turned up. We finally had
to quit when we found charcoal in what seemed like sterile gravel in the east side of the pit, and
because we did not have enough time or manpower to extend the pit to the east. Who would want
to be buried here, or memorialized here on the side of a hill, unless, like the old Nain shamans in
Labrador, they wanted to keep an eye on their friends or enemies. This site makes a good argument
for view-shed siting of graves.
On the way home we met Dave’s kayaking friends returning from the Aral Tolgoi rivers. They were
in a rush and could not stop for the night as planned; we could all see the huge storm brewing up
black in the west that pushed them on. After supper the storm hit. But it must have mostly grazed
us, for after an hour of wind and rain the sky cleared to a rosy sunset. I called Lynne and found her
ready for her Prouty charity bicycle ride on Friday. After months of difficult training she’ll be glad to
have it behind her, saddle sores and all.
Friday July 8th
Bayaraa had started work on a site up in the Khuiten Gol gorge where Dan and I had surveyed
a mound we hoped would be early Bronze Age. We finished backfilling the Hillside Site and in
the afternoon I worked on notes. Bayaraa stayed back also, working on a summary report to the
governor on our activities. Called Lauren in the evening and found her well, though a bit lonely in
an empty office with Igor and Stephen away at meetings. She has got the Women’s Council grant
29
for Inuit Studies Conference submitted and is
working on Quebec plans. No special news.
Saturday July 9th
Dan, Elissa, Andrew, and I went to check on
sites Dan found while surveying. At the Khuiten
Gol delta we re-visited a mound/pavement I
had seen in 2009 and found a potsherd and a
biface midsection of quartzite. Perhaps this
is an early feature––something for next year?
Along the ‘East Bay Shore’ we mapped several
khirigsuurs and found a nice deer stone of
granite, with brow band, circles with pendants,
Fig. 39: Biluut team at East Bay 3 deer stone, view
dagger, quiver, a bow, an axe, and a ‘face’
NW
of three slashes. Better yet, it had two hearth
circles which produced C-14 and burial bone:
cal. BC 1050 to 910 (cal. BP 3000 to 2860). The DS was lying on the NE edge of the mound, and the
khirigsuur had four radial spokes and hearths. In the ‘East Bay Plain’ on the isthmus further east, we
examined a large square khirigsuur with spokes to its corners and lots of hearths, from one of which
we later got a C-14 sample. It dated to cal. BC 970 to 960 (cal. BP 2920 to 2900), and cal. BC 940
to 820 (cal. BP 2890 to 2770). I thought we also had a horse burial in one mound, but this did not
appear upon excavation.
Several tourist groups passed and one stopped for a swim at the gorgeous sweeping beach section I
call ‘East Bay,’ or ‘Khoton Waikiki.’ A group of horse trekkers with two camels passed westward.
A fierce wind blew up in the evening just as we dug up and recorded the deer stone, but most of
the rain stayed on the other side of the lake. Bayaraa’s group returned with news of “no burial” for
his new mound. A van and driver appeared from Blue Wolf with our final food re-supply and to
help drive us home to Olgii in a couple of days. These past two evenings the Mongolian students,
especially, have been starting to exhibit the ‘end of project’ psychology, with late-night poker games,
clothes and body washing, and anticipation of their coming project with a German dig. They’ve been
a great and hard-working bunch. Fishing for grayling has become their favorite pastime, using live
grasshoppers as lures. Luke and Will have been the team’s cross-overs, learning more Mongolian
and partying or playing together (soccer, American football, and cards) more than anyone else. The
vodka hit the group the other night and many were spacey the following day––especially James, who
could barely lift a trowel!
Sunday July 10th
This morning we went back to East Bay to draw the deer stone, check some of Dan’s hillside
sites, and look for a horse head burial. The latter was a bust; but we erected the deer stone and
saw some strange stone structures in the higher, hidden canyons and hollows created by glacial ice
and outwash. The East Bay herder dwelling had two new log cabins hidden up behind the main
house, which was seasonally abandoned now. Big stones, rectangular and U-shaped structures that
can’t be dwellings but might relate to herding and pasturing. There’s even more: Dan had found,
a complex set of boulder lines and enclosures that we did not have time to inspect. (We passed a
similar complex on the east side of the road after leaving Khoton and Khurgan Lakes en route back
to Tsengel on our way out). For this work we need an ecological anthropologist to work with the
30
herders on clarifying such issues. Unfortunately, the
herders mostly leave our area of Khoton Lake for
moister areas to the west and north for the summer,
retiring here during the fall and spring.
Everyone turned out this afternoon and started packing
up the finds and archaeological gear. The latter we
hope to store at Canat’s, where Dave keeps his horsetrekking dear. Richard was totaling up the project
expenses and discovered that we’re about $2K over
budget. Perhaps we can find that sum in some other
Fig. 40: East Bay 3 view S
areas, like by saving on storage. The guys did well
fishing, catching almost 40 today. Bayaraa was the champ with around 30. After dinner Dan and
I climbed to the summit of Biluut 1 and took in the spectacular 360-degree view. Petroglyphs are
found all the way to the top, including some modern images (a quite nice fox, for example). At the
highest point a high-walled windbreak has been erected on top of an old mound or ovoo. Close by
are two very old slab mounds. We waited all day for the ranger who was supposed to ‘inspect us,’
but he never showed. We’re mostly concerned about the park director’s injunction not to make any
‘new roads,’ which we have, in fact, done at almost every archeological site we’ve worked here.
We’ve done our best to minimize, and to repair, our environmental impact. But, of course, a certain
amount is unavoidable. What they need to do is to get tough on the locals who are poaching timber
and game from the forest––not to mention the damage they are inflicting by overgrazing. Recently
a big meeting with government representatives was held in UB; archaeologists, both Mongolian and
foreign, gave the officials hell for over-policing archaeological projects while letting looters operate
with impunity.
Monday July 11th
The weather is still holding. We left camp after breakfast to look around the country on the south
side of the lake, beyond the army base at Sirgal. Two vans and no lunches. Richard had been over
here back in 2004 and remembered seeing lots of Turkic sites. We didn’t have far to go before
spotting a man-stone, this one of granite and with its head broken off. During the next two hours we
visited many Turkic sites in the low-lying peninsula between Khoton and Kurgan Lakes: man stones,
slab enclosures with long bal-bal lines and numerous mounds, mostly looted (see the list below).
Bayaraa says that little is known about the archaeology of the Turkic period, because most of these
monuments contain no artifacts and few burial mounds have been located. Most of the archaeology
may be limited to their urban sites. Richard located a single small khirigsuur in a fold of the low
ridges.
Brief surveys on the southern, far side of Khoton Lake beyond the Army base noted the following
sites and features:
a looted Pazyryk or Turkic mound;
2x3 Turkic boxes;
a 2x3 Turkic box with bal-bals;
three enclosures, with two headstones and bal-bals aligned at 095 degrees;
another single enclosure to the south with bal-bals aligned 095 degrees;
a tall (2+ meters) green man-stone with granite boulder circle features to its east;
31
two Turkic squares 75m to the south of the ‘green man’;
a looted Pazyryk mound with granite bal-bals aligned 095 degrees;
three looted graves with 75m boulder lines aligned 280 degrees extending from a central mound;
three looted Pazyryk mounds with four bal-bals;
a single, small circular khirigsuur in a fold of the nearby low hills.
We had to ford some glacial streams running down from the Altai Nuruu; all were a bit tricky to
negotiate, and one, in particular, easily proved to be the most difficult of the summer. Part of our
plan was to find the park official who had to stamp our permit, and Bayaraa had heard that he would
be attending a wedding in this area. Groups of horses and jeeps were converging on a location up
in the tree-covered slopes, and after some false starts we located the wedding. It appeared to be a
big affair; several hundred people were gathered in a clearing at the edge of the forest. We were
immediately ushered into the ornate wedding ger, which was decorated beautifully with colorful
Kazakh wall hangings, tuffs of dyed wool, and treasures of all kinds, including old family photos.
Our host was a biology teacher from Tsengel’s school, a charming, attractive woman and gracious
host. We were welcomed like royalty and treated to bowls of milk tea, cheeses, biscuits, and sweets.
Sounds of the wedding service quickly lured us outside where a final wrestling match had just ended
and the wedding party was arranging itself before an elder. The young couple looking exceedingly
uncomfortable––the bride in a fancy frilly white gown and the groom in an ill-fitting gray suit, white
shirt and tie, with too-long trouser bottoms draped over his shoes. With the bridesmaid and best
man they had to remain standing in the middle of a large fenced enclosure throughout many long
speeches, interspersed with scratchy streaks of recorded music, and a hot sun. There were oaths,
a ring exchange, and even an awkward bride and groom waltz. All in all, it seemed a strangely
westernized ceremony and quite unlike the Mongol version. Airag was served to the guests, seated
or standing around in a circle.
Since this was a Naadam day also, there was wrestling and horse racing, and vendors spread out their
wares. The whole array was outstanding. The herders to a person were curious and wonderfully
accepting of the party crashers. No one minded our constant photo-taking. Before leaving, as gifts
were presented, Richard and I presented the newlyweds with a gift of 25,000 tugriks (about $20) and
offered much-applauded speeches of congratulations on the MC’s microphone. In the meantime,
Bayaraa had managed to locate the park official and so we at long last obtained the required approval
and signature.
Fig. 41: Nadaam Wedding
On the way back to camp, Kassim tried to score points on
Canat in the other van by trying to beat him home with
a reckless, high-octane cut-off where the track diverged
for a short space in the lakeside dunes. We bounced off
the rutted verge and very nearly flipped over! Kassim
casually waved off our protests and beat Canat to the spot
where the tracks merged. At camp we devoured our late
lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon washing clothes,
taking showers, and relaxing. I began an inventory of
finds. In the evening Dan and I retraced our steps to the
summit of Biluut 1, inspecting again the two ancient
slab structures and the tall, recently-built wind break.
Stunning views all around.
32
Tuesday July 12th
Khoton to Ulgii
We were up early to pack, and quickly took
apart the camp. Will and Luke volunteered to
share the delicate task of filling the garbage
pits and privy under Dave’s supervision, and
with a liberal dose of coal ashes saved from our
cooking stove. A team from Canat’s Sagsai ger
camp took apart and hauled off the gers while,
led by Richard’s example, small groups of us
picked up every bit of trash.
On the way out, Bayaraa took a detour to
photograph the grave I had dug at B2-4. There
was an urgent push to get to Ulgii in time to watch the end of the televised national Naadam in
UB. The first part of the trip was fairly uneventful and free of mechanical trouble, and we found
the condition of the road much improved, with many rocks removed and potholes newly filled
with crushed rock in the Hovd River section. We were obligated to stop in Tsengel to have the
sum governor we had met earlier sign off on our permit. To our chagrin, he was in the middle of a
Naadam holiday party, and couldn’t be disturbed; but after an hour of idle waiting, Bayaraa persisted
successfully to get his attention.
Fig. 42: Hospitality in host’s ger at Naadam wedding
The final leg to Ulgii was hot and hard on the vehicles. We had to stop frequently on the big uphill
grades to let the engines cool down. The cook’s daughter, ‘White Falcon’ (“Hello, how are you?
I’m fine”) a delightful little creature of five or six years and a sharp, lightning-quick learner, spent
most of the last hours in the van plugged into James’ iPod. She seemed to enjoy the catchy top
(American) tunes of the past 30 years! Ten hours after leaving camp at Khoton Lake, corresponding
to about six and a-half hours of driving time, we finally arrived at
Canat’s Blue Wolf headquarters. Swiftly unloading our gear into
tidy gers, we jockeyed to get into hot showers. After a splendid
four-course dinner, with cold beer, fruit juices, Cokes or Sprites,
and second helpings, we collapsed into real beds for the first time
in six weeks. No one was counting sheep! In the meantime, the
Mongolians, desperate to catch the national wrestling final, found
a hotel bar where they watched live the final bout. To everyone’s
surprise, and with general approval, two new, young wrestlers rose
to the top of the competition and a new champion was crowned.
The dog howls were mercifully moderate this night, and best of
all, Canat had in our absence installed wi-fi in the gers. I happily
announced my re-introduction into cyber-world.
Fig. 43: White Falcon, the cook’s
daughter
Wednesday July 13th
Our last day in Ulgii was for clean-up and packing. Our UB
freight van departed after breakfast, transporting specimens and
gear and carrying Tugsoo and the three Mongolian students as
passengers. Richard paid everyone and squared up with Canat,
33
with everyone happy on all sides. We are really lucky to
have Canat as our logistics partner. Likewise Bayaraa
and Jagaa, who were not only crucial scientific partners
but bird-dogged the many permit issues that came up
and which we will need to settle earlier next year. Dave
Edwards, an old friend of Canat’s, gave him an earful
about conservation issues and abuses in the National
Park. Such problems have been fairly intractable
because of collusion of unscrupulous officials with the
herders, involving such things as permits-for-votes and
kickbacks from illegal logging, etc. The Ulgii Museum
was closed because the Naadam holiday had been
extended for the entire week; but our students were able
to find handsome gifts (knives, Kazakh embroideries,
Fig. 44: Packing up camp and taking down
and such) in the outdoor bazaar for those back home.
gers
I stored Paula’s and our new generator in Canat’s
basement with Dave Edward’s cache and some of Richard’s gear. In the evening we toasted the
success of the project with cold beers. Beneath a nearly full moon, the pulsing psychedelic lights of
the Ulgii radio tower danced up and down as we closed the doors on our gers.
Thursday July 14th
Ulgii to Ulaanbaatar
Dave Edwards roused us at 6:45 AM with an urgent injunction to be ready to leave for the airport
in eight minutes! This was all-too-reminiscent of Richard’s, Bayaraa’s, and my precipitous
departure from Ulgii in 2009. The plane’s departure was still set for 10:45 AM, but it turned out
that Mongolian president Elbegdorj was arriving on the in-coming flight and we needed to be
through security early. The military put on a grand show on the tarmac, complete with a small band
and honor guard, which we watched through the departure lounge windows. Also on hand was
Mongolian photographer, Octabri, who supplied many photos for the Genghis Khan exhibit, which
is now open at the National Museum. From him we learned that Don Lessem and his family had
traveled to Hovsgol and not Bayan Ulgii, as originally planned.
Friday July 15th
Ulaanbaatar
Lunched with Ed Nef and Orgilma, and Oyunaa Bileg visited me at Zaya’s Hostel. While in UB,
Richard and I also had a lunch meeting with Ambassador Addleton and two of his staff to talk about
the possibility of bringing a Mongolia contingent to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in 2013.
And finally, after many years, I was able to meet Jack Weatherford, who was so helpful when we
were preparing our Genghis Khan catalog. Jack and his wife have a beautiful apartment at the
top of a fancy high-rise a block from the State Department Store where they live for the summer
months, receiving enthusiasts and visiting firemen like me. We spoke about his new passion for old
Mongolian maps which he has been purchasing and donating to Mongolia. This collection may soon
be housed in a new map library in UB. We also spoke of the perennial quest for Genghis Khan’s
grave, a search that has been in the news this summer due to a controversial National Geographic
‘citizen scientist’ promotion involving scrutiny of Google Earth images, a project directed by Dr.
Albert Yu-Min Lin of San Diego State University.
34
PART III
Archaeological Summary, Field Notes and Maps
William W. Fitzhugh
(transcribed by Maegan Tracy)
Sites Studied:
1. Biluut 1-1 Radial Khirigsuur
2. Biluut 1-2 Turkic Ritual Site
3. Biluut 1-3 Pond Site
4. Biluut 1-4 Cleaver Site
5. Biluut 2-1 Old Gummer Stone Coffin Site
6. Biluut 2-2 Missing Warrior Pazyryk Burial Site
7. Biluut 2-3 Child Burial Site
8. Biluut 2-4 Flexed Burial
9. Biluut 2-5 Stone Man Site
10. Biluut 2-6 Looted Hillside Site
11. Biluut 3-1 Stone Boxes Site
12. Biluut 3-2 Empty Grave Site
13. Biluut 3-3 Peat Valley Site
14. East Bay 1 Khirigsuur
15. East Bay 3 Deer Stone Khirigsuur
Study Area
The archaeology of westernmost Mongolia near Mongolia’s intersection with Russia (Gorny Altai),
Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang China is relatively unknown. To date, research in this region of the Altai
Mountains has focused largely on rock art, which is well-preserved on rock surfaces scoured and
polished by advancing and retreating glaciers during the Late Pleistocene. The final retreat of glacial
ice from the Khoton Lake trough probably occurred about 10,000 years ago. After this, sediment
cores from Khoton Nuur indicate that the valley’s vegetation consisted largely of forest cover, under
relatively warm and dry conditions, until about 5,000 years ago. Beginning at that time, drier and
cooler conditions prevailed and the landscape took on a mountain-steppe character similar to that of
the present day, with open grasslands with pockets of forest and shrub (Russian reference).
The few excavations that have been conducted in this area have been directed at its Pazyryk burials,
some of which in higher elevations have remained frozen since interment and thus contain a wealth
of well-preserved organic remains and other archaeological treasures rarely found in other types
of sites in Mongolia. Lying in a trough near the northern edge of the Altai Nuruu, the Khoton
Nuur region contains a series of freshwater lakes whose waters are fed throughout the summer by
snowmelt, glaciers, and springs. During the summer the region receives copious rainfall, making
it a highly desirable area for forest animals and steppe grazers, and following the inception of
animal domestication ca. 5,000 years ago, for animal husbandry. The purpose of the Khoton
Lake archaeological project is to explore the culture history of Khoton Nuur and its neighboring
35
N
Aral Tolgoi
2011 Project Sites
East Bay - 3
East Bay - 1
Clargal Center
Fig. 45: 2011 overview of project sites.
environment, to record the rich rock art of the Biluut hills on the northern shore of Khoton Lake, and
to attempt to link the area’s long history of human occupation with the rich record of rock art.
The Mongolian and American archaeology team conducted excavations at 15 sites and surveyed
most of the environs of the three Biluut hills within a 10 kilometer range of our base camp.
Following are preliminary findings and observations from our 2011 fieldwork.
Surveys and Settlement Patterns
In addition to excavations, extensive GPS-based foot surveys of the entire Biluut region were
undertaken. Several hundred khirigsuurs, burial mounds, and other types of ritual sites were
identified, mapped, and described. In addition, we mapped and described many recently-occupied
ethnographic camps and conducted interviews with herders to determine land-use patterns, seasonal
nomadic movements, and environmental features that could inform our archaeological and rock art
studies.
Summary
The archaeological aspect of the Biluut 2011 Project produced a large trove of data from a variety
of settlement, ritual, and mortuary sites dating from Paleolithic to modern times. More than a dozen
sites were excavated––most dating to Early Bronze through Iron Age and Turkic periods (ca. 30001000 BCE). Charcoal and animal bone dating samples and human remains were obtained from most
36
Biluut - 3-2
Biluut - 2-6
Biluut - 2
Biluut - 2-4
N
Biluut - 2-5
Biluut - 2-3
Biluut - 1-2 Biluut - 2-1
Biluut - 3-1
Biluut - 3
Biluut - 1
Biluut - 1-1
Biluut - 3-3
Biluut - 1-3
Base Camp
Fig. 46: 2011 project sites.
of these excavations. Mapping data will provide broad environmental context for archaeological
excavations and rock art documentation. Although artifact recoveries were minimal (Khoton Lakearea mortuary ritual seems to have been accompanied by scant material culture manifestation), the
extensive evidence of mortuary, ritual, and settlement sites from the Biluut region provides important
archaeological context for the huge corpus of rock art in the surrounding hills. Radiocarbon dating
of 2011 finds and a second season of excavation and surveys will undoubtedly provide equally rich
returns.
Site Descriptions
(On following pages).
37
Biluut 1-1 Radial Khirigsuur (GPS N48° 39.078’ E88° 19.087’ 2188m elevation)
This Late Bronze Age khirigsuur (burial mound) is located on a terrace halfway up the south slope
of Biluut 1, at N48° 39.078’, E88° 19.087’, 2188m elevation. The khirigsuur has a 40cm high, 7m
diameter central mound and is surrounded by a 13.1m diameter fence of small boulders. A small
Eurasian-style deer stone with three slashes on its ‘face’ stands near the northwest edge of the central
mound, 350° from mound center. The deer stone is 50cm high, 33.5cm wide, 27cm thick, and was
found leaning south. The khirigsuur has four radials located at 040/220° and 140/320°. We found
skin or bark near the SE radial intersection with the edge of the center mound and charcoal just
north of this radial’s intersection with the mound. Outside the fence on the northwest side are two
small circular stone hearth rings (SHR-1 and 2). Excavation of these ritual hearths rings produced
calcined sheep and/or goat remains, and charcoal from SHR-1 produced a radiocarbon age of cal.
3130 to 2850 BP (Beta-306033). The mound contained a single poorly-preserved human burial,
probably male, without artifacts, in a shallow depression in the center of the mound. Ashes and
charcoal around the edges of the central mound indicated that the earth beneath the mound had been
excavated 40-50cm deep and ritually prepared by fire before the interment was made.
Finds:1. Hammerstone: 5.33S 4.40E, 2. First ash deposit (not collected) 4.19N 5.55E, 3. Skin/bark
under slab in E radial 4.73N 4.83W, 4. Charcoal from ash deposit in outer mound at 6.03N 4.05W.
Fig. 47: B1-1 Feature 1 hearth, view N
Fig. 48: B1-1 Feature 2 hearth, view S
Fig. 49: Biluut 1-1 khirigsuur, view SW
38
-14
-19
-10
-18
-9
-18
+4
-1
-13 -16
DATUM
-6
-12
-3
-9
0
-5
Biluut 1-1
June 8th 2011
Feature 2
N 48° 39.078
E 88° 19.089
-6 0
+2
-22
0
50cm
1m
N
+5
-4
-15 -19
-23
-3
-14 -23
-9 -1
-17
+2
-24
-19
-1
-10 -4
-2
+1
-22
-19
-21
-13
-15
-7
-17
-10
-11
-6
-9
-2
Outside measurements taken at ground level; inside measurements taken at base of excavation.
Feature 1
1.5
1
0
50cm
1m
0.5
DATUM
Fig. 50: Biluut 1-1 feature 2 map.
39
0
Round Rock
Flat Slab
FCR
Charcoal and Burned Bone
Burned Bone Fragments
Fig. 51: Biluut 1-1 skeletal remains, view W
Fig. 52: Biluut 1-1 khirigsuur, deer stone with threeslash face, (after removal from mound for photograph)
Deer stone
Biluut 1-1
June 8th 2011
N48° 39.078
E88° 19.087
2188m
0 50 1m
N
Radials located at 040/220° and 140/320°
Fig. 53: Biluut 1-1 distribution
40
Biluut 1-2 Turkic Mounds
(GPS N48° 39.329’, E88° 19.493’, 2093m elevation).
In the valley northeast of Biluut 1 five circular boulder pavements are found aligned north-south.
We cleared and excavated the center-most pavement, Feature 3, finding numerous animal bone
fragments, including horse canines, and a single iron-tanged knife. Charcoal and animal bones
were found from the surface to the bottom of the stone fill in the center of the mound, about 60 cm
deep. At first we believed this and its adjacent mounds might be a set of Pazyryk burial structures.
However, in the absence of other artifacts or any indication of human remains or interment, we
interpret this and the adjacent features as a probable Turkic ritual site without a burial. A radiocarbon
age of cal. 1350-1290 B.P. came from a horse tooth.
Fig. 55: Biluut 1-2 charcoal sample location
Fig. 56: Biluut 1-2 mound 3 surface rocks cleaned
Fig. 54: Biluut 1-2 mound 3, view SE
41
Biluut 1-2
June 13th 2011, Surface Map
N 48° 39.330, E 88° 19.501
Elevation: 2090m
0
50cm
N
Flat Slab
6
1m
5
4
3
2
1
DATUM
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Fig. 57: Biluut 1-2 mound 3 map
42
5
4
3
2
1
7
5
17
1
B
DATUM
2
0
1
Biluut 1-2
June 13th 2011, Finds Map
N 48° 39.330, E 88° 19.501
Elevation: 2090m
0
18
15
50cm
1m
N
Finds:
2
1-7 found above rock pavement in
27
21
14
grey ashy soil
30
25
19 28 31 6
8
12
1. Bone fragments, 3cm bd
24 22
2. Horse tooth fragment, 3cm bd
23
13
3. Small mammal scapula/limb bones
3 4. Large joint bone
29
9
5. Small bone fragment
6. Small burned bones (n=4)
7. Small epiphysis bone
4
8-21 found below first rock layer
10 11
4 8. Sheep/Goat jaw bone fragment
20
9. Bone fragment
10. Horse tooth
3
11. Joint frag. 11cm bd
West Profile
12. Fragment of horse tooth
5 13. Small epiphysis bone
A
14. Mammal foot bone
27. Sheep/Goat teeth, 29cm bd
15. Small bone frag.
28. Charcoal sample, beneath northern slab, 43cm bd
16. Iron belt buckle
29. Bone frag. 27cm bd
17. Bone fragment
30. Bone fragments (n=5), 28cm bd
18. Charcoal from underneath large rock, 27cm bd
31. Iron knife blade, from brown stained soil w/charcoal
19. Horse(?) cranium frag. 27cm bd
flecks, 36cm bd
20. Vertebra fragment, 24cm bd
21. Horse tooth, 22cm bd
21-31 found below 2nd rock layer in tan gravel/sand Misc. Bone fragments collected from SE backfill pit. Below
thin level was grey gravelly sand in West side of feature and
22. Horse incisor, 20cm bd
tan-brown sandy silt in East half, all sterile. No evidence of
23. Bone fragment, 20cm bd
human burial. Possible ritual site involving sheep/ goats,
24. Horse canine, 22cm bd
horse canines, and a knife; perhaps used in a sacrifice ritual
25. Horse canine, 32 cm bd
and attributable to Turkic.
26. Bone fragments, 30cm bd
Sterile Loess
Cultural Level
Rocks
June 15th 2011, Profile
West Profile at 1.5m W
A
B
Excavation
6
5
4
3
Fig. 58: Profile and map.
43
0
1
2
1
0
Biluut 1-3 Pond Site
This is one of the more prominent sites in the Biluut area, and is the only one with a standing stone
in a square enclosure of slabs to be found with a grave and a large rectangular structure. The standing
stone is of metagreywacke and in pretty sound condition. The stone is unusual in having a number of
iron inclusions in it’s broad SE/NW faces. [Later we found other slabs with similar iron inclusions].
The grave looks like it’s been looted and has many large rocks on the surface that were probably
originally underground. It may have been disturbed both recently and in antiquity. The rectangular
feature is prominent on the surface, outlined by a series of small standing stones and slabs on the
NW, NE, and SW sides. It is outlined on the SW (long) side by a neat alignment of rounded cobbles.
There are a few internal slab features as well and the cobble line has a 60cm cluster of cobbles
at it’s NW end, and a circular hearth enclosure near its SE end. There were no obvious internal
features visible on the surface. Upon excavation we found that this structure has two chronological
components; the first being the slab rectangle, and a later phase when the cobble feature was
superimposed on it, overlaying and crushing some of the slabs. We collected 3 charcoal samples on
July 2nd. Sample #1, from the SE corner of a round arrangement of small cobbles about 70-80cm in
diameter. The rock adjacent to this sample was blackened and spalled by heat and this helps to assign
this sample to the later cobble construction. Sample #2 appeared 5cm below the surface as a black
stain in the tan soil, with a few small fist-sized cobbles scattered below 10cm. The charcoal-stained
soil with some small chunks continued down in a vertical cylinder about 10-15cm in diameter
and became more concentrated at greater depth. Why this charcoal is found this way is difficult to
Fig. 59: Biluut 1-3, Pond Site, view NW
44
understand; it is as though a small hole was packed with pure charcoal. The rest of it is powdery and
without much wood structure. We have a small bag of charcoal chunks and more as a soil sample.
Sample #3 lay close to the surface appearing similar to Sample #2 at first, but it only consisted of
a small amount. Both the samples seem to belong to the rectangular structure rather than the later
cobble line, in part because Samples #2 and #3 are nearly precisely in the center of the structure and
are not associated with the cobble line. About one meter to the SE of Samples #2 and #3 I found a
small metal disc that may be a coin, which looks like a button with no holes. It is quite light, but has
a coppery corrosion appearance on its edge. It was found about 5-8cm from the surface, below the
turf in tan sandy soil; the only artifact found in this site. The charcoal sample gathered from Feature
1 produced radiocarbon dates of cal. 3820-3800 B.P. and cal. 3730-3620 B.P.
Fig. 60: B1-3 ‘grave’ feature, view NW
Fig. 61: B1-3 cobble hearth (Feature 1) view N
Fig. 62: B1-3 standing stone with rocks cleaned, view N
Fig. 63: B1-3 Feature 2, charcoal sample #2,
profile view
45
6
5
4
3
2
1
DATUM
Biluut 1-3
July 1st 2011
Pond Site
0 Surface Map
1
2
3
4
5
Feature 1
Feature 2
Feature 3
x
Fallen
Vertical
Slab
Metal disc/coin
6
7
8
9
10
Cobble/Round Rock
Flat Rock
Standing Stone
Inclined Slab
Charcoal Sample
10
9
8
11
12
7
13
14
15
16
Fig. 64: B1-3 Pond site.
46
0 50cm 1m
N
Biluut 1-4 ‘Cleaver’ Site
On the hillside adjacent to Biluut 1-2 we found large amounts of broken quartzite adjacent to a
geological outcrop of quartzite. Most of the flakes and chunks of quartzite were natural weathering
products, but some had been worked into scrapers and in one case, into a cleaver-like Early
Paleolithic implement. Given the presence of Late Paleolithic artifacts of flint and other finegrained rock found on the Biluut hills, the possibility of early hominin occupations deserves further
investigation.
Fig. 65: Biluut 1-4 hillside site
47
Biluut 2-1 ‘Old Gummer’ Site
(GPS N48°39, E88°19) High on the hillside across the B1-2 valley we excavated a circular
pavement of unusually large boulders. A boulder-filled pit extended deep into the ground, leading
to a rectangular slab-walled and covered chamber. Butchered sheep/goats were found outside the
chamber walls and inside, more animal bones and the skeleton of an old toothless individual. A few
fragments of ceramic and decayed wood were recovered from a “last meal”. A charcoal sample gave
a radiocarbon date of cal. 2340-2150 B.P.
Biluut 2-1
June16th 2011
Surface Map
0
50cm
1m
N
6
5
4
3
2
1 DATUM
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Fig. 66: Biluut 2-1 Surface Map.
48
Fig. 67: Biluut 2-1 upper burial pit, view NW
Fig. 68: Biluut 2-1 stone coffin with collapsed cover slabs and sheep bones outside east wall, view E
49
Biluut 2-2 Missing Warrior Pazyryk Site
East of the Biluut 2 hill on the west bank of the Khuiten Gol river are a series of large boulder
mounds whose form suggested 2500 year old Pazyryk culture affiliation. One of the more intactappearing mounds was selected for excavation. In a deep pit in the sandy subsoil were remains of a
rectangular log chamber. Along the north outside wall of the chamber were the bones of a horse with
an iron harness bit and remnants of wooden harness decorations. Other animal remains were found
outside and inside the chamber. Beneath a log floor, thought to have been the bottom of a looted
burial, were remains of a Pazyryk-style ceramic vessel, masses of decayed felt, and small pieces
of gold foil, some retaining the repoussé images of argali sheep—a common element in Pazyryk
harness decoration. Human skeletal remains were missing and may have been removed by looters,
who never discovered the sub-floor cache. A radiocarbon date on a horse tooth returned a date of cal.
2120-1980 BP.
Fig. 69: Horse skeleton from Pazyryk burial, view S, photo by Dave Edwards
Fig. 70: Remains of log chamber beneath Pazyryk burial box floor, view S, photo by Dave Edwards
50
10
Fig. 71: Biluut 2-2 Pazyryk Site
12
8
6
4
2
DATUM
51
10
8
6
4
2
0
Vertical Slab
Small Cobbles
N
0 50cm 1m
Biluut 2-2
Pazyryk Site
June 20th 2011
Surface Map
Biluut 2-3 Child Burial Site
A low pavement mound 4.5m in diameter south of the horned peak Biluut 2 covered a slab feature
surrounded by large long border rocks. In a shallow depression beneath the slabs was an extended
burial lying on its right side, oriented N-S. Charcoal samples were recovered but no burial goods
were found. A human phalange produced a radiocarbon date of cal. 3210-2990 B.P.
Biluut 2-3
Child Burial Site
June 20th 2011, Surface Map 1
0
Flat Slab
5
4
3
2
1
50cm
DATUM
1m
N
0
1
2
3
4
5
Fig. 72: Biluut 2-3 Map 1
52
Fig. 74: Biluut 2-3 mound with surface rocks cleaned, view W
Fig. 73: Biluut 2-3 burial slabs exposed, view W. photo by Dave Edwards
53
Biluut 2-3
Child Burial Site, Map 2
June 21st 2011
0
Flat Slab
5
4
3
2
1
50cm
DATUM
1m
N
0
1
2
3
4
5
Fig. 75: Biluut 2-3 Map 2.
54
Fig. 76: Biluut 2-3 coffin beneath capstones
4W
3W
Biluut 2-3
‘Child’ Burial
June 21st 2011
DATUM
1W/1S
2W
0
-28
-33
-29
6
1 7
4
3 2
5
-31
-28
-34
2S
-23
-26
98
-18
-26
3S
-20
-22
-25
-31
-21
-27 -31
Measurements indicate cm below datum
Finds in bold
Fig. 77: Biluut 2-3 ‘child’ burial Finds.
55
4S
50cm
1m
N
Finds:
1. Small bone frag. 41cm bd
2. Small lump of organic material 40cm bd
3. Finger bone, 42cm bd,
sampled for C14
4. Finger bones (n=2), 43cm bd
5. Finger bones (n=2), 50cm bd
6. Skull, 44-48cm bd
7. Incisor, 49cm bd
8. Toe bone, 48cm bd
9. Toe bone, 48cm bd
Top of skull, 44cm bd. Top of
pelvis, 49cm bd. Bottom of
pelvis, 57cm bd. Left knee,
54cm bd. Right knee, 53cm bd
Biluut 2-4 Flexed Burial Site
A small 1.5m diameter circular boulder feature north of the horned peak of Biluut 2 produced an
irregular slab-lined grave beneath three large slabs. The skeleton was flexed on its left side with its
head toward the east. No artifacts were found. A human bone gave a radiocarbon date of cal. 33403160 B.P.
Fig. 79: Biluut 2-4 2nd level rocks, view N
Fig. 78: Biluut 2-4 burial in flexed position, view S (trowel points north), photo by Dave Edwards
56
3W
2W
1W
DATUM
0
Biluut 2-4
June 15th 2011
Flexed Burial Site, Map 1
0
1S
50cm
1m
N
Round Rock
Flat Slab
Vertical Slab
Inclined Slab
2S
3S
3W
2W
4
2
1W
0
1S
1
3
5
2S
3S
Fig. 80: Biluut 2-4 Maps 2 and 3.
57
Maps 2 and 3
Finds:
1: Tarsal, big toe bone, 46cm bd
2: Tarsal, big toe bone, 46cm bd
3: Right clavical, not intact
4: Rib fragment, 46cm bd
5: Tarsal, small toe bone, 46cm bd
Top of skull, 36cm bd
Top of ribcage, 46cm bd
Ankle bone, not articulated, 45cm bd
Lump of yellowish organic material,
possible thin iron blade embedded,
47cm bd
Decayed bone fragment, 27cm bd
Charcoal sample, burial level, E of
right femur, 46cm bd
Biluut 2-5 Stone Man Site
In the plain northwest of B2 we excavated the southernmost (F1) of four square slab-bordered Turkic
ritual enclosures having standing stones on their east sides. This feature had been looted, but we
recovered a piece of plain ceramic, charcoal, and numerous animal bones. Its standing stone had a
crudely-carved human face on its east side, and a row of vertical bal-bal slabs extended many meters
to the east. The other enclosures with standing stones and bal-bals were mapped but not excavated.
A charcoal sample from Feature 1 produced a radiocarbon date of cal. 1410-1310 B.P.
Fig. 84: Biluut 2-5, pre-excavation, view SW
Fig. 82: Biluut 2-5 stone man, view NW
Fig. 81: Excavation of Biluut 2-5, photo by Dave
Edwards
Fig. 83: Biluut 2-5, 2nd level rocks, view SE
58
0
40
(excavated)
F1
F2
F3
F4
Biluut 2-5
Stone Man Site
Map 1
July 6th-7th 2011
0 1m
N
10
50
20
60
30
70
40
80
(for extension see right column)
Fig. 85: Biluut 2-5 Stone Man Site Map 1
59
Standing Stone
Vertical Bal-bal Slab
Fallen Slab
50cm Test Unit
Study Area
Excavation Area
1
C3
4
60
6
1
2
C1
Charcoal Distribution
Charcoal Concentration
Standing Stone
Vertical Slab
Inclined Slab
Flat Rock
Round Rock
Excavation area
Stone
Man
3
Fig. 86: Biluut 2-5 Stone Man Site Map 2
0
1
2
3
Finds:
1: Ceramic sherd, found in turf
2: Bone fragment, found in turf
3: Tooth, found in turf
4: Bovid (yak?) tooth, 10cm bd
5: Horse (?) tibia fragment 10cm bs
6: Scapula (?), unknown species, 8cm bd
7: Small bone fragment, 10cm bd
4
C4
3
C2
5
4
2
7
5
6
Charcoal Samples:
C1: General sample
C2: Bottom cultural level
C3: Shinesuren Sample
C4: W.F. Sample
Broken off
at base
0
50cm
1m
Biluut 2-5
Stone Man Site
Map 2
June 7th 2011
N
61
7
C3
2
4
6
C2
C1
3
2W
2W
C4
Stone
Man
2N
4N
DATUM 0
1
Finds:
Charcoal Samples:
1. Pot sherd, turf
1. General collection
2. Bone fragment, turf
2. Excellent material, Andrew
3. Tooth fragment, turf
3. Shine
4. Bovid/Horse tooth, cultural deposit 10cm bd
4. Near Stone Man, W.F.
5. Horse (?) tibia fragment, cultural deposit 10cm bd
6. Scapula, unknown species, cultural deposit
7. Small bone frag., cultural deposit
4W
5
4W
Fig. 87: Biluut 2-5 Stone Man Site Map 3, Feature 1
Charcoal Dist.
Charcoal Conc.
Standing Stone
Vertical Slab
Inclined Slab
Flat Rock
Round Rock
6W
6W
0
50cm
N
1m
Biluut 2-5
Stone Man Site
Map 3, Feature 1
July 6th 2011
Biluut 2-6 Hillside Site
This large circular pavement of slabs and rocks is situated on a 20° slope on a hill overlooking the
B2 plain. Looters had excavated the central feature, leaving large slabs scattered on the surface. We
excavated the central feature, hoping to find human bones or grave goods. A few non-human bones
and a large amount of charcoal were recovered. A C14 date of cal. 3840-3690 B.P. was returned.
Biluut 2-6
Hillside Site
July 8th 2011
Map 1:
Surface Rocks
Slope: 30°
(not to scale)
0 1m 2m
Test
Pit
Downhill
N
Round Rock
Flat Slab
Round Cobble Fence
Vertical Slab
Marmot Skeleton
Inclined Slab
2
DATUM
1
-25
-35
70°
Map 2: Test Pit
0
0
75°
1
-75
-35
-55
Charcoal
Sample
-65
-15
Measurements indicate cm below surface
2
50cm
1m
Excavated to -95cm ending in yellow gravelly
soil, but discovered patches of charcoal and small
pieces of schist even at a depth that otherwise
seemed sterile. Marmot skeleton found at -75cm
at base of large rock. Edge of pit ran behind large
rock in SW corner starting at -40cm. Small bones
were discovered starting about -15-25cmbs.
Bones were scattered throughout in brown/tan
soil, like spots of charcoal. Fill included boulders
and slabs in upper levels, few slabs were found at
lower levels. ‘Grave’ pit extends to East beyond
our excavation wall. Photo of charcoal lenses
depicts upper lens at -55cm and lower lens at
-65cm. Retaining wall slabs extend to
~60-70cmbs.
Fig. 88: Biluut 2-6 Hillside site Maps 1 & 2
62
Biluut 3-1 Stone Boxes Site
On the east bank of the Khuiten Gol across from the Pazyryk mounds (B2-2) we excavated a circular
pavement feature that appeared to be a burial. However, below the center of the pavement we
found two small slab boxes with stone covers 30cm apart. The boxes were empty except for mouse
remains. These boxes, which is all respects except their miniature size resemble full-size slab burial
coffins, may have been used for ritual burials or possibly for pre-natal burials. The space inside the
boxes was too small even for late-term fetuses. The sample produced a C14 date of cal. 920-780 B.P.
Fig. 89: Biluut 3-1 mound with gathering storm overhead, view NW
Fig. 90: Biluut 3-1 stone boxes and possible seats, view N
63
6
5
4
3
2
DATUM
1
0
1
2
Biluut 3-1
Stone Boxes Site
June 27th 2011
Surface, Map 1
N 48° 39.137 E 88° 21.642
Elevation: 2118m
0
50cm 1m
N
3
4
5
Round Rock
Flat Slab
Gravel
Rodent Run
5
4
3
2
DATUM
1
0
1
FEA. 1
1
FEA. 2
2
3
4
Datum is 13cm above ground surface
1: Small fragment of bone ~12cm bd in gravelly tan soil.
Possible human finger bone- possible C14 date.
Feature 1- Top: 3cm bd, Bottom: 26cm bd, Orientation: 320°
Feature 2- Top: 10cm bd, Bottom: 30cm bd, Orientation: 320°
Fig. 91: Biluut 3-1 stone boxes, surface Map 1
64
This mound is a low feature that consists
more of a pavement than a built-up mound.
A second layer of cobbles and boulders
existed in some areas however, and there
were slabs beneath the surface rocks,
including a few in the outer edge of the
pavement. The northwest sector has very
gravelly soil; the rest is primarily tan sand.
All but a few rocks are river cobbles. The
form of the pavement is more round than
rectangular, but this may result from rocks
being displaced from their original
position, especially in the NW; a
rectangular structure may have been the
original form. A rodent hole was found
inside the ring rocks in the NW quadrant.
Map 2
Features 1, 2
Other than the mound rocks, which were mostly river
cobbles except for a few slabs in the north and
northeast edges of the mound, there was nothing
distinctive about the mound. The only cultural
features were the two slab-walled and covered boxes
and two slab rocks just inside the ring perimeter
NNW of the boxes. These were set slightly below
ground level and beneath the first level of mound
rocks. Both box features were empty when top slabs
were removed. One single slab covered Fea. 1 and
several arranged crosswise to the box in Fea. 2.
Nothing inside boxes but mouse nest vegetation. The
function of the boxes could not be determined, but a
possible function is internment for two very young or
premature infants. Why no human bones were
preserved may be due to the shallow nature of the
boxes. NW slabs could have been “devotional seats”
for grieving parents.
65
310cm
380cm
10m
1m
Flat Rock
Vertical Slab
Inclined Slab
50cm
N
Fig. 92: Biluut 3-2 Empty Grave Site
Mound
10m
8m
0
Biluut 3-2
Empty Grave Site
Biluut 3-2 Empty Grave Site
Small empty grave that Bayaraa dug.
Biluut 3-3 Peat Valley Site
A few meters east of a small stream running between Biluut 3 and Broken Rock Mountain
(Angarkhai Uul) to the east, in a region we called ‘Peat Valley’ because of the presence of a
large deposit of peat in an expansion of the stream bed at the north end of the valley, we found a
rectangular structure with an unusual internal configuration. The site lies on the east side of the
stream, about 20 meters from the stream bed, adjacent to a circular burial mound composed of large
boulders. A circular rock arrangement adjacent to the east side of the mound was tested without
positive results. However, the rectangular structure proved to be very interesting, having dimensions
of 6.5m x 7m, with its external walls composed of parallel lines of cobbles three stones wide laid
down in parallel courses. An opening in the west wall suggested a doorway. A circular cobble hearth
ring occupied the center of the structure, and in this hearth we recovered a large amount of calcined
small mammal bone, possibly of rabbit or marmot, and charcoal. At least two and possibly more reuses of this hearth was indicated by internal stratigraphy. In the north center interior of the structure
a large stone, without any markings, stood erect, possibly not associated with the original structure.
However, integral with the structure’s architecture were four 1.5m x 0.75m troughs, two aligned
east-west extending from the west and the east walls north of the central hearth and two similarlyplaced troughs south of the hearth. Each trough was composed of a several large slabs inclined into
the bottom of the trough from the north and south sides, each having small cobbles in the trough
interiors. No charcoal or bone remains were found in the troughs. However, we recovered small
flakes of chert in a cultural level from 0-5cm below the surface, where a fragment of a microblade
core and a small scraper were also found. A cursory metal detector survey around the outskirts of the
site produced two pieces of melted bronze, suggesting the possibility of a metal-working component
in the site area. The western edge of the burial mound along the east side of the rectangular structure
appeared to override (i.e. to post-date) its eastern wall. Charcoal from the central hearth produced
a date of cal. 3900 BP. Other than chert flakes, charcoal, and bone fragments no other cultural
materials were recovered inside the structure. The architectural form is unusual—no other examples
of such a structure are known from Mongolia. The troughs with cobbles might represent heating
facilities, but did not appear scorched or fire-cracked.
Fig. 93: Peat Valley Site Biluut 3-3, surface cleared, view W
66
Biluut 3-3, Peat Valley Site
June 24th-27th 2011
0
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
vertical
schist slab
50cm
DATUM
1m
N
0
Burial
Mound
1
1
Test Pit 2
charcoal,
FCR, flakes
15cmbs
2
(disturbed
area)
47cm
granite
standing
stone
FEA. 2
2
FEA. 3
3
A
fallen
schist
standing
stone
D
FEA. 1
4
B
5
C
Test Pit 1
25 cmbs
FEA. 5
FEA. 4
3
(disturbed
area)
shale
standing
stone, 17cm
4
5
(excavated to sterile
inside features)
6
6
7
7
A - B Profile view East
Bedrock
Vertical Slab
Burial Mound Rock (intrusive)
Naturally Occurring Rock
Inclined Slab
Flat Rock
C - D Profile view Southeast
8
Burial Mound immediately to E of structure and some of its rocks have rolled
down the NE side of the structure. E wall is incomplete due to cannibalization
for building burial mound. Two standing schist slabs along E wall are probably
associated with the burial mound, which also has a schist standing stone in its S
side. High granite standing stone may also be a mound feature.
Fig. 94: Biluut 3-3, Peat Valley Site
67
Topsoil
Topsoil with burned bone
Charcoal with burned bone
Central Hearth: East Profile at 4W
A
350S
325S
375S
Biluut 3-3
June 24th 2011
Hearth Profiles
Red fired earth, no bone
Compact tan with burned bone
Rocks
400S
B
425S
450S
25
25
50
50
75
75
Measurements in cm
C
0NW
Central Hearth: Southeast Profile
50NW
100NW
D
150NW
25
50
Measurements in cm
Notes for B3-3: The ‘Peat Valley Site’ is located where the Peat Valley stream emerges from a narrow gorge below the
peat bog upstream. The site includes a burial mound with large rocks and a couple of standing stones of metagreywacke, neither with markings. Adjacent to the mound to the East is a boulder ring about 6m in diameter that we tested,
finding nothing. Adjoining the mound on its West side we found a rectangular structure clearly outlined by cobblestone
walls 80-100cm thick composed of three lines of cobbles with spaces filled with small round pebbles. A doorway is
indicated by a break in the middle of the West wall. Perhaps this is a foundation for a peat or turf wall. An oval ring in
the center if the structure contained burned bone, possibly marmot or rabbit, charcoal, and in its SE side some hardened
burnt earth, possibly from oil or fat. Four E-W oriented troughs bordered by inward-slanting slabs occupied each of the
four quadrants of the structure and were attached to its walls. A few flakes and bits of charcoal were found in one (Fea.
4). The troughs were shallow and do not penetrate the subsoil. Boulders from the mound had fallen into the NW corner
of the structure and some of its wall rocks were missing on the East side, cannibalized for building the mound. Some
slabs from the troughs had been displaced. Test pits 1 and 2 produced debitage of flint and other materials in the same
level as charcoal and burned bone, suggesting an occupation level 8-10cmbs. Eroded flat-topped boulders also suggest
an original ground surface at the same level. Twenty-five flakes, a microblade core, and several core preparation flakes
were found. We were able to link these to the hearth deposits because we found burned bone and charcoal in the buried
soil surface in Test Pit 1 to the east of the hearth. Most of the flakes found were in the NW area of the structure, and it
was here that the core and linear flakes were located. Current guess is that this is a Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age
structure when microblades were very thin and still in use but not many other stone tool types were being used. It is
interesting that the hearth seemed exclusively filled with marmot/rabbit bones and not sheep/goat etc. Perhaps some
ritual use. The hearth seemed to have been used several times and initially had been formed as a larger size and later
was reduced by adding two stones inside its west end. The function of the troughs is the most peculiar thing about the
site; four identical features, symetrically placed and carefully made. We only excavated two, numbers 2 and 4, and
found a few flakes and a tiny bit of charcoal in #4. They are too complex to be partitions and were not burials. Feeding
troughs for animals perhaps? Drinking troughs? But then they should have been waterproofed, and they were only set
in sandy soil.
Fig. 95: Central Hearth East Profile
68
Fig. 96: Biluut 3-3 microblade
core
Fig. 97: Biluut 3-3 hearth base
Fig. 100: Biluut 3-3 Test Pit 2 cultural level at old ground surface
Fig. 101: B3-3 hearth, consolidated
mass in SE
69
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
4
10 22
1
23
2524
Test Pit 2
4
21 19
18
17
5
Test Pit 1
15
7
6
9
8
11
12
7
Unexcavated
8
Also found burned bone and
charcoal from ~8-10cm bd
1. Metal sprue, possible bronze
2. Metal sprue, possible bronze
3. Chert microblade core, surface
4. Linear chert flake, 2cm bd
5. Green chert flake
6. Green chert flake
7. Grey chert flake
8. Grey chert flake, turf
11. Orange chert flake, turf
12. Grey chert flake, soil
13. Grey chert flake, soil
14. Grey chert
15. Brown chert flake, 15cm bd
16. Grey chert flake, 16cm bd, at
level of large rock
17. Tan quartzite flake, 10cm bd
18. Chalcedony linear flake, 9cm
bd, possible microblade
22. Tan chert linear flake
23. Core preparation flake
24. Core flake, 10cm bd
25. Core flake, 10cm bd
4
3
22
N
2 Finds:
3
13
16 14
0 50cm 1m
1
5
20
Biluut 3-3
June 24th 2011
Finds
DATUM
1
0
23
25
24
Fig. 102: B3-3 finds
70
East Bay 1 Khirigsuur
On a sandy point east of EB-1 and under the shelter (east) of a rocky hill that forms a prominent
point in the lake shore, is another large circular khirigsuur with a large central mound and many
hearth circles outside of the fence line. This khirigsuur had at least 18 external hearths, and the one
we excavated produced charcoal dated cal. 2720-2750 B.P. No bone remains were present.
Stone Hearth Circles
Excavated (charcoal+
burned bone samples)
3
Sandy gravel hill
4
5
6
7
8
9
2
10
East Bay-1
Khirigsuur
July 9th 2011
Hearth Circles Map
(not to scale)
11
N
12
13
1
14(?)
15(?)
16
Possible
buried
hearth rings
18
Bearing to Mound Center:
1. 152°, 7 rocks, disturbed
6. 220°, 8 large rocks, one moved out to ‘open’ ring
7. 226°, 9 rocks, undisturbed
8. 228°, 10 rocks, undisturbed
9. 233°, 7 rocks, disturbed, one missing
17
10. 247°, 10 rocks, disturbed, two missing
13. 265°, 9 rocks, three piled in center recently
14. 315°, 3 rocks
15. 320°, 4 rocks
16. 334°, 8 rocks
17. 22°, 4 rocks
18. 42° 5 rocks
Fig. 106: East Bay-1 Khirigsuurs, Hearth Circles Map
Fig. 103: East Bay 1, hearth 7
completed
Fig. 104: East Bay 3, view S
71
Fig. 105: East Bay 3, hearth 1
completed
East Bay 2
(No description).
East Bay 3 Khirigsuur
East of the mouth of the Khuiten Gol a raised terrace extends east for a kilometer before descending
to a lower terrace that slopes gradually up from the lake shore to the hills to the north. The higher
terrace hosts several site complexes, including a large khirigsuur (Site 333) and a set of Turkic ritual
features and some distance to the east a group of smaller khirigsuurs and mounds that have not yet
been surveyed. The lower terrace to the east holds several groups of sites which we include in the
East Bay series, mostly khirigsuurs, of which four are conspicuous for their large size and careful
arrangement. The two western-most of these khirigsuurs were not investigated in 2011, but the
third to the east, East Bay 1, was a large circular khirigsuur with four radial spokes that had circular
hearths on its northwestern side and a fallen granite Eurasian-type deer stone partially buried at
the eastern edge of its central mound. We excavated two of the hearth circles, recovering charcoal
and calcined bone in each. One of these samples was dated at 3000-2860 B.P. We excavated the
deer stone and found it measured 110cm x 27cm x 18cm, with engravings of a brow band, two
earring circles with pendants, a face with three slashes, and a single-groove belt with a suspended
axe, dagger, gorytus (quiver), and whetstone. This stone appeared to have fallen from its standing
position at the east edge of the mound. The date obtained from the hearth circle must also date the
deer stone.
East Bay-3, Khirigsuur
Deer Stone
July 9th 2011
(Exposed side in situ)
Height: 110cm, Width: 27cm, Length: 18cm
Fig. 107: East Bay 3, Khirigsuurs, Deer Stones
72
Fig. 109: East Bay 3 deer stone back in original position, view NW
Fig. 108: East Bay 3 deer stone upright, view NW
73
PART IV
Report on the 2011 Khoton Lake Project in Mongolian
Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan
National Museum of Mongolia
Оролцогч байгууллагууд:
Монголын Үндэсний Музей
ШУА-ийн археологийн хүрээлэн
АНУ-ын Смитсоны хүрээлэн
АНУ-ын Зүүн Теннеси их сургууль
Монгол-Америкийн хамтарсан археологийн судалгааны
ангийн 2011 оны товч тайлан
Тайлан бичсэн: .............................. Ж.Баярсайхан MA
(Монголын Үндэсний Музейн
Судалгааны албаны дарга)
............................... Вильям Фицью Ph.D
(АНУ-н Смитсоны хүрээлэнгийн
Арктик судлалын төвийн захирал)
.............................. Д.Шинэсаран MA
Эрдэм шинжилгээний ажилтан)
.............................. Г.Бүрэнтөгс BA
Эрдэм шинжилгээний ажилтан)
74
БАТЛАВ:
Ж.САРУУЛБУЯН /МҮМ-н захирал, доктор/
МОНГОЛЫН ҮНДЭСНИЙ МҮЗЕЙН БАЯН-ӨЛГИЙ АЙМАГТ АЖИЛЛАХ
ХЭЭРИЙН СУДАЛГААНЫ АНГИЙН УДИРДАМЖ
Судалгааны ажлын зорилго. Монголын Үндэсний Музей нь 2011 оноос эхлэн
АНУ-ын Зүүн Теннеси их сургууль болон Смитсоны хүрээлэнтэй хамтран
“Билүүт –Хотон нуурын хадны зураг бүхий цогцолбор дурсгалт газар” нэртэй
эртний судлалын төслийг хэрэгжүүлэх гэрээ байгуулан ажиллаж байна. Энэхүү
төслийн хүрээнд Баян-Өлгий аймгийн Цэнгэл сумын нутаг Хотон нуур- Билүүт
толгойн хадны зураг болон уг дурсгалт газрын орчим дахь булш, хиригсүүр,
тахилгын байгууламжуудыг судлахаас гадна Баян-Өлгий аймгийн нутаг дахь
буган хөшөөдийг гүнзгийрүүлэн судлах зорилготой.
Дурсгалын ерөнхий байдал. Цэнгэл сумын нутаг Билүүт толгой (Хайргат) нь
Баруун Монголын нутаг дахь хадны зурагтай томоохон дурсгалын нэг юм.
Араатан амьтан, ан гөрөө, дайн байлдаан, ахуй амьдралын зэрэг сэдэвтэй хэд
хэдэн үед холбогдох сийлбэр зурагтай бөгөөд Монгол Алтайн хадны зургийн
дурсгалуудын томоохон төлөөлөл . Мөн Билүүт толгойн орчим буюу Хотон
нуурын сав газар нь Хүрэл зэвсгийн сүүл, Төмөр зэвсгийн эхэн үед холбогдох
пазырыкийн үеийн булш, буган хөшөө, хиргисүүр, Түрэгийн үеийн тахилын
онгон, бичээс зэрэг арвин их дурсгалтай газар юм.
Судалгааны арга. Тус судалгаанд олон улсын жишигт нийцсэн орчин үеийн
архелогийн судалгааны арга, барилыг ашиглан ажиллахын зэрэгцээ байгалийн
шинжлэх ухааны зарим арга, техник технологийг тохируулан хэрэглэнэ.
Судалгааны ангийн бүрэлдэхүүн
Монголын талаас :
Төслийн ерөнхий удирдагч
Ж.Саруулбуян (Монголын Үндэсний Музейн захирал, Ph.D, дэд профессор)
Төслийн хээрийн судалгааны ахлагч
Ж.Баярсайхан (Монглын Үндэсний Музейн Судалгаа, үзүүллэг, зохион
байгуулалтын албаны дарга)
Я.Цэрэндагва (ШУА-ын Археологийн хүрээлэнгийн эрдэмтэн нарийн бичгийн
дарга Ph.D, дэд профессор)
Төслийн судлаачид
Д.Шинэсаран (Монглын Үндэсний Музейн ЭША)
75
Г.Бүрэнтөгс (Монглын Үндэсний Музейн ЭША)
Эрдэм шинжилгээний туслах ажилтан
МУИС-ийн Археологийн ангийн 4 оюутан
Туслах ажилчин
Тогооч 2 хүн, жолооч 4
АНУ-ын талаас:
Судалгааны ангийн ахлагч
Вильям Фицью, Ричард Кортум нар
Судалгаа хийх хугацаа. 2011 оны 6-р сарын 4-ны өдрөөс мөн оны 7-р сарын
14 хүртэл ажиллана.
Хөдлөх хүч
Бага оврын автобус -4
Зорчих чиглэл. Судалгааны анги нь Улаанбаатар-Баян-Өлгий- Цэнгэл сум –
Билүүт – Баян-Өлгий- Улаанбаатар
Судалгааны урьдчилсан үр дүн. Тус шинжилгээний анги нь төлөвлөсөн
зорилгын дагуу хадны зургийн дурсгал болон буган хөшөө, булш, хиргисүүр
зэргийг лавшруулан судлаж хадны зураг болон буган хөшөөдийн хуулга авах,
тухайн дурсгалуудын үүсэл гарал, он цагийн хамаарлыг гүнзгийрүүлэн судлах,
судалгааны үр дүнгээр илтгэл өгүүлэл бичиж хэвлүүлнэ.
Удирдамж боловсруулсан: ..................................Ж.Баярсайхан
2011-5-23
76
Судалгааны ажлын явц
Тус судалгааны ангийн бүрэлдэхүүн 2011 оны 6-р сарын 4нд Улаанбаатар
хотоос Өлгий хотод ирж, тэндээсээ 6-р сарын 5нд Баян-Өлгийн аймгийн Цэнгэл
сумын нутаг Хотон нуурын сав Билүүт буюу Хайргат толгойн ойролцоо ирж
буув.
Бид судалгааны ажлаа 6-р сарын 7-ноос эхлэв.
B1-1 буюу Билүүт буюу Хайргат толгойн өмнөд дэвсэг дээрх
хиригсүүрийн малтлага судалгаа:
Энэхүү дурсгал нь Билүүт-1 толгойн(судалгааны дугаар) өмнөд дэвсэг дээр
GPS-ийн N 48°39.078 E088°19.087 цэгийн огтлолцол дээр далайн түвшнээс
дээш 2188 метрийн өндөрт орших дугуй хүрээтэй хиригсүүр юм. Уг
хиригсүүрийн дугуй хүрээний голч 13,1 м, голын чулуун овоолгын голч 7м,
өндөр нь 50 см орчим, баруун хойд талдаа хүрээ чулууны захаас 5-6 метрийн
зайд зэрэгцээ хоѐр цагираг хэлбэрийн тахилын байгууламжтай. Голын чулуун
дараасны хойд захад чулуугаар манаж тогтоосон жижиг буган хөшөөтэй. Буган
хөшөөний байрлалыг харахад сүүлд хүмүүс дахин босгосон бололтой (зураг 1).
Зураг 1. Билүүт толгойн өмнөд дэвсэг дээрх хиригсүүр баруун талаас
Уг хиригсүүрийн чулуун овоолго дээр байсан буган хөшөө нь хөх саарал өнгийн
чулуугаар хийсэн 60 см өндөр, 35 см өргөн, 27 см зузаан. Хөшөөний нүүрэн
талын орой хэсэгт гурван ташуу зураас сийлэн гаргаснаас өөр ямар нэгэн
дүрслэлгүй. Хөшөөний орой хэсэг болон хажуу хэсгээрээ бага зэрэг хаганд
идэгдсэн(Зураг 2).
77
Зураг 2. Хиригсүүр дээр байсан буган хөшөө
Энэхүү дурсгалыг малтан судлахаар
сонгосон шалтгаан нь Баруун Монголын
нутаг дахь хиригсүүр-буган хөшөөний
соѐлын зан үйл, холбогдох он цагийн
тодруулах түүнчлэн энэ толгойд буй
хадны зургийн дурсгалтай холбогдох
ямар нэгэн түүхэн баримт илрүүлэхэд
оршиж байв.
Бид хиригсүүрйн үндсэн хүрээнээс
гадагш 30 см зайнаас дотогш талбайн
бүх өнгөн хөрсийг хуулж малтлагаа
эхлэв. Түүнчлэн хиригсүүрийн баруун
талд буй хоѐр цагираг байгууламжийн
өнгөн хөрсийг хуулж малтав.
Энэ
төрлийн тахилгын байгууламжийг бид
судалгаандаа 2-р хэлбэрийн тахилгын
байгууламж хэмээн нэрлэж ирсэн юм.
Тахилгын байгууламж 1.
Энэхүү тахилгын байгууламж 10 ширхэг том чулууг цагираг хэлбэрт оруулан
өрсөн 144 см голчтой. Хиригсүүрийн хүрээ чулууны захаас баруун хойш 5,07м
зайд оршино (Зураг 3). Уг тахилгын байгууламжийн гадуур 2х3м талбайд утас
татаж малтлага хийхэд газрын өнгөн хөрснөөс доош 10-15см гүнд чулуун
цагирагны төв болон өмнөд хэсгээс шатсан модны нүүрсний маш жижиг
хэсгүүд, мөн шатсан ясны маш жижиг хэлтэрхий цөөн тоогоор гарснаас өөр
зүйл илэрсэнгүй(Зураг 4).
Зураг 3.
Зураг 4.
Тахилгын байгууламж 2.
Уг тахилгын байгууламжийг мөн 10 ширхэг чулуун тойруулан цагираг хэлбэрээр
өрж үйлдсэн бөгөөд хиригсүүрийн гадна талын хүрээнээс 5,9 м зайд оршино.
Нөгөө тахилгын байгууламжаас хойш 236 см зайд байх ба 164 см голчтой
(Зураг 5). Уг байгууламжийн хүрээнд 2х2.5 м талбайд малтлага хийхэд дээрх
байгууламжийн нэгэн адил өнгөн хөрснөөс доош 10-15 см гүнд чулуун
78
цагирагийн өмнөд хэсэгт илэрсэн хэсэг хар хүрэн хөрснөөс шатсан яс, модны
нүүрсний жижиг хэсгүүд олдов (Зураг 6). Үүнээс өөр ямар нэгэн эд өлгийн зүйл
илрээгүй.
Зураг 5.
Зураг 6.
Хиригсүүрийн малтлага:
Бид дээрх хоѐр тахилгын байгууламжийг малтахын сацуу сонгосон талбайд
хиригсүүрийн өнгөн хөрсийг цэвэрлэж дуусав. Өнгөн хөрсийн хуулж цэвэрлэж
дууссаны дараа уг хиригсүүр нь голын дугуй чулуун дарааснаас дөрвөн тийш
чулуу өрж үйлдсэн хэрээстэй болохыг олж тогтоов(Зураг 7). Хэрээсний илт
мэдэгдэх хэсгүүдийг луужингаар хэмжихэд зүүн өмнөөс баруун хойш чиглэлтэй
хэрээс азимутын 320 хэм, баруун өмнөөс зүүн хойш чиглэлтэй хэрээс азимутын
35 хэмд тус тус чиглэж байв. Түүнээс гадна хэрээсийг хүрээ болон төвийн
чулуун дарааснаас өөр төрлийн хагарамтгай нимгэн хавтгай хайрган чулуугаар
өрж хийсэн байв. Мөн төвийн чулуун дараасны хүрээгээр дээрхтэй ижил нимгэн
чулуу нэлээд байснаас ажиглахад чулуун дараасны хаяаг хашиж тавьсан
бололтой (Зураг 8).
Зураг 7. Хиригсүүрийн өнгөн хөрсийг хуулж цэвэрлэсний дараа
79
Ийнхүү өнгөн хөрсийг хуулсны дараа талбайн гар зураг үйлдэж, голын чулуун
дараасны гадна хүрээг үлдээж баруун талаас нь эхлэн төв хэсэг хүртэл чулуун
дараасыг зөөвөрлөж, голын зүсэлт зураг хийв(Зураг 8).
Зураг 8. Чулуун дараасны талыг зөөвөрлөсний дараа.
Үүний дараа чулуун дараасны үлдсэн хэсгийг зөөвөрлөхөд чулуун дараасны
төв хэсэгт ямар нэгэн зохион байгуулалт бүхий өрлөг чулуу ажиглагдаагүй
боловч дараасыг зөөвөрлөж доошлох үед хэд хэдэн газар хүний ясны хэсгүүд
цухуйж байв. Тиймээс төв хэсэг дэх хэсэг чулуун дараасыг үлдээж бусад
хэсгийг нягтлан малтав(зураг 9).
Зураг 9. Чулуун дараасны төв хэсэг
80
Малтлагын төвд үлдээсэн чулуун дараасыг зөөвөрлөж цааш малтахад толгойг
нь хойд зүгт азимутын 325 хэмд хандуулан тэнгэр өөд харуулан тэнэгэр
байдлаар хэвтүүлэн оршуулсан хүний араг яс илрэв. Энэхүү хүний яс эрт
цагийн өнгөн хөрсөн дээрээс илэрсэн бөгөөд он цагийн уртад хүний ясны
хадгалалт ихэд муудсан байв (Зураг 10).
Зураг 10. Хиригсүүрээс гарсан хүний араг яс.
Энэ хиригсүүрээс хүний араг яснаас өөр ямар нэгэн эд өлгийн зүйл илрээгүй
бөгөөд тахилга, оршуулгын зан үйл зэргээрээ Монгол орны бусад нутагт малтан
шинжилсэн хиригсүүрээс ялгарах зүйлгүй байлаа. Өнөөгийн байдлаар Монгол
нутагт малтан судалсан хиригсүүрүүдээс хүний яснаас өөр ямар нэгэн эд
өлгийн зүйл илрээгүй хэвээр байгаа билээ.
Малтлагын ажил дууссаны дараа нөхөн сэргээлтийг зохих журмын дагуу
хийж гүйцэтгэв (Зураг 11 ).
Зураг 11. Нөхөн сэргээлт хийсний дараа
81
B1-2 буюу Билүүт -1 толгойн зүүн хойд талд хийсэн малтлага судалгаа:
Бидний судалгааны дугаараар бол Билүүт -1 болон Билүүт-2 хоѐр толгойн
завсар хооронд (Нутгийн хүмүүс Баруун Хайргат, Зүүн Хайргат хэмээн нэрлэдэг
Ж.Б ) байх бэсрэг тогтоол тойрмын баруун хойно, их замын баруун талд баруун
өмнөөс зүүн хойш цувран байрласан Пазырык булш боловуу гэмээр намхавтар
дугуйдуу (зарим нь дөрвөлжин байсан ч байж болох юм Ж.Б) чулуун дараастай
6 байгууламж буй.Эдгээрийн зүүн хойд талаасаа хоѐр дахь нь хэмжээгээр
бусдаасаа нэлээд жижиг. Дурсгал бүрийн чулуун дараас эмх замбараа муутай
нэлээд тарсан, гол хэсгээрээ хонхойсан байв(Зураг 12).
Эдгээр дурсгал GPS-ийн N 48°39.329 E088°19.493 цэгийн огтлолцол дээр
далайн түвшнээс дээш 2093 метрийн өндөрт байрлана.
Зураг 12. Цувраа чулуун байгууламжууд баруун талаас
Бид эдгээр 6 дурсгалын баруун өмнөөсөө гурав дахийг сонгон 6х6,2м талбайд
малтлага хийсэн юм. Уг дурсгал 6м орчим голчтой гаднаас нь харахад дугуйдуу
боловч өнгөн хөрсийг хуулсны дараа дөрвөлжин маягын хэлбэр ажиглагдаж
байв(зураг 13).
Зураг
13.
Өнгөн
хөрсийг
цэвэрлэсний дараа хойд талаас
Өнгөн хөрсийг цэвэрлэх явцад
малтлагын
талбайн
зүүн
өмнөд
хэсгийн
чулуун
дараасны завсраас адууны
шүд болон зарим нэг хугархай
ясны хэсгүүд гарч байв.
Хөрсийг цэвэрлэж, гар зураг
үйлдсэний дараа дурсгалын
төв
хэсгийн
чулуун
дараасуудыг
зөөвөрлөж
эхлэв.
82
Дээд талын чулуун дараасыг авч дараагийн үеийн чулуун дараасыг цэвэрлэх
явцад малтлагын талбайн зүүн өмнөд хэсгээс адууны шүд, дагзны ясны
хагархай хэсгүүд гарч байв. Түүнчлэн нэг том чулуун дараас дороос их
хэмжээний нүүрс гарсны сацуу төмрөөр хийсэн охор хутга гарав(Зураг 14-15).
Энэ хутга газрын өнгөн хөрснөөс доош 30 см орчим гүнээс гарсан.
Зураг 14. Хоѐр дахь үеийн чулуун дараас (Алаг сум тавьсан чулуун дороос хутга
гарсан )
Зураг 15. Малталгаас гарсан төмөр хутга
Малтлагыг доош үргэлжлүүлэн малтахад ямар нэгэн булшны нүх илрээгүй
бөгөөд удалгүй эх газрын ул хөрс гарснаар малтлагыг зогсоов (Зураг 15). Мөн
талбайн бусад хэсгүүдийг малтаж шалгахад ямар нэгэн эд өлгийн зүйл
илэрсэнгүй. Дурсгалыг нөхөн сэргээв (Зураг 16).
83
Зураг 15. Малтлага дууссаны дараа
84
B2-1 буюу Билүүт-2 толгойн баруун өмнө талд хийсэн малтлага судалгаа:
6-р сарын 16 ны өдөр бид Билүүт-2 (Нутгийнхан Зүүн Хайргат гэдэг Ж.Б)
толгойн баруун өмнөд дэвсэг дээр орших нэгэн дугуй булшыг малтан судлах
ажлыг эхлэв. Уг булш нь GPS-ийн N 48°39.... E088°19.... цэгийн огтлолцол дээр
далайн түвшнээс дээш .... метрийн өндөрт байрлах ба 6м орчим голчтой дугуй
хэлбэрийн чулуун дараастай(Зураг 17).
Зураг 17. B2-1 дурсгал баруун өмнө талаас
Бид уг дурсгалын чулуун байгууламжийг тойруулан 6х6 талбайд малтлага хийв.
Өнгөн хөрсийг цэвэрлэх явцад баруун хйод талын чулуун дараасны завсраас
ваар савны хагархай, бог малын богт чөмөгний толгой олдов(Зураг 18).
85
Зураг 18. Өнгөн хөрсийг цэвэрлэх үед чулуун дараасны завсраас гарсан олдвор
Үүний дараа бид дээрээс хоѐр үе чулуун дараасыг зөөвөрөлөж, цэвэрлэх явцад
талбайн төв болон энд тэндээс модны нүүрсний том жижиг хэсгүүд гарч байв.
Мөн энэ түвшинд зүүн хойд талын чулуун дараасны завсраас ясан зэвний
толгой боловуу гэмээр нэг эдлэл, баруун өмнө талын чулуун дараасны
завсраас үл мэдэгдэх дугуй хэлбэртэй ясны хэсэг гарав(Зураг 19).
Зураг 19. Малтлагын явцад олдсон ясан эдлэл болон ясны хэсэг
86
Малтлагыг гүн эртний газрын хөрсний түвшинд ирэхэд булшны төв хэсэгт зүүн
өмнөөс баруун хойш чиглэлтэй зууван дугуй нүх илрэв. Уг нүх битүү чулуун
дараастай байв(зураг 20).
Зураг 20. Булшны нүх болон чулуун дараас (Хойд талаас)
Булшны нүхийг даган доош
малтахад том том чулуун
дараас үргэлжилсэээр байсан
бөгөөд малтлагын гүн өнгөн
хөрснөөс доош 60 см орчим
гүн болоход булшны нүхний
баруун хананд хадгалалт маш
муу нарийн модны хэсэг
илрэв (Зураг 21).
Энэ үеийн чулуун дараасны
завсраар доош том хөндий
зай гарч байсан бөгөөд
түүний
завсраар
доош
үргэлжилсэн
том
чулуун
дараасууд харагдаж байв.
Зураг 21. Модны нарийн мод
87
Том том чулуун дараасуудыг авсаар малтлагын гүн 1,2м орчим гүн болоход
авсны таг боловуу гэмээр том хавтгай чулуун таглаа гарч ирэв. Энэхүү хавтгай
чулууны баруун хойд тал буюу толгой талын хэсэг доош цөмөрч унасан
байдалтай байв. Уг авсны таг дээр бог малын хос сүүж, богино хавирга, чөмөг,
өвчүүний яс тавьсан байв(Зураг 22).
Зураг 22. Авсны таган дээр байсан бог малын яснууд
Авсны таг чулууны урт 170 см, хамгийн өргөн хэсгээрээ 90 см хэмжээтэй.
Авсны тагийг авахад мөн авсны ирмэгээс доош мултран унасан хавтгай чулуун
таг байв. Малтлагыг цааш үргэлжлүүлэн авсны хананы гадна талуудыг малтах
явцад авсны зүүн талд нийт 6 хонь, нэг ямаа дагуулан тавьсан болохыг
илрүүлэв. 6 хонины нэг хониноос бусад нь бараг төлөг бололтой. Түүнчлэн нэг
ямаа нь шүдлэн ямаа бололтой. Хонинуудын толгойг бүгд баруун хойш буюу
хүний толгойн чигт чиглүүлэн хошууг нь зүүн зүг харуулан тавьжээ. Харин ямааг
авсны хөл талыг хөндөлдүүлэн мөн л толгойг нь зүүн зүг рүү хандуулсан бөгөөд
ямааны хойд хөлний яснууд зарим хавирга нь авсны баруун өмнө талын булан,
баруун хананы шороон дотроос гарсан болно (зураг 23-24).
Зураг 23. Бог малын яснууд
Зураг 24. Богын толгойнууд
88
Бог малын толгойнууд маш хэврэг болсон бөгөөд дагзны хэсгүүд ихэнх нь
хэмхэрсэн бөгөөд харин бусад яснууд нь харьцангуй сайн хадгалагдан үлджээ.
Авсны баруун ханыг гадна талаас нь дээд доод талд нь тус бүр нэг том
чулуугаар хашиж тогтоогоод тэдгээр хойр чулууны завсарт бог малуудыг шахаж
давхардуулан тавьсан бол авсны бусад ханыг гадна талаас нь битүү чулуугаар
манаж чигжиж тогтоожээ. Хонины яснуудын зарим хэсэг нь шатаж харласан
байсан төдийгүй яснуудын хамт энд тэндээс том том модны нүүрс гарч
байснаас харахад гал түлж, халуун цогийг тарааж цацлан зан үйл үйлдсэн
боловуу гэмээр сэтгэгдлийг төрүүлнэ.
Эцэст нь бид авсны доош унасан таглааг авахад толгойг нь баруун хойш
хандуулан баруун хажуугаар нь хэвтүүлж, нүүрээр нь зүүн тийш харуулан, хоѐр
хөлийг нь атийлган, хоѐр гарыг нь өвдөгний дээр унжуулан тавьсан хүний
оршуулга байв. Хүний бүх яс анх тавьсан хэвээр хөдлөөгүй аж. Хүний гарны
шууны зэрэгцээ зүүн талд бэсрэг зууван хавтгай чулуун дээр хойлогийн идээ
болох бог малын сүүл, асуух нуруу, сүүж, дөрвөн өндөр хавирга, гурван үе
нуруу зэргийг тавьсны яснууд нь хадгалагдан үлджээ(Зураг 25-26).
Зураг 25. Авсан доторх хүний араг яс
Зураг 26. Цээжин хэсэг болон хойлогийн идээ
Уг булшны авсыг хийхдээ доор нь хавтгай чулуунуудыг өрж шал хийгээд түүн
дээрээ хоѐр урт хавтгай, хоѐр богиновтор хавтгай чулууг хавиргалан боосгож,
толгой болон хөл талын хоѐр богино ханыг баруун зүүн хоѐр урт хананы дунд
хавчуулан гадна талаас нь чулуугаар хашиж, түгжиж тогтоогоод дээрээс нь том
хавтгай чулуугаар таглажээ. Уг авсны нийт урт 2м, өргөн нь 80 см, өндөр нь 33
см, үүнээс цэвэр дотор талын зай урт нь 147, өргөн нь толгой талдаа 67 см, хөл
талдаа 57 см хэмжээтэй(зураг 27).
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Зураг 27. Авсны бүтэц
Авсны шал хүртэл малтлагын гүн өнгөн хөрснөөс доош 1,6 м байв. Малтлага
дууссаны дараа зохих журмын дагуу нөхөн сэргээлт хийв(зураг 28).
Зураг 28. Дурсгалын нөхөн сэргээлт хийсний дараа
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B2-2 буюу Билүүт-2 толгойн зүүн хойд талд хийсэн Пакырык булшны
малтлага судалгаа:
Бидний дараагийн ажил Билүүт -2 толгойн зүүн хойно, Хүйтэн голын баруун
эрэг дээр буй Пазырыкын бүлэг булшнаас нэгийг нь сонгож малтан судлах
байв. Хүйтэний голруу зүүн талас тохойрон орсон намхан дэнж хөвөөн дээр
баруун өмнөөс зүүн хойш цувран байрласан нийт 10 булш буй(зураг 29).
Зураг 29. Хүйтэний голын зүүн эрэг дээрх бүлэг Пазырык булш
Эдгээр бүлэг булшнаас зүүн хойд талаасаа хоѐр дахь нь буюу хэмжээгээр
хамгийн том 12м голчтой дугуй булшийг сонгож малтахаар болов(зураг 30).
Зураг 30. Хүйтэний голын зүүн эрэг дээрх бүлэг Пазырык булш №1
Энд буй булш бүрийн дараас нэлээд эвдэрч төв хэсгээрээ хонхойж орсон. 2-р
булш ч мөн дараас нь эндэ тэндээ хонхойж эртний хэлбэрээ алдсанаас
харахад тоногдсон байх магадлалтай байв. Уг булшыг анх бүтээхдээ дугуй
дараасны хүрээг тойруулан нимгэн хавтгай чулууг хавиргалан босгож чулуун
дараасны хөлийг хашиж өрсөн бололтой бөгөөд энэхүү хашилт чулууны зөвхөн
зарим хэсэг нь эртний хэвээр байхад зарим хэсэг нь эвдэрч налж унасан эсвэл
хожим тарсан чулуун дараас доогуур орсон байв(зураг 31).
Бид уг булшны чулуун хүрээг багтаан 12х12,5м талбайд малтлагаа эхэлж өнгөн
хөрсийг хуулж цэвэрлэв.
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Зураг 31. Дурсгалын өнгөн хөрсийг цэвэрлэсний дараа
Өнгөн хөрсийг хуулж зураглал хийсний дараа бид чулуун дараасны төврүү
5х5м талбайн дараас чулууг зөөвөрлөж, өнгөн хөрснөөс йлимгүй доошлоход
талбайн төв хэсэг дэх чулуу шороо холилдсон дараас дундаас том том модны
нүүрс, модны хугархай жижиг хэсгүүд гарч байв. Эдгээрийг харахад уг булш
тоногдсон гэдэг нь тодорхой бөгөөд зарим талаар энэхүү шатсан нүүрс, модны
хугархай зэрэг нь хожмын зйүл ч байж болох байв. Учир энэ түвшинд янз
бүрийн хожмын хог, гэрэл зургийн хальсны өөдөс зэрэг гарч байсантай
холбоотой юм.
Энэ түвшинд голын чулуу шороон дараасыг сайтар цэвэрлэхэд булшны голд
зууван дугуй булшны нүх тод илрэв. Уг нүх уртааш 3,7м, өргөөш 2,4м
хэмжээтэй. Урт тал нь үл нь бараг өргөрөгийн дагуу байрлалтай. Нүхний зууван
урт талын чиглэл азимутын 280 хэмд чиглэж байв. Мөн энэ түвшинд булшны
нүхний баруун хойд захаас сайтар өнгөлж зүлгэсэн нүхтэй чулуун эдлэлийн
хагархай хэсэг олдов(зураг 32).
Зураг 32. Булшны нүх, дараасны завсраас гарсан чулуун эдлэл
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Уг чулуун эдлэл чухам юу болохыг хэлэхэд бэрх бөгөөд магадгүй чулуун зүүлт
юмуу, билүү чулуу ч байсан байж болох юм.
Мөн булшны нүхийг дарсан чулуу, шороон дараасны баруун хэсэг бүхэлдээ
хар хүрэн шатсан хөрстэй байв(Зураг 33).
Зураг 33. Булшны нүхний дараасны дээд хэсгээс илэрсэн шатсан хар хүрэн хөрс
Булшны нүхийг дагаж малтлагыг цааш үргэлжлүүлэхэд булшны нүхний баруун
ирмэг дээр том модон дүнзний үлдэгдэл гарав(Зураг 34).
Зураг 34. Нүхний ирмэг дээрээс илэрсэн дүнзний үлдэгдэл
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Энэ бүгдээс харахад энэ булш тоногдсон болох нь тодорхой болов. Үүнээс
доош чулуу шороо холилдсон дараасыг малтсаар малтлагын гүн өнгөн
хөрснөөс доош 1,3 м болоход булшны баруун булангаас том дүнзний үзүүр
цухуйж доош үргэлжилсээр 1,9 м гүнд хүртэл үргэлжилэв. Энэ түвшинд үүнээс
гадна нүхний хойд талд эмхээ замбараа муутай 3-4 дүнз,мөн нөгөө эсрэг талын
хананы дагуу бас нэг дүнз гарав. Хойд хананы дагуу буй дүнзний зүүн урд
талын үзүүр дороос адууны толгой бололтой яс цухуйж байлаа(Зураг 35).
Зураг 35. Булшны нүхэн доторх эмх замбараагүй дүнзнүүд, дүнзэн дороос цухуйж буй
адууны толгой
Бид адууны толгойтой талын дүнзнүүдийг авч доош малтахад дүнзэн авсны
дагуу бүтэн адууг хэвтүүлж толгойг нь урд зүг рүү хандуулан тавьсан бөгөөд
адууны аманд зэвэрч муудсан төмөр амгай зуулттай байв(Зураг 36,37,38 ).
Зураг 36. Авсны хажууд хэвтүүлэн тавьсан морины арас яс.
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Зураг 37. Адууны толгой, аманд зуулттай төмөр амгай.
Тонуулчид дүнзэн авсыг бүхэлд нь
сүйтгэсэн боловч адууны ясыг огт
хөндөөгүй орхисон байв. Үүний дараа
бид дүнзэн авсны эмх замбараа
муутай моднуудыг хэд хэдэн үе
цэвэрлэж эцэст дүнзэн авсны дүнз
эгнүүлэн тавьж хийсэн шаланд тулж
очив. Өөрөөр хэлбэл авсны шал
хүртэл ямар ч хүний яс, эд өлгийн
зүйл гарсангүй (Зураг 39). Тонуулчид
шалд хүртэл бүрэн тоносон болох нь
илэрхий болов.
Зураг 38. Төмөр амгай
Зураг 39. Авсны шал
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Авсны шалыг сайтар цэвэрлэж зураг авсны дараа бид шалны дүнзнүүдийг
нэг нэгээр нь авахад шалан дороос жижиг чулуу зулж дэвсэн дээр нь авсны
шалыг өрж тавьсан бөгөөд сонирхолтой нь шалан дороос маш сайн хийцтэй
ваар сав гарсан боловч харамсалтай нь хагарч бутарсан байв. Хэдий тийм
боловч уг ваарны бүх хагархай хэсэг тэнд байсан бөгөөд сэргээн засварлах
боломжтой юм(зураг 40). Мөн ваарны хажууханд үл мэдэгдэх мод үйсээр
хийсэн нэлээд том хэмжээтэй эд байсан боловч өгөршиж муудаад авах ямар ч
боломжгүйгээс гадна чухам юу байсан эсэхийг мэдсэнгүй (Зураг 41). Гагцхүү
цэвэрлэж болох хэсгийг цэвэрлэж зураг авснаас гадна дээж авсан болно.
Зураг 40. Шалан дороос гарсан ваар савны хагархай
Зураг 41. Шалан дороос гарсан үл мэдэгдэх модон эдлэл
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Энэхүү булшны шал өнгөн хөрснөөс доош 2,5м гүнд байсан бөгөөд дүнзэн
авсны нийт урт нь 3м, толгой талын өргөн хэсгээрээ нийт 1,3 м, дотор талын
цэвэр зай нь уртааш 2,4м, толгой талдаа өргөөш 1м, хөл талдаа 85см өргөн
байв. Авсыг хийхдээ дүнзнүүдийг үзүүрийг зөрүүлэн, цавчиж заадал гарган
зааж хийсэн байна(Зураг 42). Авсны хананы өндөр чухам хэд байсныг мэдэх
боломж байсангүй.
Зураг 42. Дүнзэн авсны өнцгийн бүтэц (хадгалагдаж үлдсэн хэсэгтээ)
Үүний дараа бид талбайн бусад хэсгүүдийг нягтлан шалгаж, нөхөн сэргээлтийг
хоѐр өдрийн турш хийж гүйцэтгэв(Зураг 43).
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B2-3 буюу дугуй булшны малтлага судалгаа
Бид Билүүт- 2 толгойн баруун хойд талд орших жижиг хадан цохионы урд
талд орших хоорондоо ойролцоо зайтай орших 5 булшны зүүн талаасаа 2 дахь
булш буюу 4.5м гочтой дугуй намхан дараастай булшыг сонгон малталт хийв.
Уг булш нь хүрээгээрээ том чулуун параастай гол хэсгээрээ жижиг чулуун
дараастай, сайтар ажиглаваас үл мэдэг дөрвөлжиндүү хэлбэр харагдана (зураг
44).
Зураг 44. Өнгөн хөрсийг хуулж цэвэрлэсний дараа
Өнгөн хөрсийг цэвэрлэж, дээд талын чулуун дараасыг зөөвөрлөхөд булшны
төвд том хавтгай чулуун дараас, түүнийг тойрсон том гонзгой чулуун дараасууд
гарав(Зураг 45).
Зураг 45. Голын чулуун дараас
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Энэхүү хавтгай чулуун дараасыг авахад газрын өнгөн хөрснөөс доош 50 см
гүнд толгойг нь хойд зүг хандуулан, баруун хажуугаар нь хэвтүүлж баруун тийш
харуулан хоѐр хөли йг нь үл мэдэг атийлган оршуулсан хүний араг яс гарав. Уг
ясны хамт ямар ч эд өлгийн зүйл байсангүй(Зураг 46).
Зураг 46. Чулуун дараас дороос илрүүлсэн хүний араг яс
Үүний дараа малтлагыг дуусгаж, дурсгалын нөхөн сэргээлтйиг хийв(зураг 47).
99
B2-4 буюу жижиг дугуй булшны малтлага судалгаа
Дээр дурдсан хадат цохионы баруун хажууд жижиг дэвсэг дээрхэмжээгээр
маш жижиг хоѐр дугуй булш бий. Энэ хоѐр булшны нэгийг сонгон малтлага
хийв. Уг булш нь хоѐр булшны баруун талынх бөгөөд 3 м голчтой, намхан дугуй
чулуун дараастай(Зураг 48).
Зураг 48. Өнгөн хөрсийг цэвэрлэсний дараа
Өнгөн хөрсийг цэвэрлэж зураглал хийсний дараа хамгийн дээд үеийн чулуун
дараасыг авахад булшны төв хэсэгт гурван том хавтгай чулуун дараасыг
тойрсон жижиг чулуун дараасууд илрэв(зураг 49).
Зураг 49. Хавтгай чулуун дараас
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Эдгээр хавтгай чулуун дараасуудыг авахад үүний дороос хавтгай чулууг
хавиргалан босгож хийсэн чулуун хайрцаган дотор толгойг нь зүүн хйош
хандуулан, заан талаар нь хажуулдуулан хоѐр хөлийг атийлган тавьсан
оршуулга илрэв(зураг 50).Уг оршуулга газрын өнгөн хөрснөөс доош 30 см гүнд
байв. Хүний яснаас өөр ямар ч эд өлгийн зүйл гараагүй.
Зураг 50. Булшнаас гарсан хүний араг яс
Үүний дараа малтлагыг дуусгаж нөхөн сэргээлт хийв(Зураг 51).
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B1-3 буюу Түрэгийн үеийн тахилын байгууламжийн малтлага
Билүүт I – н зүүн урд үзүүрийн бэлд байх жижиг нуурын баруун эрэг дээр
орших зэрэгцээ хоѐр дугуй хэлбэрийн хоорондоо 250 см зайтай битүү чулуун
дараастай тахилын байгууламж үүний баруун талын байгууламжын дараас
чулуу огт хөдлөөгүй анхны байрлалаараа үлдсэн ба үүний дунд чулуун хөшөө
босгосон байна. Чулуун хөшөөний өндөр 131 см, өргөн 46 см, зузаан 13 см хөх
саарал өнгийн чулуугаар хийжээ. Зүүн талын цагарган байгууламжын дараас
чулуу нэлээд эмх цэхцгүй болсон нь магадгүй дээрээ хөшөөтөй байсан бөгөөд
түүнийг дараа нь өөр зүйлд зөөж хэргэлсэн ч байж болхоор зүйл ажиглагдаж
байлаа. Үүний ард 130 см зайнд тэгш өнцөгт хэлбэрийн жижиг босоо чулуун
хашлагатай голдоо чулуун дараасгүй байгууламж байх бөгөөд урт нь 10 м 70
см, өргөн нь 5 м 30 см байна. Дугуй хэлбэртэй дээрээ хөшөөтөй буюу баруун
талын байгууламжын голч 220 см, зүүн талын дугуй байгууламжын голч 240 см
байна.
Байршил: N 48˚39′6.2974″ W 88˚19′40.8701″
Бид энэхүү тахилын байгууламжуудыг нийт талбайгаар нь 18 м х 8 м
харьцаатай талбайд өнгөн хөрсийг хуулж цэвэрлээд дэвсгэр болон Фото
зургыг хийлээ. Малтлагын явцад тэгш өнцөгт дөрвөлжин байгууламжын дотуур
дахин чулуугаар хүрээ хийсэн нь мэдэгдсэн бөгөөд баруун захын
хүрээнээссалгалгүй жижиг чулуугаар үйлдсэн дугуйдуу гурван цагараг байх ба
эдгээрийн дундах байгууламжаас нь маш бага хэмжээний нүүрс гарлаа.
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Нүүрс илэрсэн байгууламж
Малтлагаа цааш үргэлжлүүлж хөшөөтөй болон хөшөөгүй байгууламжаас
нүүрс болон өөр ямар нэг зүйл илрээгүй бөгөөд тэгш өнцөгт байгууламжын гол
дунд 35х35 см гүн 30 см талбайтай хэсгээс их хэмжээний нүүрс маш бага
хэмжээний шатсан яс гарсан бөгөөд ямар амьтны яс гэдэг нь тодорхойгүй
байна. ингээд бидний малтлага дуусч нөхөн сэргээлт хийлээ.
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Тэгш өнцөгт байгууламжын гол хэсгээс илэрсэн нүүрс болон шатсан яс
Нөхөн сэргээлт хийсэн байдал
B2-5 буюу Түрэгийн үеийн тахилын онгоны малтлага
Билүүт II – н ард Арал толгой заставруу явдаг машин замаас холгүй байх
дөрвөн тахилын онгоныг зэргэцүүлэн байрлуулсан бөгөөд эдгээр тахилын
онгоныг үйлдэхдээ дөрвөлжиндүү хэлбэр гарган жижиг хавтгай чулуугаар
хаяагий нь хашиж жижиг бөөрөнхий чулуунуудаар битүү дараас хийсэн байх ба
бүгд урдаа хөшөө чулуутай эдгээрээс нэгд нь л хүний нүүрий дүрс сийлсэн мөн
104
нар мандах зүг буюу зүүн урагш чиглэсэн балбал буюу зэл чулуутай байна.
Эдгээр байгууламжыг бид баруун талаас 1, 2, 3, 4 гэж дугаарлаж дэвсгэр
болон фото зургыг хийлээ.
1 дэх байгууламжын голч 470 см урдаа хүн чулуутай. Хүн чулууны өндөр
105 см, өргөн 32 см, зузаан 18 см хөх саарал өнгийн чулуугаар хийжээ. Хүний
дүрсий толгой хэсэг маш сайн харагдах бөгөөд мөр хэсгийн зураас зүүн гар
бололтой доош татсан зураас мэдэгдэж байна. Зүүн урагш чиглэсэн балбал
чулуу 16 ш бөгөөд эдгээрээс 2 нь босоо бусад чулуу бүгд унасан байдалтай
байна.
2 дох байгууламжын дараас чулуу анхны байрлалаасаа хөдөлсөн бөгөөд
урдаа хөшөө чулуутай ямар нэг дүрсгүй нүүрэн талд нь 1973 он гэж бичжээ.
Өндөр 70 см, өргөн 24 см, зузаан 9 см хөх саарал өнгийн чулуугаар хийсэн
баруун тийш бага зэрэг хазайсан зүүн урагш чиглэсэн балбал чулуу 6 ш 1
чулуу босоо бусад нь мөн унасан байна.
3 дах байгууламжын дараас чулуу мөн хөдөлсөн урдаа чулуун хөшөөтөй.
Хөшөөний өндөр 86 см, өргөн 45 см, зузаан 14 см хөх саарал өнгийн чулуугаар
хийсэн зүүн урагш чиглэсэн балбал чулуу 4 ш мөн 1 чулуу босоо бусад чулуу
унасан байна.
4 дэх байгууламжын дараас чулуу мөн эмх цэгцгүй болсон бөгөөд маш
жижиг хөшөө чулуутай. Хөшөө чулууны өндөр 17 см, өргөн 25 см, зузаан 6 см
хөх саарал өнгийн чулуугаар хийсэн зүүн урагш чиглэсэн балбал чулуу 8ш
эдгээрээс босоо 1 ш бусад нь унасан байдалтай байлаа.
Байршил: N 48˚40′16.5416″ W 88˚19′13.6369″
Бид өөрсдийн дугаарласнаар 1 дэх хүн чулуутай байгууламжыг 6х6 м
хэмжээтэй талбайд малтлага хийж өнгөн хөрсийг хуулж цэвэрлээд фото зургыг
авч дараас чулууг нь аван малтах явцад хөшөөний ард хавийн талбайгаас
маш их хэмжээний шатсан нүүрс гарч байлаа. Мөн малтлагын талбайн баруун
талаас бод малын 1ш далны ясны толгой, 1ш шүд, зүүн талын захаас мөн бод
малын чөмгөний ясны хэсэг олдож өөр зүйл илэрсэнгүй. Түрэгүүд тахилга
үйлдэхдээ ямар нэг зан үйл хийж тал тал тийш нь ямар нэг зүйл өргөсөн байж
магадгүй гэж үзэн эдгээр тахилын онгоны урд 4 м зайд 50 х 50 см дөрвөлжилж
тест малтлага хийж үзсэн боловч маярч соѐлт давхрага илэрсэнгүй тул нөхөн
сэргээлт хийлээ.
105
Түрэгийн үеийн тахилын онгон
Малтаж дууссан 1 дэх байгууламж
106
Тест малтлага хийж дуусч байгаа нь
Нөхөн сэргээлт хийсэн нь
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PART V
Latest Rock Art Research at Khoton Lake, Summer 2011
Richard Kortum
East Tennessee State University
Study site location, and field research dates:
Biluut at Khoton Lake, Altai Tavan Bogd National Park, Bayan Ulgii Aimag. June 6 - July 11, 2011
Rock art team:
Dr. Richard Kortum, Project Co-Principal Investigator, East Tennessee State University, USA
Dr. Yadmaa Tserendagva, Scientific Secretary, Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of
Sciences
Dr. Kenneth Lymer, Wessex Archaeology, Salisbury, England, UK
Jargalsaikhan Baatar (Jagaa), field assistant, Ulgii tour company operator and master’s student in
ethnography, National University of Mongolia
Luke Champouillon, field assistant, undergraduate honors student, East Tennessee State University.
Dr. Lymer, Specialist in rock art of eastern Kazakhstan, worked with the rock art team for three of
the five-week field season.
Photographic documentation and videography team:
David Edwards, photographer, with credits with National Geographic Magazine, USA
James Mills, field assistant, undergraduate honors student, East Tennessee State University
Mapping and GIS support:
Dan Cole, Coordinator of GIS, Smithsonian Institution, USA
Objectives:
In 2007, Kortum’s laser-surveying team documented all the petroglyphs on Biluut 2, middle one of
the three prominent high hills that lie side-by-side in a more-or-less parallel fashion oriented NW
to SE on the eastern side of Khoton Lake. The top priority of this summer’s rock art team was to
accomplish a complete survey and documentation of all rock art elements on Biluut 3. Easternmost
of these petroglyph-bearing hills, Biluut 3 is also the tallest and most massive of the three.
Methods:
Beginning at the lowest southern end of Biluut 3, the team systematically worked its way northward
toward the summit and westward across the southern face, identifying and flagging all petroglyph
elements. Many hundreds of these were found on prominent humps of exposed varnished bedrock;
other, more scattered figures, were discovered after careful scrutiny on smaller, irregular panels
or individual rocks. Larger, more-or-less distinct panels as well as sections of the mountain with
scattered petroglyphs were given alphanumeric designations. The far eastern face of Biluut 3, and
the ridgeline from the lower northern hump of bedrock situated above the upper peat bog up to the
summit, were likewise scrupulously surveyed. This was new territory, not having been examined
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during any of the 2004, 2005, and 2007 surveys; consequently, nearly 1,500 new figures were
discovered on this ‘back’ side of the mountain.
Once a sizeable number of petroglyph figures were flagged, one pair of team members led by
either Kortum or Tserendagva recorded coordinates and elevations with an Ashtech MobileMapper
100 hand-held GPS unit with sub-meter accuracy. In addition, more than 20 data points were
carefully logged onto prepared data sheets for each figure. These included figure type, dimensions,
orientation, chronology (cultural period), technique, and style; rock type, panel dimensions, number
of figures in a group, relative groove depth, superimpositions, varnish quality, overall quality,
weathering and deterioration, lichen cover, and vandalism, among others. Other qualitative and
locational observations were recorded where merited, especially the proximity and orientation to
archaeological features such as ancient burial sites or standing stones. Digital photographs were
made of each and every figure: of the larger surrounding physical context, of the entire panel, of
the scene or grouping, of the individual figure, and, where warranted, of detailed close-ups. For
especially interesting, important, or unusual figures or groups, precise tracings were made with black
Sharpie pens on clear plastic sheeting. These were later also photographed.
Fig. 110: Major rock art sites at Biluut
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Fig. 111: Rock art team on Biluut 3, southern slope
Fig. 112: Jagaa and Champouillon trace
a panel
Fig. 113: Tserendagva and Kortum examine a figure
Biluut 3:
Prior to this field season Kortum’s surveys had counted 2,100 petroglyphs on Biluut 3. In summer
2011 the team documented 3,677 individual figures. Noteworthy among these are: a small
number of archaic (pre-Bronze Age) figures, a fraction of which have tentatively been identified
as Paleolithic; a rare “caravan” or transport scene (Fig. 120); a single “birthing woman” (Fig.
121); a number of tamga (Fig. 117); one incredibly complex palimpsest with a large number of
superimposed figures; several new Mongolian deer (Fig. 118); an apparent ger; several large
powerful bulls (Fig. 119); several miniscule but finely detailed animals; an ibex with folded foreleg
and head turned back over its shoulder in a manner suggestive of Scythian or “early nomadic style”
artforms.
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Fig. 114: Petroglyph locations on Biluut 3
Preliminary Analyses
Comparisons between Biluut 3 and Biluut 2
Biluut 3 Percent on B3
Total number of petroglyphs
3,677
Identifiable figurative images
2,124
Ibex
854
40.2
Horses, including horse & rider
237
11.2
Deer, including Mongolian deer
229
10.8
Canids
198
9.3
Bovids
173
8.2
Human figures, including riders
108
5.1
111
Biluut 2
1,632
1,123
357
211
105
102
124
95
Percent on B2
31.8
18.8
9.4
9.1
11.1
8.5
Select Petroglyphs found on Biluut 3
Fig. 115: Mounted archer with
elaborate headdress (Turkic
Period)
Fig. 116: Ibex in early nomadic
style (Early Iron Age)
Fig. 117: Tamga (period uncertain)
Fig. 118: Small Mongolian deer,
less than 10cm (Late Bronze Age)
Fig. 120: Cargo, or caravan
scene (Bronze Age)
Fig. 121: Birthing woman (Possible
Neolithic)
Fig. 119: Human figure with bovids (Archaic (pre-Bronze) possibly Paleolithic)
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Biluut 1:
With five days to spare, Biluut 3 was finished and the primary objective was accomplished. Biluut
1, nearest the lake, is next in line for the rock art documentation team. Surveys in 2004 and 2005
counted in excess of 4,100 images on this high hill, revealing that Biluut 1 possesses by far the
greatest concentration of figures at Khoton Lake. Although a fairly thorough count and typing of
figures was made in 2005, few data points were recorded for individual figures, and a far less precise
hand-held Garmin GPS device was used to record elevations and coordinates. This instrument is
accurate only to within five meters in any of the three dimensions. Accordingly, the team began
systematically recording figures on Biluut 1 with the Ashtec MobileMapper 100 unit and their
prepared data sheets. Two days were given to surveying the long summit or top ridge, designated
Biluut 1A, and two days were given to surveying the next highest steep slope, Biluut 1B. Forty-two
figures were fully documented on B1A, and 281 figures were recorded on B1B.
Khuiten Gol Delta:
In 2005 and again in 2011 a small number of petroglyphs were observed (by Jagaa and by Dan
Cole, respectively) on a rocky outcrop perched directly above the lake shore on the northwestern
side of the delta where meandering Khuiten Gol empties into Khoton Lake. On the final day of the
field season, Kortum and Tserendagva undertook to record these figures. Surprisingly, their number
totaled 129. More significantly, a high proportion was identified as belonging to a pre-Bronze Age
period––quite possibly the Neolithic. A significant number of these figures were of unusually large
argali that were identified as archaic. All of our data points were recorded for the entire collection of
figures at this site. Few photographs were taken, however, and no tracings were made. A full visual
documentation (photographs and tracings) will be made in Summer 2012. A precise small circular
khirigsuur lies among glacial erratic boulders and the major outcrop. The situation of this rock art
collection, being directly above the lake edge and overlooking the adjacent delta, suggests that this is
likely a site of considerable age and importance.
Spring House Bluffs:
During an assigned day off from fieldwork,
Kortum and Jagaa investigated a smaller, but
prominent, rocky hill situated to the east of
Biluut 3, an outlying spur of the eastwardtending line of a high mountain ridge or chain.
A local name is being sought, but some project
members began referring to this site as Biluut
4; others called it ‘Spring House Bluffs.’
Immediately up against the protective base of
this steep outcrop of exposed bedrock a wooden
Spring house and stone-walled corral have
been erected. The lower surfaces are marked in
very many places with recent graffiti. On the
jumbled surfaces Kortum and Jagaa counted but
did not record approximately 150 petroglyph
figures. The overwhelming majority of these
are of very poor quality, both in terms of their
state of preservation and of their content and
Fig. 122: Unusual anthropomorphic figure (date uncertain)
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aesthetic appeal: numerous crude, Iron Age ibex, a few horses and/or deer, and a smattering of
indistinguishable figures. Perhaps a dozen are worthy of a photograph.
Near the pinnacle of this spur, however, one singularly distinct image has been scratched into a
varnished surface: a 50cm engraved outline of an enigmatic, two-horned anthropomorphic figure.
Its chronology and cultural affiliation are unknown. As far as Kortum, Tserendagva, Lymer, and
project consultant Esther-Jacobson-Tepfer are aware, no other figure of this kind has been recorded
elsewhere. A full survey of this rock art site will be undertaken in Summer 2012 and incorporated
into the overall Biluut site description and analyses. Of all the rock art sites at Biluut, this one may
bear the closest association to ancient settlement locations. Systematic investigations into settlement
and domestic patterns at Biluut will commence in 2012.
Other results:
In addition to those on the larger, conspicuous hills and outcrops, a small number of petroglyphs
were observed by Dan Cole and others in a few other scattered locations. A dozen or so images
were discovered in the glacial terraces north and northwest of Biluut 3, for instance; others were
found on the southwestern slope of the ‘Iron Mountain’ (known locally as ‘Broken Mountain’)
that rises immediately above and to the east of a peat bog that lies below the northeastern slope
of Biluut 3. These and other remaining petroglyphs in these vicinities will be fully surveyed
in Summer 2012. Finally, one other highly important discovery needs to be included in this
report. An image of a wheeled vehicle on Biluut 2, previously recorded in 2007, was found, on
reexamination, to be of a form that is almost wholly unique. Whereas all the other two-dozen or
more wheeled vehicles found at Biluut, like the many hundreds of those discovered elsewhere in
Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Russia, China, and throughout Siberia and Central Asia, are presented in
a distinctive bird’s-eye, ‘fold-out’ perspective, this one on the northwestern slope of Biluut 2 is
rendered in an exceedingly rare naturalistic side-on view. In the coming months, Kortum and Lymer,
in collaboration with Tserendagva, intend to research this image-type and publish a paper on the
Fig. 123: Rare side-on view of a chariot, driver, and horses (possible Early Iron age)
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PART VI
Khoton Project Cartographic Diary
Dan Cole
Smithsonian, National Museum of Natural History
Prior to leaving Washington, I had purchased high-resolution (1/2 meter) stereo imagery from
GeoEye and contracted for digital elevation model (DEM) production from East View Cartographic
of the Biluut and Tsagaan Asgat areas. Although the latter area was not visited during the 2011 field
season, hopefully, Summer 2012 will prove different (Figure 124). From these DEMs, I was able to
create 3-meter and 1-meter contour maps of the areas, as well as slope and aspect maps, to conduct
analyses of petroglyphs, burial mounds, standing stones, balbals, and khirigsuurs in relation to each
other and to natural features across the landscape.
Fig. 124: Locations of 2011 and 2012 study area in Mongolia highlighted in Yellow.
Wednesday June 8th to Friday June 10th
Washington DC to Ulaanbaatar
I left Washington, DC from Dulles International Airport at midday, flying on Korean Air on a 14hour trip to Seoul. While the sun never set during this great circle flight, the trip was relatively
enjoyable. After a three-hour layover, I boarded another flight from Seoul to UB and arrived at that
airport after 10 PM. Zaya picked me up at the airport and took me to her hostel. The following
morning there was no electricity at the hostel, so I sat and read until Zaya’s driver took me to the
immigration office to get my 30-day visit extended. This was a busy place at the time, with many
115
people from the PRC doing the same task. Late that afternoon I met with Anna Maria Marras, an
archaeological researcher from Italy with a GIS background, who had been working with Mongolian
archaeologists and a Japanese archaeo-astronomer. She made a good argument for examining
ancient astronomical events when looking at balbals and other stone alignments.
Saturday June 11th
Ulaanbaatar to Ulgii
I left the hostel at 5AM to catch a flight to Olgii. During the flight I met two young Peace Corps
volunteers who are teaching English in small towns. The EZnis flight on a Saab turboprop was quite
pleasant. At the Olgii airport, a driver and her daughter and granddaughter picked me up and took
me to Blue Wolf Travel. After lunch, we drove to Lake Khoton (Khoton Nuur). The landscape we
drove through is what one could label “beautiful desolation.” The long slow journey to camp was
very bumpy, but prepared me for many similar trips during the coming weeks. As an aside, during
this trip I shared my Lonely Planet phrasebook with two very nice Mongols in the van. I observed
that the landscape is a glaciologist’s dream, with many U-shaped valleys, hanging valleys, drumlins,
eskers, cirques, braided streams, kettles, and moraines.
Sunday June 12th
I woke up early and hiked up the closest hill (Biluut 1) to run some tests on my GPS, an Ashtech
MobileMapper 100. Later in the morning, Richard and I searched long for a primary control point
established by Jerry Nave on a previous expedition (in 2007), but could not locate it. Activities
were rained out for the afternoon, and after the rain ended, Bill, Richard and I drove around the three
Biluut hills with Jagaa to have a look at some of the rock art and archaeological sites.
Monday June 13th
Lots of morning discussions centered on Mongolian history and Native American history. I headed
off to Biluut 1 (B1) to map a grid compiling 12 transects of the hill’s western flank. During this
time, I had the first of a number of cultural encounters: one with a man on horseback and later with
two young boys (ages 6 and 4?) on horseback. The boys followed me for about half an hour. I put
in about 15km hiking today with a total of 16 transects over B1. I took my first shower with sunwarmed water just before dinner, which was invigorating. That night, the Mongolian men sat around
singing Mongolian or Kazakh folk songs.
Tuesday June 14th
In the morning, I went on foot to plot
40 GPS points of burial mounds, balbals, and a khirigsuur (Figure 125) on
the south side of B1. While it was very
bright and sunny in the morning, we
had a thunderstorm in the afternoon,
so I stayed in camp and did some postprocessing of points collected on my
laptop. Later in the afternoon, I climbed
around B1 to view more rock art with
Richard and Theresa.
Wednesday June 15th
Fig. 125: Recently dug and back-filled circular khirigsuur
mound. 2147m elevation; 597085.85, 5389527.61; 597084.79,
5389534.34; 597075.70, 5389534.26; 597075.26, 5389526.46
(UTM coordinates: E, N).
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At breakfast, Bill told a story from the Inuit on how their women protect themselves from polar
bears by wearing big, thick gloves. When attacked, the women shove their mitted hand into the
bear’s mouth as far as its throat, then slip the hand out, leaving the mitt. This causes the bear to gag
and back off. I’m not sure I would want to try my luck with such a defensive action. I spent the day
collecting 53 more GPS points throughout the B1-B2 valley.
Thursday June 16th
I spent the day mapping more sites (128 points) around B2 in the morning and post-processing in the
afternoon.
Friday June 17th
I continued to map more sites around B2 in the morning. Later I went to map Turkic stones to the
west of the hills but was blocked by an aggressive stallion who was protecting his herd. This detour
turned out to be a good opportunity since I found a number of sites (98 points that needed to be
mapped, of course) in the outwash plain and on the hill behind the Turkic stones. Meanwhile, we all
had to deal with a day of short sun showers and rainbows. That night, Bill gave a presentation on
Mongolian deer stones.
Saturday June 18th
At breakfast, we had cream of wheat with yak’s milk, plus oranges from Egypt! Globalized trade
is truly everywhere. A couple of sheep were brought in as future food since we often had delicious
mutton to eat for our lunches and suppers. This day was also an “off day” and most of us travelled to
Aral Tolgoi beyond the west end of the lake where we got to see deer stones and other rock art, plus
lots of great scenery. We stopped at a tiny roadside stand that would put any 7-11 to shame with its
variety of sodas, beers, candy and other junk food, plus clothing and horse-riding equipment.
Sunday June 19th
Today I worked around Biluut 3 (B3) where I plotted a spiral of ground control points in the
morning. Since it rained all afternoon, I worked in the “office” ger by helping to shade in (with a
Sharpie pen) petroglyphs that were traced in the field. I was popular (or at least my satellite phone
was) on this day with all the American students who wanted to call their fathers for Fathers’ Day. Of
course, I also surprised my father by calling him.
Monday June 20th
More rain came this morning, and then I went back to work on B3 (60 points) for a while before it
started raining again. Tserendagva gave a presentation on Mongolian rock art and petroglyphs.
Tuesday June 21st
More rain came in the morning which led to more Sharpie shading of petroglyph tracings. In the
afternoon, I mapped a number of khirigsuurs and other sites (140 points), which were interesting.
While out hiking, I got pelted with sleet. At mealtime, we had home-made yogurt from yak milk
today, which was good with jelly. By the way, for my head’s sake, I finally got used to ducking
below the 4 foot high entry that serves as a doorway for the gers.
Wednesday June 22nd
Well, solstice day arrived like a lion last night with high winds and rain (and little sleep).
Fortunately, the fly on my new tent proved to be completely waterproof. At least the nearby
117
mountains were beautiful with a new coat of snow. In the afternoon, Bill, Richard and I surveyed
about 20-30 sites in the B1-B2 valley while a cold wind was blowing. That night, Ken Lymer gave a
presentation on rock art in Kazakhstan.
Thursday June 23rd
More snow fell in the surrounding mountains and cold rain fell on our camp site, so we worked on
databases in the ger. In the afternoon, I hiked to B3 to finish collecting ground control points. And I
called Wanda on the satellite phone for our “mutton” anniversary.
Friday June 24th
I worked on field mapping and finding rock art around what I call Biluut 4 (113 points), including
a petroglyph panel of animals on a boulder on the slope of Broken Mountain that no one else has
recorded! (Figure 126). I saw a lot of interesting geology as well in my hikes. Meanwhile, one of
our 4-wheel drive vans broke down in the middle of a stream at lunch time. The driver literally had
to crank the engine to get it going again a half hour later. Riding by on his horse, a local herdsman
could be heard chuckling at us. That night, Dave Edwards gave a presentation on the female shaman
who he got to know a few years ago in this area.
Saturday June 25th
This was a lovely day, weather-wise,
warmer and dryer but windy, so I took
my first shower in 4 days. Work fell into
Murphy’s Law this day: I forgot my GPS
equipment in the morning so I had to use
Bill’s old Garmin. Then I discovered that I
lost Dave’s walkie-talkie. After searching
for the device during lunch with no luck, I
went back to camp to work on my databases
for the afternoon.
Sunday June 26th
Another good day in terms of weather.
Fig. 126: Rock art on a boulder on the slope of Broken
Summer is here now even though snow
Mountain at 2141m elevation; 600264.54, 5390947.23
can still be seen in the upper areas of the
mountains. Therese gave an art show today
transforming our office ger into a gallery at lunch. I conducted more data collection (238 points)
in the afternoon in and near the burial ground in the outwash plain southeast of Biluut 4. We found
out at supper that the Mongolian members of the expedition sometimes get different meat than
the Americans, i.e., they prefer internal organs. Nonetheless, I gave my presentation that night on
cartography and GIS at SI and on preliminary GIS analysis of our study area.
Monday June 27th
We woke up to a rainbow this morning. Ken, Therese and Tyler left to return to their homes today.
Since Bill, Richard, and Bayaraa did not need me to do anything this day, I spent the day in camp
post-processing my data. We had rainbows again in the evening, and I read some of the book on
Britain’s standing stones left behind by Ken.
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Tuesday June 28th
We had some goat cheese (which was not like goat cheese I had tasted before) at breakfast today
with our cream of wheat. We ran out of bottled water a couple of days ago so we were relying
on boiled water. I worked with Richard in the morning mapping the boundaries of panels of
petroglyphs (176 points); and then in the afternoon, I worked with Bayaraa mapping some mounds
in the western canyon (139 points). His group was digging a circular mound that has a tomb and a
chamber with wooden sides.
Wednesday June 29th
I worked with Bill mapping khirigsuurs and mounds and standing stones (139 points – part of
the same data set as noted in 28 June). I had lots of good hiking around the canyons. At Bill’s
current dig, he and the students were trying to figure out what the tiny rectangular boxes were for. I
suggested that it could possibly be twin premature babies that had died in child birth. Because we
had so much rain, lots of purple and lavender flowers were covering the hills, and the pastures were
looking greener as well.
Thursday June 30th
Today was our second “off” day. Clouds of mosquitoes rolled in and fortunately, the repellant
worked well. Bill and I went for a long hike along the northwestern lake shore looking for past
habitation. We did not have much success (16 points), but it was a nice walk. Thunderstorms rolled
through at the end of the day. Meanwhile, like other times, I heard cuckoo birds calling in the
forested hills across the lake.
Friday July 1st
Another cold wind was blowing this morning. Bill’s group started a new dig and Bayaraa’s group
is unearthing a horse skeleton. I had no luck finding any directional stones among the glacial rocks
and boulders this morning, so I came back to camp and worked on the PC in the afternoon. One new
addition to the camp is a cute five year-old girl who is the daughter of one of our cooks and one of
our drivers. Bayaraa gave a talk that night on old Mongolian royal Xiongnu culture that had tombs
16 meters deep. I called and talked with Wanda, Robyn and my mother tonight before they left to go
to my nephew’s wedding.
Fig. 127: Four visitors who came twice to check out my work
.
119
Saturday July 2nd
I hiked east near the lake in a zigzag
pattern recording several hundred
points while putting in about 20km. I
met and greeted people on horseback
and motorcycle along the way, and was
visited twice by four gentlemen in a
jeep (Figure 127). I showed each my
map book to point out what was being
mapped. On the way back, I had to wade
through a stream without shoes to get to
the jeep since Bill and Jagaa came to pick
me up. That night, Andrew did some
magic tricks for the cook’s daughter after
supper.
Sunday July 3rd
It was cold this morning with fresh snow in the nearby mountains. Most of us went to a local
Naadam festival today. Previously, a concern arose about too much drinking by our students or
others in the crowd at the festival, but it turned out to be no problem at all. Three of our people
(Bayaraa, Luke and a Mongolian student) entered the wrestling tournament, but only Bayaraa made
it to the second round. For the horse race, the children rode bare back. That night, it was cold
enough that I wore my winter hat to bed.
Monday July 4th
More snow fell in the mountains over night and a very strong cold wind came in the morning so two
shirts and two coats with a winter hat were needed. Bayaraa called his wife today and found out that
she had a baby boy. I was glad to let him use my satellite phone. I worked on sites north of B2 (149
points) in the morning and worked on my databases in the afternoon. After supper, the governor of
the province visited us and asked some questions concerning rumors that we had unearthed skulls of
“big head” people, and that we had two helicopters take a lot of stuff (presumably valuable) away to
America. Then this evening, we got hit by a sleet storm and the nearby hills got snow.
Tuesday July 5th
The starry sky was beautiful when I woke up in the middle of the night. Ice was all over the tent
when the sun came up. The cloudless day that greeted us was cool and breezy but no storms. First
I did some relational mapping between khirigsuurs and rock art for Richard on B2 (28 points), then
I went looking for archaeological sites on the B2 outwash plain to the west for Bill, which created
a lot of questions. I met a sheep and goat herder and showed him my map book to explain my
work. In the afternoon, I headed east along the shore and mapped some rock art and archaeological
features. I was surprised that it got warm enough to take a shower. That night, Richard gave a
presentation on rock art and archaeology in the area.
Wednesday July 6th
I went field mapping around Biluut 4 again and some exposed bedrock caught my eye that was a few
hundred meters up. So I climbed the hill and discovered new rock art (8 points) this morning. In the
afternoon, I plotted 10 points for Richard
and then went on my way. Unfortunately,
I slipped off a rock into the creek so
I took rest of the afternoon off while
watching the students backfill a dig as my
boot dried. While there, a boy arrived on
a horse to deliver two bottles of creamed
tea to everyone at the site – a nice gift
from the local ger.
Thursday July 7th
I walked around the area near Bill’s new
dig finding standing stones (Figure 128)
and mounds while hiking through herds
of goats and sheep. The wind was rough
today and I had trouble keeping my
veiled hat on. Jagaa went home today to
Fig. 128: Large standing stone in a pasture over 1km north
of Biluut 2 at 2115m elevation; 597605.07, 5392543.24.
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Ulgii. He was missed by all immediately because he is so friendly and helpful. We had fresh fish for
supper caught by Bayaraa and some of the Mongolian students. In the evening, we endured another
strong thunderstorm, and fortunately the tents held up.
Friday July 8th
I worked on my laptop in the morning, and after lunch, I mapped some panel lines for Richard on B1
(33 points), followed by some more database work.
Saturday July 9th
I went with Bill to the east end of Lake Khoton to show him places that I found while hiking. He
and his students decided to dig at a couple of khirigsuurs. In the afternoon, they excavated a deer
stone while I was up in the nearby hills plotting a number of ethnographic features, adding those
points to those collected on 2 July.
Sunday July 10th
This morning, I hiked with Bill to show him some of the features that I found the day before. He
realized that we need an ethnographer to figure out much that and in order to decipher the ancient
cultural activities. Meanwhile, Bayaraa and his team re-erected the deer stone that Bill excavated
the day before. That afternoon, the Mongolian students caught ~30 fish so supper with fish was no
surprise. I finished the day on a short hike up B1 with Bill and had some good talks.
Monday July 11th
This was our last full day at Lake Khoton, so we went on an excursion to the east of the lake and saw
a lot of standing stones, man stones, bal-bals, and khirigsuurs. Then, Bayaraa decided to take us to a
local wedding festival to find the park ranger so that our exit forms would be filled out. While at the
festival, we were all invited into a lovely Kazakh ger for refreshments of white tea and sweets. And
then we watched the Muslim wedding, where everyone was joyous, except for the couple getting
married (who are required to be serious). Meanwhile, we were served airag (fermented mare’s
milk). When we got back to camp, I finished my work on the laptop, and then took my first swim in
the lake – and woke up quick!
Tuesday July 12th
We packed up this morning and headed towards Ulgii. Out van overheated a few times and our
driver helped a family who had problems with their jeep, which added to our time on the trail, but
everything seemed normal nonetheless. Once we arrived back in Ulgii at Blue Wolf Travel, I was
able to take a hot shower, which was lovely. And we finally got to sleep on beds: a luxury.
Wednesday July 13th
I had a good night’s sleep. I talked with Wanda this morning and bought her a Kazakh purse. I was
able to view my email for the first time in weeks, and subsequently deleted about 1000 messages.
We went over to the local museum, but it was closed for the holiday week. So we walked back and
felt hot later in the afternoon, which was a strange experience given our lives in the Altai. That
night, we had barking dogs and a fancy light display on the local radio tower to lull us to sleep.
Thursday July 14th
This day we flew from Ulgii to UB. We had to get to the Ulgii airport early since the president of
Mongolia was coming to visit. Fortunately, we didn’t have to worry about rush hour in Ulgii. Note
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that while landing in Ulgii, planes have a paved runway, but for taking off, we used an unpaved
runway. Flying over the countryside, we all noticed how much greener everything was compared to
when we first arrived. In UB, we all went back to Zaya’s hostel to settle in for a couple of days.
Friday July 15th
Today was a museum day. First we went to the National History Museum, where we viewed the
Chingis Khan exhibit and other exhibits on the country’s history. We also visited Bayaraa at his
office in the museum. Later, Dave Edwards and I walked over to the Natural History Museum,
which was disappointing since it is so poorly funded: there were open windows, poor lighting,
improper animal and paleontological reconstructions, etc.
Saturday July 16th
I walked over to the Buddhist monastery in the morning – mixture of beauty, faith, spirituality,
poverty, and hope for the future. In the afternoon, Bill and I went with four anthropologists to visit
Jack Weatherman (author of several Genghis Khan books) who is retired and living in UB.
Sunday July 17th
Flight to Washington DC via Seoul, South Korea.
During the trip, I looked over two recent books that Bill acquired on deer stones in Mongolia and
archeology in Newfoundland. Overall, I collected over 2000 GPS points of data including points for
ground control, khirigsuurs, burial mounds, standing stones, man stones, deer stones, petroglyphs,
Fig. 129: 2011 Field mapping collection localities and archaeological dig sites. Red dots indicate GPS collection sites, yellow dots indicate Archaeological dig sites (some fall outside image area). Contour interval is at
15m.
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bal-bals and other directional
stone alignments (Figure
129).
Fig. 130: Localities in relation to aspect: North (red), East (yellow), S
(cyan), W (blue). While most archaeological sites trended to S and W, the
aspect of the petroglyphs were found to be more dependant on location of
suitable exposed rock sheen.
Fig. 131: A significant majority of the archaeological features are found in
relatively flat slope areas, whereas the petroglyphs can be found on virtually any degree of slope. Green indicates flat slope, continuous to red (very
steep).
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I followed up the data
collection with postprocessing both in the field
and back in the office.
Analyses of sites in relation
to aspect and slope were
not conclusive for the
petroglyphs since the ancient
artists opportunistically
made use of any rock surface
that had the desirable sheen
available for pecking or
scratching (Figures 130 and
131). Structural features, on
the other hand, were typically
found in areas of low slope.
Future analyses of these data,
plus any spatial/temporal
data collected by Richard and
Bill, of clustering, distance,
direction (these maps depict
possible alignments of
archaeological features with
geographical elements) may
reveal some spatial planning
by the ancient cultures in
question during the different
time periods and cultures
(Neolithic, Bronze Age, Iron
Age, and Pazyryk and Turkic
cultures).
Fig. 132: Directional stonework in the valley between B1 and B2 may align with the peak on Biluut 2. (Shown
in red).
Fig. 133: Alignment of the axes of a spoked khirigsuur, as well as the alignment of
several burial mounds in a row may point to distant peaks. (Shown in yellow).
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PART VII1
Ethnographic Research:
Interethnic Relationships among Tuvans and Mongols
Darkhad, Northern Mongolia
Ts. Ayush
In collaboration with the joint Mongolian-American “Deer Stone” project, I conducted several ethnographic field studies among reindeer people living in the western part of Khovsgol Lake. This research concerns ethnic relationships and mixed marriage among Mongol and reindeer-Tuvan people
using the field research material of 2009. The statistic material for mixed marriage was collected
from government officials of Tsagaan Nuur suum and well as interviews with senior citizens of Tuva
and Mongolia living in the suum center and the surrounding countryside.
The ethnic group composition of Mongolia largely ethnic Mongol. It consists of three major groups;
Mongol, Tureg, and Khamnigan (Tunguus). The non-Mongol ethnic groups comprise of small fraction of the population, only 4%.2 In the Tureg group there are two major groups, the Kazakhs and
Tuvans (Uighur). One group of Tuvan origin lives in an area of Western Mongolia known as Bayan
Ulgii Aimag. The second group lives in Northern Mongolia, around Khovsgol Lake, living side-byside with Mongol ethnic groups.3 Therefore the Khovsgol Lake region presents a specific characteristic of interethnic relationship. Although the Tuva-Uighur people living near the lake are of the
same origin, their livelihood is different. The Tuva people of the western side of the lake herd reindeer, while others are involved in herding livestock, and the later generation has taken to the Mongolian lifestyle. However, some of the specific cultural traditions are not ignored. It is safe to conclude
that research has not fully been conducted on the ethnic Tureg, a minor group of the Tureg language
speaking people.
The “Reindeer”, or Tuva-Uighur people, of Khovsgol Lake are one of the groups of taiga region of
Eastern Sayan Mountains of the Russian Tuva Republic. The history of the citizenship of the Reindeer People living in Mongolia is quite complex. They were included in the Mongolian citizen population in the 1950’s. Until 1980, they were within the jurisdiction of Ulaan Uul and Rinchenlhumbe
suum where the majority of Darkhad-Mongol people live. But a small portion of Tuvans settled in
the Khankh and Bayanzurkh suums. These reindeer people call themselves Duhaa, especially of
those of Uighur descent. The term “Duhaa” is almost forgotten today. They traditionally refer to
themselves as Uighur, and Mongolian people in the neighborhood also consider them to be of Uighur origin. This statement was derived from the work of J. Tseveen, a researcher whose citation was
mentioned earlier in 1934.
Today, Tuva-Uighur “Reindeer People” inhabit the western and eastern parts of the Tsagaan Nuur
suum. Tsagaan Nuur suum, founded in 1985, has two of the smallest administration units known as
Baga. One of the Baga includes the people of the suum, and the other Baga covers the herdsmen of
reindeer and livestock. The reindeer-herding people are mostly of Tuva-Uighur origin, and some also
1. This report from our previous field project in Khovsgol Aimag was not available at the time of production for our 2009
field report and is included here even though it lies outside our 2011 project area. (W. Fitzhugh).
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live in the suum center. The current population of the suum is about 1500, comprised of 386 families.
According to the information given by the head administrator of Baga 2, there are 212 families
involved in herding reindeer and other livestock. Of these there are 48 mixed-marriage families;
marriages between Tuvan and Mongol people. In general Tuvan men are more likely to be married
to Mongol women. For instance, 29 out of the total 48 marriages consist of Tuvan men married to
Mongol women, while 19 are Mongol men married to Tuvan women.
In the suum center, there are 174 families, which includes 52 mixed-married families. Of these,
31 consist of Tuvan men married to Mongol women, and the remaining 21 families are of Mongol
women married to Tuvan men. Taking into account the whole suum, 100 families out of 386 are of
mixed marriage. This is a substantial number. The ethnic heritage of children born to mixed families
takes after the father. For example, if the father is Tuvan, then the child would have the father’s lineage, or when a child’s father is Mongol-Darkhad, then he or she would follow the Mongol tradition.
One new trend from the children of these mixed marriages is the second generation mixed marriage.
There are many couples from previous-generation mixed marriages. Out of 52 mixed-marriage couples living in the suum center, 24 have already married into mixed marriages, showing the dynamic
development of the new age. The above-mentioned statistic of mixed marriages is limited only to the
Tsagaan Nuur suum. According to information gathered orally, many young people residing in other
suums or in the cities have a tendency to adopt mixed marriage.
The question remains as to when the mixed marriages between Tuva and Mongol people began.
From interviews obtained from elderly people, this was observed from the middle of the last century,
where one or two such a cases were found. But it could be said these were not “free will” marriages.
Judging from the research material, the ethnic relationship between Tuva and Mongol people intensified in the mid 1950’s. This is likely related to the granting of Mongolian citizenship to TuvaReindeer people and the carrying out of several significant social projects by the government of
Mongolia, such as “Founding of Reindeer
People village,” “the Tsagaan Nuur Fish
Factory,” and “Administration Reform.”
From the oral information gathered from
elders, in 1956 the Reindeer People were
granted citizenship in Mongolia. Mongolia then offered settlements to the Western
Reindeer People in Ulaan Uul suum and
Eastern Taiga Reindeer People in Rinchenlhumbe suum, respectively, considering their
traditional livelihood. During the “collective
movement” in the 1950’s in Mongolia, the
Fig. 134: A house built for the ‘Reindeer People’
Reindeer People had no choice but to follow
the Mongol herdsmen in giving most of their
herds to the collective association. In 1960’s the number of families registered were 62. 13 families
were listed in the western taiga that herd reindeer on regular basis, and 20 families were listed in
the eastern taiga.4 This number remains the same today. Granting citizenship and a place to live has
offered them one of the most important opportunities to engage in political, economic and cultural
activities. One of the significant projects the Mongolian government implemented was the construction of a Reindeer People Village in the suum centers. In the beginning of 1960, wooden houses and
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elementary schools for Reindeer People were built in the Rinchenlhumbe and Ulaan-Uul suums. In
the mid 1950’s, the first fish factory was built at Tsagaan Nuur, where fish were found in plenty. In
this small factory, young Tuvan men and women worked together with Mongol people. The factory operated until the collapse of socialist system in Mongolia in the 1990’s. Along with the fishing
factory, many houses, an elementary school including a dormitory for students, a small bakery, bath
house, etc. were constructed for the benefit of workers. The wooden houses were allotted to the head
of the family, and built as double residential quarters for two families. The living quarters provided
comfortable working and living conditions for the young men and women working at fish factory in
the suum center. This also provided chances to bring young people of different cultures together and
gave way to mixed marriages. The other step was administration reform, which brought the Tuvan
people into a single suum administration. In 1985, the fishing industry of Tsagaan Nuur was enlarged
to a fishing and hunting enterprise. Tuvans of the western taiga were moved from the Ulaan Uul
suum to Tsagaan Nuur suum. The distance between these two suums is about 200km. The new organization offered the Tuvans an opportunity to communicate with each other and acquaint themselves
with new people.
The social change and activities of the new settlement policy no doubt had specific influence in the
interethnic relationship between Reindeer-Tuva and Mongolian people. The Tuvans were given
opportunities to visit the suum center, work together along with Mongols, enroll their children in
school, and participate in any public events. In other words, Tsagaan Nuur suum had become the
central focus of the environment. From the mid-1950’s, many young Tuvan men and women aged
17-18 worked together with Mongols in the fishing industry. The practice of fishing comes from the
ancient times, and having no other source of income other than their few reindeer could have been
the main reason for Tuvan people to pursue work in
the fishing industry. It was found from the research
that young men working at the fish factory started
family ties with Mongol women.
The following is a transcript of my interview with
Mr. Sh. Sodov, a Tuvan who used to work at the fish
factory, and married a Darkhad woman. This conversation describes the mixed marriage of two generations.
“I’m 70 years old, of Tuva-Soyon ethnicity. I lived in Fig. 135: Sh. Sodov, of Tuvan ethnicity, and his
the eastern taiga and worked in the fishing industry
wife Kh. Puntsagjav, of Darkhad ethnicity
from the age of 17, and later in the hunter’s working group. In the fish industry, there were about 20 Tuva (Uighur) and Darkhad people. My mother
and uncle were given house to live in the Reindeer [peoples’] Village. My mother lived in the suum
center for few years and returned back to the taiga. She came back however due to her failing health
and died. My mother never learned Mongolian language. She used to have in her possession a few
reindeer that were looked after by neighbors. Of the seven of us children, only four are still living.
One brother married a Darkhad woman, two sisters Darkhad-Mongol men, and one sister a Khalkha
Mongol. I married in 1966, my wife is 65 years old, and she is of Darkhad (Ulaan Khuular) ethnic
origin. She knows the Tuva language a little. She also used to work at the fish factory. My children
know some Tuva language. In my younger days, there was no such thing as wedding ceremony,
which is practiced nowadays. I lived with my wife in the living quarter that my uncle owned. During
127
that time, when the couple tied the knot, the groom’s side would provide the ger. Today both sides
of the couple’s families arrange dwellings and other necessities. When my wife and I started living
together, the administration gave us bed linen and blankets as a gift. After a year, we made a visit to
our extended families. We have 9 children, now 8 living, according to tradition they are registered as
Tuva-Uighur origin. Six of my children are married. Two daughters married to Khalkha Mongol, one
daughter to Darkhad-Mongol, and one daughter to Tuva man. Two sons have Darkhad wives. They
all live here. In 1990, my wife and I retired, during privatization, and we were given a few livestock.
Living by herding livestock, we had 40 cattle, 400 sheep and about 30 horses. We sold them out to
put our children through school and college.”
Another example of a mixed marriage family is of a Darkhad-Mongol woman named Ch. Battur,
who was married to a Tuvan man. The following is a transcript of her interview:
“I am 70 years old. My husband’s name is Orosbai, and he’s from the Uraad race of Tuva. I’m from
Tsagaan Khuular of Darkhad ethnicity. I herded livestock until 19 years old, lived near Tsagaan
Nuur, and met with my husband. He, my husband, went to see my parents telling them his wish to
marry me. My parents did not object to his proposal. We were married in 1969 and followed my husband to the fishing industry, later joining school. At the fishing factory, I used to clean fish, salt them,
and canned. The production unit was located not far from the industry where 20 women worked.
The majority of workers were Tuva-Uighur ethnic people. My husband was the first who worked at
the fishing industry. My husband’s sister was given a house in the Reindeer People village. We lived
in her cottage. In winter of 1969, my husband came to my house and brought me here. My siblings
came with us as attendants from my side. His sister greeted us and arranged a small party. The sister
returned back to taiga. We have 11 children, 7 are married. Five sons married to Darkhad women,
and one son took a Tuva wife. One daughter married a Darkhad man. Two sons are in Ulaanbaatar
working, two at the Army base, and two other sons herd livestock in the countryside. The girls work
at the suum center. I cannot fluently speak in Tuva language but understand what I learned from
listening to Tuva women working at the fish factory.”
A similar example of a Tuvan man married to
a Mongol Darkhad woman is the story of Ts.
Sanji, age 64 (2009). According to the interview,
he is of Balgish Tuva ethnicity, born in Tuva,
and came to Mongolia when he was 5-6 years
old. He started school in Khankh suum at age 12,
later 2 years of school in Rinchenlhumbe suum,
then after 4th grade, left school. Before attending
school he used to look after neighbors’ livestock,
which was common practice during that time,
as he was also poor. At 17, he started working at
the fishing industry.
Fig. 136: Ts. Sanji, of Tuvan ethnicity, and his wife
Sh. Nansalma, of Darkhad Mongol ethnicity
“My family herded reindeer in the eastern taiga.
In 1961, construction of the reindeer people village in Tsagaan Nuur was almost complete. On the northern side of lake, 10 wooden houses in three
rows were built. The first two were living quarters for families and the last row houses the school.
The reindeer people lived there in houses. My father received one such a house, and they lived in the
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house during winter and returned back to the taiga in spring. I married in 1969. My wife’s name is
Nansalmaa, age 57, and is of Darkhad (Sharnuud) ethnicity. She used to work as a cook in school.
They lived in my father’s house. At that time a wedding ceremony was not common. He knows Tuva
language, and his wife a little, but the children have no knowledge of Tuva language. They have 4
children, and as their father is of Uighur-Tuva ethnicity, the children are registered as Uighur. Two
sons are married to Khalkha Mongol women, and one lives in Murun (about 350km away) and the
other in Rashaant suum (about 400km). One son has Darkhad wife living in Central Aimag (700km),
the other youngest is a herder.”
During this field expedition, information was collected
from 9 families, but not all can be included in the current report. The last report on a mixed marriage included here is of a Tuvan man, Mr. L. Jajuur, now age 70
(2009) and married to a Darkhad woman. According to
his interview, he was born in Tuva in 1941 and came
to Mongolia in 1949. It was after World War II, he was
poverty stricken, and it was difficult time to live. He
was permitted to move to Mongolia. His grandmother
was born in Khogorgin Gol, Mongolia, before came
here to live. His father, Tuva-born in 1910, moved
Fig. 137: L. Jajuur’s Tuvan birth certificate,
here, worked as security guard, and later died. In 1961,
1941
the Reindeer People village was complete. There were
18 houses, and his father and uncle lived in one such house. He worked at the dairy farm. He was
drafted into the army, and after his release from the army service at age 21, he started to work in the
fishing industry. Most of the workers were Tuva-Uighur and Darkhad people. The fish were transported through the northern harbor of Khovsgol Lake to Russia. He married at age 22 to a Darkhad
woman named Yanjmaa, now age 63 (2009). During that time his wife lived with her mother breeding livestock in Khamain Gol, not far from the fishing industry.
“After dating one year we were married. We have three daughters and two sons. Two of the daughters got married to Sartuul Mongol and Darkhad ethnic men, and one to a Tuvan. The oldest son is
married to Tuvan woman. The youngest is single.”
Jajuur also provided us with interesting information about a song composed during that
time. The song’s lyrics represent the new lifestyle of that time, the new fishing industry, the
village for Reindeer People, and the interethnic
relations between Tuva-Uighur and Mongol
people. The song was about the life of a small
social circle.
In the green weeds of the lake
When paddling a boat
Dreamed came
A fisherman
Asked for her hand in marriage
Fig. 138: L. Jajuur, of Tuvan ethnicity, and his wife S.
Yanjima, of Darkhad-Mongolian ethnicity
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Found a job at Tsagaan Nuur
In the village of Reindeer People
Prepared to brew tea
The fish and the duck
Swim in the same pond
The milk maid and fisherman
Will live together with same thought
Out from the water
Worked in the fishing spot
In the cottage of Uighur village
About to make lemonade
Taking into account the above documentation, mixed marriages among young people are becoming
more common. They are not only limited to Tuva, Darkhad, and Mongol, but spreading among other
ethnic groups. The issues of mixed
marriage have not been fully studied
in Mongolia. In some of the works
concerning interrelations of Western
Mongolian (Bayan Ulgii Aimag) and
Tuvan (Shinjian) of China, it was
mentioned that Mongol and Kazakh
were frequently chosen as marriage partners among Tuvan people.
But these mixed marriage relations
consisted of a very small percentage
of the total population.5 In Northern
Mongolia, especially around Khovsgol Lake, there were no restrictions
regarding traditional customs such as Fig. 139: Remains of fish factory house on the mouth of the
Khodorgo River, photo taken in 2007
religion, language or lifestyle among
Tuva and Mongol people. This is because of living in neighboring districts for many hundreds of years. Tuvan people know Mongolian
language, follow shamanic religion, and Darkhad people believe in shamanism as well as Buddhism.
There were some obstacles in reindeer farming regions of Tuva in regards to specific cultures. To
overcome those obstacles, the above mentioned projects of the Reindeer People Village, Settlement,
and Fish Factory no doubt produced significant results. But during the market economy in the 1990’s
the fish factory was closed down. The people who worked in there, especially the Tuvan people,
were either transferred to other jobs or moved to the countryside herding livestock. They did not
return to the taiga. With no reindeer to herd, they completely abandoned reindeer farming and approached a new era.
What is the result of interethnic relationships in Northern Mongolia upon the society? According to
our understanding, marriage and the family is the micro model, the first micro environment of the
society. Although the trend of mixed marriage is limited to only a small community of the region, it
is safe to say that the practice has specific influence in the development of social-ethnic relations, traditional lifestyle, and cultural life of that particular region. According to my research, from all mixed
130
families only 10% are actively practicing reindeer farming in the taiga. The remaining 90% are
living outside of the taiga, involved in herding other livestock and living in Mongolian gers in the
regions of Kharmai, Khogorgo, Shargin Gol and surrounding areas. Some are living in suum centers.
In other words, from the outcome of interethnic relationships, the practice of herding livestock has
increased, with more value on effective productivity. There are considerable changes in the lifestyles
of families living in the taiga. For the past years the number of people spending winter in the taiga
has diminished. This was observed mostly in the western taiga. In 2006 only three families passed
the winter in the taiga.6 Others spent the winter season living near the suum center in Mongolian
ger dwellings, in small wooden houses, and in traditional tent dwellings. These people return back to
the taiga when spring comes. This trend is increasing, introducing Mongol cattle pasturing into their
traditional reindeer breeding practice. Other factors are likely also responsible, such as easy access to
schooling for children, convenience of food supply, and participating in other cultural activities.
References:
2. Mongolian Population in XX century. P. 367. Ulaanbaatar. 2003.
3. J. Tseveen. The Origin of Darkhad, Khovsgol Lake’s Uriankhai, Durved, Khoton, Bayad, Uuld, Myangad, Zakhchin, Torguud. Khoshuud, Dariganga, Altai Mountain Uriankhai, Kazakh, and Khamnigan People. 1934. Collection of
research works. p. 118-119. Ulaanbaatar: 1997. S. Badamkhatran. Way of Life of the Reindeer People of Khovsgol Lake.
p. 3. Ulaanbaatar: 1962. Potapov, L. Traditional Ways of Life of Tuvans. p. 78. Moscow: 1969. Ethnography of Mongolia. Vol. II. p. 274. Ulaanbaatar: 1996. Mongush, M. Tuvans of Mongolia and China. p. 14-15. Novosibirsk: 2002.
4. Badamkhatan, S. Way of Life Reindeer People of Khovsgol Lake. P. 3. Ulaanbaatar: 1962.
5. Mongush, M. One People, Three fates: Tuvans of Russia, Mongolia and China in Comparative Perspective. p. 282,
285-286. Osaka: 2010.
6. Ts. Ayush. Field research report on “Deer stone” joint project in Khovsgol Aimag in 2006. (Ethnographic part) p. 1415. 2006. The Library of the National Museum of Mongolia.
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132
306040
306039
308475
Hearth 7: charcoal
Sheep bone
East Bay 1
Biluut 2-1
306033
F1 hearth charcoal
Hearth 2: (deerstone)
charcoal
306037
308476
306036
306041
306043
Beta
306035
Human phalange:
Sample 3
Human bone
charcoal
charcoal Sample 1
charcoal
Source
Corral structure
charcoal
East Bay 3
(formerly Biluut 1C)
Biluut 1-1
Biluut 2-3
Burial
Biluut 2-4
(formerly Biluut Pond
Site 2)
Biluut 1-3
(formerly Biluut Pond Site
1)
Biluut 1-3
Hillside site
Biluut 2-6
(formerly Peat Valley)
Site
Biluut 4-1
2720 +/- 30 BP -23.0 °/oo
2750 +/- 30 BP
2140 +/- 30 BP -18.6 °/oo
2240 +/- 30 BP
(bone collagen): collagen
extraction: with alkali
2800 +/- 30 BP -23.4 °/oo
2830 +/- 30 BP
2760 +/‑ 40 BP -21.3 °/oo
2820 +/- 40 BP
2820 +/- 30 BP -17.7 °/oo
2940 +/- 30 BP
2920 +/- 30 BP -18.4 °/oo
3030 +/- 30 BP
3240 +/- 30 BP -21.2 °/oo
3300 +/- 30 BP
3390 +/- 30 BP -22.3 °/oo
3430 +/- 30 BP
3450 +/- 30 BP -23.0 °/oo
3480 +/- 30 BP
Uncalibrated Date
3600 +/- 40 BP -22.3 °/oo
3640 +/- 40 BP
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
Material Type
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
Calibrated Date
Cal BC 390 to 340 (Cal BP 2340 to 2150)
Cal BC 970 to 960 (Cal BP 2920 to 2900),Cal
BC 940 to 820 (Cal BP 2890 to 2770)
Cal BC 1050 to 910 (Cal BP 3000 to 2860)
Cal BC 1080 to 900 (Cal BP 3030 to 2850)
Cal BC 1260 to 1040 (Cal BP 3210 to 2990)
Cal BC 1390 to 1210 (Cal BP 3340 to 3160)
Cal BC 1650 to 1500 (Cal BP 3600 to 3450)
Cal BC 1870 to 1850 (Cal BP 3820 to
3800),Cal BC 1780 to 1670 (Cal BP 3730 to
3620)
Cal BC 1890 to 1740 (Cal BP 3840 to 3690)
Cal BC 2130 to 1900 (Cal BP 4080 to 3850)
AMS- Standard Delivery, RadiometricPLUS- Standard delivery Khoton Project 2011 Radiocarbon Dates: Oldest to Youngest
Appendix I
133
306035
308477
Horse tooth
Biluut 2-2
306036
306041
306034
Beta
306033
306032
306038
Sheep tooth
Charcoal
Charcoal Sample 1
Mound 3 horse tooth
Source
F1 hearth charcoal
Cow tooth
Human phalange
306034
306042
charcoal
Mound 3 horse tooth
308477
Horse tooth
Biluut 2-1
(formerly Biluut Pond
Site 2)
Biluut 1-3
(formerly Biluut Pond Site
1)
Biluut 1-3
(formerly Biluut 1N)
Biluut 1-2
(formerly Biluut 1C)
Site
Biluut 1-1
Jargalant site
Deer Stone 3
Stone Boxes site (formerly
Biluut 3-20)
Biluut 3-1
(formerly Biluut 1N)
Biluut 1-2
Stone man site (formerly
Biluut 2-4)
Biluut 2-5
Biluut 2-2
148.9 +/- 0.4 pMC -20.6 °/oo
147.6 +/- 0.4 pMC
840 +/- 30 BP -19.8 °/oo 930
+/- 30 BP
(tooth): collagen extraction:
with alkali
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
with alkali
Material Type
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
1960 +/- 30 BP -18.5 °/oo
2070 +/- 30 BP
2140 +/- 30 BP -18.6 °/oo
2240 +/- 30 BP
3240 +/- 30 BP -21.2 °/oo
3300 +/- 30 BP
3390 +/- 30 BP -22.3 °/oo
3430 +/- 30 BP
1270 +/- 30 BP -16.7 °/oo
1410 +/- 30 BP
Uncalibrated Date
2760 +/‑ 40 BP -21.3 °/oo
2820 +/- 40 BP
Cal BC 170 to 30 (Cal BP 2120 to 1980)
Cal BC 390 to 340 (Cal BP 2340 to 2150)
Cal BC 1650 to 1500 (Cal BP 3600 to 3450)
Cal BC 1870 to 1850 (Cal BP 3820 to
3800),Cal BC 1780 to 1670 (Cal BP 3730 to
3620)
Cal AD 600 to 660 (Cal BP 1350 to 1290)
Calibrated Date
Cal BC 1080 to 900 (Cal BP 3030 to 2850)
Modern
Cal AD 1030 to 1170 (Cal BP 920 to 780)
Cal AD 600 to 660 (Cal BP 1350 to 1290)
Cal AD 540 to 640 (Cal BP 1410 to 1310)
1450 +/- 30 BP -23.0 °/oo
1480 +/- 30 BP
1270 +/- 30 BP -16.7 °/oo
1410 +/- 30 BP
Cal BC 170 to 30 (Cal BP 2120 to 1980)
1960 +/- 30 BP -18.5 °/oo
2070 +/- 30 BP
Site Name/Number
with alkali
with alkali
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
with alkali
(continued)
Biluut 2-5
134
306039
306040
Hearth 2: (deerstone)
charcoal
East Bay 3
306032
306035
306038
306043
Hearth 7: charcoal
Cow tooth
Corral structure
charcoal
Human phalange
Charcoal
306042
East Bay 1
Jargalant site
Deer Stone 3
(formerly Peat Valley)
Biluut 4-1
Stone Boxes site (formerly
Biluut 3-20)
Biluut 3-1
Hillside site
Biluut 2-6
Stone man site (formerly
Biluut 2-4)
Charcoal
308476
Human bone
Biluut 2-4
Burial
306037
Human phalange:
Sample 3
Biluut 2-3
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
with alkali
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
(charred material):
acid/alkali/acid
3450 +/- 30 BP -23.0 °/oo
3480 +/- 30 BP
1450 +/- 30 BP -23.0 °/oo
1480 +/- 30 BP
2920 +/- 30 BP -18.4 °/oo
3030 +/- 30 BP
2820 +/- 30 BP -17.7 °/oo
2940 +/- 30 BP
2800 +/- 30 BP -23.4 °/oo
2830 +/- 30 BP
2720 +/- 30 BP -23.0 °/oo
2750 +/- 30 BP
148.9 +/- 0.4 pMC -20.6 °/oo
147.6 +/- 0.4 pMC
3600 +/- 40 BP -22.3 °/oo
3640 +/- 40 BP
840 +/- 30 BP -19.8 °/oo 930
+/- 30 BP
(continued)
Cal BC 1050 to 910 (Cal BP 3000 to 2860)
Cal BC 970 to 960 (Cal BP 2920 to 2900),Cal
BC 940 to 820 (Cal BP 2890 to 2770)
Modern
Cal BC 2130 to 1900 (Cal BP 4080 to 3850)
Cal AD 1030 to 1170 (Cal BP 920 to 780)
Cal BC 1890 to 1740 (Cal BP 3840 to 3690)
Cal AD 540 to 640 (Cal BP 1410 to 1310)
Cal BC 1390 to 1210 (Cal BP 3340 to 3160)
Cal BC 1260 to 1040 (Cal BP 3210 to 2990)
Appendix II
Khoton Project 2011
GPS Data and Map
William Fitzhugh
Datum: WGS 84
Waypoint
Date
1
06-JUN-11 9:46:13PM
2
06-JUN-11 9:47:08PM
8
12-JUN-11 11:44:06PM
26
13-JUN-11 4:11:28AM
27
13-JUN-11 4:13:16AM
28
13-JUN-11 4:24:32AM
29
13-JUN-11 4:34:01AM
30
13-JUN-11 4:37:11AM
31
13-JUN-11 4:39:41AM
32
13-JUN-11 4:51:41AM
33
13-JUN-11 4:55:13AM
34
13-JUN-11 5:01:41AM
35
13-JUN-11 5:06:12AM
36
13-JUN-11 5:11:51AM
37
14-JUN-11 9:00:44PM
38
14-JUN-11 10:40:10PM
39
15-JUN-11 4:45:15AM
40
18-JUN-11 4:22:56AM
41
20-JUN-11 3:20:21AM
42
20-JUN-11 4:21:43AM
43
20-JUN-11 4:23:13AM
44
20-JUN-11 4:53:43AM
45
20-JUN-11 4:53:43AM
46
20-JUN-11 5:10:52AM
47
20-JUN-11 5:11:09AM
48
20-JUN-11 5:11:10AM
49
20-JUN-11 5:29:58AM
50
24-JUN-11 9:08:44PM
51
24-JUN-11 9:09:26PM
52
24-JUN-11 9:09:38PM
53
24-JUN-11 9:20:52PM
54
24-JUN-11 9:30:07PM
Latitude/Longitude
N48 39.074 E88 19.076
N48 39.078 E88 19.089
N48 39.330 E88 19.501
N48 39.408 E88 19.386
N48 39.421 E88 19.386
N48 39.460 E88 19.406
N48 39.476 E88 19.365
N48 39.480 E88 19.368
N48 39.485 E88 19.357
N48 39.453 E88 19.429
N48 39.416 E88 19.487
N48 39.395 E88 19.499
N48 39.392 E88 19.520
N48 39.368 E88 19.534
N48 39.278 E88 19.445
N48 39.348 E88 19.510
N48 39.631 E88 19.713
N48 39.631 E88 19.710
N48 44.259 E88 08.756
N48 39.096 E88 22.057
N48 39.101 E88 22.053
N48 39.289 E88 21.585
N48 39.289 E88 21.585
N48 39.714 E88 21.364
N48 39.714 E88 21.366
N48 39.714 E88 21.366
N48 39.166 E88 21.594
N48 39.138 E88 21.603
N48 39.138 E88 21.602
N48 39.138 E88 21.602
N48 39.087 E88 21.896
N48 39.029 E88 21.983
135
Elevation
7187 ft
7231 ft
6855 ft
6876 ft
6876 ft
6889 ft
6891 ft
6891 ft
6887 ft
6886 ft
6885 ft
6877 ft
6879 ft
6870 ft
6945 ft
6866 ft
7187 ft
6879 ft
6881 ft
6969 ft
6982 ft
6969 ft
6969 ft
7018 ft
7014 ft
7015 ft
6929 ft
6967 ft
6968 ft
6970 ft
6989 ft
6942 ft
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
24-JUN-11 9:38:03PM
24-JUN-11 9:49:36PM
24-JUN-11 10:00:49PM
24-JUN-11 10:34:04PM
25-JUN-11 3:59:15AM
25-JUN-11 4:08:45AM
25-JUN-11 4:15:44AM
25-JUN-11 4:25:07AM
25-JUN-11 4:34:12AM
25-JUN-11 12:37:30AM
25-JUN-11 12:44:31AM
25-JUN-11 12:46:02AM
25-JUN-11 12:47:28AM
25-JUN-11 12:48:54AM
25-JUN-11 12:51:40AM
25-JUN-11 12:57:11AM
25-JUN-11 1:54:37AM
27-JUN-11 9:46:53PM
04-JUL-11 6:29:25AM
N48 38.974 E88 22.033
N48 38.973 E88 21.845
N48 38.914 E88 21.986
N48 39.023 E88 22.105
N48 39.101 E88 22.060
N48 39.120 E88 22.130
N48 39.124 E88 22.173
N48 39.029 E88 22.119
N48 38.866 E88 22.231
N48 38.866 E88 22.231
N48 38.706 E88 22.305
N48 38.704 E88 22.316
N48 38.696 E88 22.314
N48 38.697 E88 22.301
N48 38.663 E88 22.306
N48 38.665 E88 22.298
N48 38.918 E88 21.979
N48 39.137 E88 21.642
N48 39.796 E88 20.482
136
6945 ft
6892 ft
6918 ft
6970 ft
6968 ft
7008 ft
7038 ft
6985 ft
6896 ft
6917 ft
6885 ft
6890 ft
6889 ft
6889 ft
6879 ft
6899 ft
6941 ft
6948 ft
6823 ft
GPS locations of 2011 surveying and sites.
137
138
Appendix III
Site Reports
SITE NAME:
701F (RK 323)
Date: 6/22/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
Site/Feature Culture
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/RK
Survey
Boulder Ring Turkic?
SITE NAME:
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/RK
Survey
Ritual
SITE NAME:
901
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/RK/DC
Survey
Turkic
enclosure
902
GPS
Type
Period/Age
RK/WF/DC
Survey
Rock feature, Unknown
deer stone?
903
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/RK/DC
Survey
Slab
materials
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
904
Method
Province: Bayan Ulgii
Elev. Location
Elev. Location
Date: 6/22/2011
Boggy area with clay and
disturbed soil. People have
dug many pits (looters).
Elev. Location
139
Vegetation
Disturbed by
recent herding
activity.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
S of road near area with
granite outcrops
Turkic?
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Disturbances
S of road
Date: 6/22/2011
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
Date: 6/22/2011
Method
Suum: Tsengel
S side of road 20m E of large
cracked boulder in center of
valley floor.
Turkic?
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
Date: 6/22/2011
Method
SITE NAME:
NW of Biluut 1N, on a small
knoll W of road
Turkic
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
801 Turkic Enclosures (2) Date: 6/22/2011
Surveyed
By
Province: Bayan Ulgii ( RK 324)
Vegetation
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Slabs from
looter's pit
clay boils
and boggy
surface
vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Site Name: 701F (RK 323)
Description
Size
Partial boulder circle of large
rocks and slabs with a boulder
ring 1x1.5m diameter to SE.
Large flat slabs in ground. Part of
1x1m square slab box with 2
boulders in it.
Samples
Collected
Artifacts Collected Research
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Marmot
burrow in
center
Site Name: 801 Turkic Enclosures (2)
Description
Size
2 Turkic square enclosures edged
with vertical slabs, Southern
enclosure 3.5x3m oriented 2
E/W. Filled with small cobbles.
Fallen slab in cetner of cast edge.
Smaller feature 3x3m also filled
with cobbles and slab stone
pieces. No obvious bal-bals.
Remarks
Yes
Site Name: 901
Description
Size
Granite boulder (fallen stone?) in
middle of a 1.5x2.0m slate slab
inset enclosure. Cluster of partly
buried rocks in ground 1m to east.
Remarks
Possible
Site Name: 902
Description
Size
Several vertical stones in ground
and a possible granite deer stone
lying down .70cm on surface.
Slanting top but no visible
markings.
Remarks
Possible
Site Name: 903
Description
Size
Slabs from looter's pit lying N of
the deepest looter's pit.
Remarks
Minimal
Site Name: 904
Description
Size
140
Remarks
WF/DC/RK
SITE NAME:
Survey
Grave?
Unknown
905
Date: 6/22/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/RK/DC
Survey
4 Rock
Pavements,
burials?
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Method
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
907
Method
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Method
Surveyed
By
909
Method
Pazyryk?
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Grave pits
N of road about 60m to North
Grave?
Ritual site?
N of road ca. 75m
Date: 6/22/2011
Elev. Location
Bronze?
Karasuk
according to
Tserendagva
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Elev. Location
141
Vegetation
Steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
2 large, looted
mounds with
depressed centers.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Three looter pits
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
On a small ledge high up
against the cliff at south side
of Biluut 2, overlooking pond
below. Extremely exposed and
windy location.
Date: 6/22/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Elev. Location
Unknown
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Elev. Location
Date: 6/22/2011
908 (RK 11,12)
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Burial
Mounds
steppe
N of road
Date: 6/22/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Elev. Location
Unknown
906 (RK 331, 332, 378)
2m S of the road and 20m
from where it forks. 3x2m
rock feature outlined with
boulders and smaller rocks
inside.
Vegetation
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
None
None
A possible
burial
Site Name: 905
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Area 1: 2 clusters of boulders
aligned N/S, undisturbed
features, about 2m diameter-20m
to SE. Two large boulder features
N/S, the northern-most with very
large rocks, and about 2x3m
diam.
Area 2: Southern
feature is 4x5m
circular or
rectangular with
smaller boulder
scattered
throughout internal
area.
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
?
Site Name: 906 (RK 331, 332, 378)
2 mounds. Burial area in south
Southern mound 8m None
end is 2 E/W. Two slate balbals
diamter; northern,
(RK 328) east of south mound.
27m diamter.
Large, balbal has 3 ibex petrogylphs on east/ narrow side, 1m
high stone. Smaller eastern stone
(20m) 5m east of larger stone.
Flat sides to N,S
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Remarks
Site Name: 907
Size
Three looter pits in triangular
arrangement each 3-4m apart.
Rock cluster to east, east of upper
pit, may be another burial.
Remarks
Site Name: 908 (RK 11,12)
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
2 rectangular pavements, 2
4x3m, with interiors paved with
rocks and rubble. Eastern
structure is 2.5x3m filled with a
few rocks but mostly gravel.
Third area is a rough rock
pavement up against the front of
the ledge, 2 4x4m.
4x3m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Possible
Site Name: 909
142
Remarks
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
910
Method
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Method
Surveyed
By
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Standing
Stone
Burial
Mounds
914
Method
Square
Khirigsuur
Elev. Location
Pazyryk?
East of road at base of B2
hillslope.
Date: 6/22/2011
Elev. Location
Bronze/Dee
r
Stone/Khirig
suur
Complex
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Elev. Location
143
Vegetation
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
depressed/
looted center
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
10m NE of Pasyryk mound,
near edge of hillslope
Date: 6/22/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
N of road on flat terrace area
SW/W of picto Turkic horses.
These structures, roughly oval
with northern most a clear
ring with formed by small
upright slabs/rocks and clear
center area, 4x5m diameter.
steppe
NE of pond on N/E side of
road, between road and a
large boulder.
Date: 6/22/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Elev. Location
Unknown
GPS
Type
Period/Age
N of road in B-2 area uphill
from huge boulder
Elev. Location
Date: 6/22/2011
913 (RK #6)
Method
Date: 6/22/2011
Rock features Unknown
912 (RK #7)
Method
Unknown
GPS
Type
Period/Age
911
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Rock
Features
Vegetation
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Cluster of rocks in a linear
arrangement with several
vertical slabs.
None
None
?
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Stone mound 13m diameter, with 13m diameter
depressed/ looted center. Mostly
made of small cobbles. A small
black standing stone 30cm high
at edge of mound. Probably
looted.
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Square Khirigsuur ca 11x12m on
sides, with very large fence rocks
and central mound coming within
1.2m of the fence. Huge boulder
in east side of mound, which is
flat, not mounded up. Indented
area in south side of mound.
11x12m. Six hearth None
rings around south
side of khirigsuur.
All rings have twelve
stones.
None
Diagram included.
Description
Size
Potential
Site Name: 910
Description
Size
Two possible burial pavements
nearer the terrace egde.
Remarks
Site Name: 911
Description
Size
2 sides of a rectangle, with a slate
standing stone at SW end. North
side has a lying slab (fallen
upright?) 1.2m long showing a
second lying slab (upright?) on
the east side. A flat slab and
vertical slab inside the enclosure.
Remarks
possible
Site Name: 912 (RK #7)
Description
Size
Remarks
No
Not much
Site Name: 914
Samples
Collected
144
Remarks
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
915 (RK #4)
Method
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Surveyed
By
Method
Method
Surveyed
By
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Burial
Mound
(looted)
Burial
919
Method
Turkic
Disturbances
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Elev. Location
Outerrace below B2 hillslope
Date: 6/22/2011
Elev. Location
145
Vegetation
steppe
On terrace below B-2 hillslope Looted
Unknown
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Suum: Tsengel
Elev. Location
Vegetation
steppe
N end of terrace beneath
hillslope
Date: 6/22/2011
Khirigsuur
Disturbances
Elev. Location
Date: 6/22/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Suum: Tsengel
On terrace just below hillslope
Late Bronze,
DSK
Component
GPS
Type
Period/Age
918
Method
DSK
complex,
Late Bronze
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Elev. Location
Date: 6/22/2011
917 (RK #3)
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Square
Khirigsuur
On hillslope Sof Khinqsuur
and Dazyryk mounds
Date: 6/22/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
916
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Deer Stone
Bronze/Dee
and standing r Stone
slabs
Complex,
Turkic
component
Vegetation
Steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
looted
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Small deer stone fine grained
granite, with angled top (high end
to south), a lightly-pecked brow
groove above 3 slash marks, and
partly made bolt- 40cm above
ground. Several flat-lying slate
slabs to the southwest of DS…
And a slate standing None
slab in a circular
boulder ring 4m
diameter-some of
flat slabs mady have
been standing once.
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Diagram included.
Samples
Collected
Potential
Circular khirigsuur with very
7m diamter
large fence rocks and center
mound that reaches the fence 7m
in diamter. Recently looted. 3040cm high mound.
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
F1. Looted 6m diameter feature
with boulder ring and standing
slate slabs in interior. F2.
Immediately to NE, a boulder
group rectangular in shape. F3.
10-boulder ring to NE against
hillslope may not be associated
with F1, F2. Belongs with 918.
6m diameter
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Diagram included. Large
standing stone in center of
mound was not present
when RK first visited the
site. Radials from each
corner to mound.
Orientation of east wall to
SE.
Samples
Collected
Potential
Square khirigsuur aligned NW/SE
with central mound reaching to
the fences, which as large stones
at the corners. No hearth circles.
Three large boulders in cetner of
mound. Oriented to SSE
Possible
hillside,
not much
Diagram included. Nothing
on W, N sides.
Site Name: 916
Description
Size
Remarks
No
Remarks
Possible
Site Name: 918
Square Khirisuur with large
boulder "pinnacles" at corners.
Central mound of cobbles, looted
or borrowed central mound. One
hearth ring to norht of 12 stones.
A larger boulder ring/ square? to
NE of hearth ring.
hearths
(hill)
Site Name: 919
Description
Size
146
Remarks
Biluut Team Survey
Rock
Pavement
Surveyed
By
GPS
Type
Period/Age
SITE NAME:
920
Method
Biluut Team Survey
SITE NAME:
Square
Khirigsuur
Billuut 2-7
Turkic
Burial
Date: 6/22/2011
Steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
On SE extension to terrace
east of pond and south of B2
hill.
Date: 7/7/2011
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Standing
stone and
structure
Biluut 1-2
Elev. Location
Deer
Stone/Khirig
suur
Complex,
LBA
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
On terrace E of pond.
Elev. Location
Unknown
Vegetation
Steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
ca .5km north of Stone Man
site
Date: 6/14/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Elev. Location
Suum: Tsengel
Surveyed
By
Method
J.B/W.F
Excavatio Burial
n
Pazyryk
N48
2090 NW of small pond in middle of
29.330
the B 1-2 valley. Series of six
E99
stone pavements oriented N-S
19.501
magnetic.
WF
Survey
Burial
Turkic?
N48
2093 23M NNE of B.IN Md. 6
E99
19.509
grass
WF
Survey
Burial
Turkic?
N48
2093 23m NNE of B1-2
39.348
E99
19.509
Grass
RK, WF, DC
Survey
Rock feature Unknown
crosses road running through
middle of B1/B2 valley
147
Disturbances
Vegetation
Surface of all
grass and
structures littered steppe
with modern
herbs
refuse and ash
dumps.
steppe
3m diameter boulder pavement,
circular.
3m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
A very well-made square
8m high
Khirigsuur with corner pinnacles
and a rock-paved inside fence
area. The center mound is of
fairly large cobbles and about 8m
high. There are no obvious hearth
rings. Oriented to ESE.
None
None
Detailed diagram included.
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
50 cm high greywacke standing
1x1m
stone in a 1x1m boulder setting,
square x section ca 25-30cm on a
side, located 1.5m east of a N-S
alignement of boulders that may
mark the side of a rectanglar
structure-however this may be a
natural feature.
nothing seen
on surface
None
Only E and N sides are
suggested.
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Six mounds, numbered 1-6 south Chain of burrials is
to north. Mounds 1-4 are round
32m long.
and 6 meters in diameter; and 5
is smaller, ca 2m diameter.
Mound 6 is square and borded by
slabs slanting in toward center of
this mound (possibly Turkic?).
Artifacts,
bones, c 14
from
excavated
Md. 3.
Excavated material
from Md. 3. Belt
hook found in turf
by metal detector a
meter east of Md 4.
All of these
mounds
may have
been
looted in
antiquity
Round rock pavement, circular
shape with a slightly depressed
center. Small standing slab at the
NW edge of pavement several
large schist/ slate slabs flat on
ground in the paevement.
Modern rubbish all over surface.
None
None
This may be a series of
commoner Pasyryk
graves. Surface rock
extend two levels - two
layers deep for the
maximal pavement, then
two levels in the center of
mound. See excavation
maps.
None
None
No obvious WF GPS 30. Quite a large
sign of
feature. No obvious
looting
structure except for rocks
concentrated around
outside and more gravelly
center. No balbals.
None
None
Site Name: 920
?
Site Name: Billuut 2-7
Size
Site Name: Biluut 1-2
Round rock pavement, circular
shape with a slightly depressed
center. Small standing slab at NW
edge of pavement. Several large
schist/ slate slabs flat on ground
in pavement. Modern rubbish all
over surface. No bal-bals.
54 stones in alignment, ca 75
meters, with a gap of 10-15 m in
the middle East-West alignment
Size
ca 75 meters
148
No obvious
sign of
looting
little to do! Sighting alignment?
Property boundary
marker?
SITE NAME:
Biluut 1-4
Date: 6/15/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
W.F
Survey
Workshop/
quarry
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Biluut 2-5
Method
Surveyed
By
Biluut 2-6
Method
W.F
Surveyed
By
Turkic
DC/WF
Biluut 2-8
Method
Date: 6/15/2011
Unknown
Disturbances
Elev. Location
Date: 7/7/2011
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Several rocks
have been
removed from
both mounds in
recent times,
leaving hollows.
Steppe
grasses
Province: Biluut, Stone Man Site
Elev. Location
Unknown
N of creek running between
B2 and the terrace per camps,
about .5km off the road to Aral
Tolgoi.
Khirigsuur?
On SW side of the first big hill
N of the plain, about 100
below crest. Why on such a
slope?
Date: 7/7/2011
Elev. Location
Unknown
Above large Khirigsuur-like
feature, to NE on top of he hill
on a level area.
149
Vegetation
Grass,
large trees
begin 50 m
above
(south) of
site.
Hillslope
errosion.
NE39
2190 200 m W of high western knob
N48
of Biluut 2 middle ridge near
39.621
crest of steppe. 2 simliar small
E88
burial features ca 2m
19.713
diameter. Located slightly
below ridge crest in a windy
exposed position with a view
all around N-W-S.
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Stone Line
Suum: Tsengel
N48
2117 N side of Bilut 1 around a huge
39.278
boulder on lower hillside with
E88
large tree at base of boulder.
19.445
About 100m SW of B1-2
Pazyryk site. Good view across
Biluut 1-2
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Survey
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Kontum/Tse Excavatio Burial
rendagva
n
2007
SITE NAME:
Lower
Paleolithic?
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
The enclosure for
#1 has been
deranged and the
slab borders were
mostly scattered
all throughout the
box,
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
1 cleaver of finegrained rock (not
quartzite). Several
other poss. tools of
quartzite
Diagram included. Many
quartzite materials in
slope debris around and
below boulder. A possible
quartzite quarry may be
located here.
Samples
Collected
Potential
2 burial features composed of
mound 2 is 3m
round cluster of small boulders
diamter
and cobbles. Mound 1 is westernmost of the two and the one we
excavated. Mound 2 is 15 m to
the E and is made with larger
rocks and is round and 3m
diamter.
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
4 standing slabs at east ends of
square enclosures roughly 4x4 in
size, aligned to .25, with a face on
the largest standing stone
(southernmost of the 4). Number
2,3 stone uprights have no
carvings, and #4 (northernmost)
is broken off at the base.
The enclosure for #1 Yes, bone,
has been deranged
charcol
and the slab borders
were mostly
scattered all
throughout the box,
which like the other
units were covered
with boulders. #1
was the largest of
the 4.
One potsherd
Excavated
and
mapped
fully
A possible
Khirigsuur?
Probably
looted.
Quartzite flakes and coves
eroding from tan soil, especially
just above boulder. "Cleaver" was
found 6 m. south of boulder top
eroding from the bank 2 m east of
a marmot hole. Losts of quartzite
flakes eroding about 50 cm from
surface.
Description
Size
May be a
useful site
to
investigate
but hill
slope is a
problem
for
excavation
Remarks
19 m wide circle stone feature on 19 m wide
a 25-30 slope. Well bounded on
the outside by boulders. In center
a cleared area surrounded by
large slabs on surface - perhaps
capstones from a looted burial. A
deeply set vertical slab at SE edge
of mound.
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
9m line of boulders, aligned with
cirque of hill on south side of
h.Khotan opposite our camp.
Generall lined in S by E direction.
9m
None
None
Remarks
Many slabs in the
construction. No built-up
mound, no hearth rings
outside.
150
Remarks
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-10
Date: 6/26/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Burials
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-1A
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF, DC
Survey
Burial
mound?
Biluut 3-21
Date: 6/26/2011
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Round
Khirigsuur
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-22
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Rock ring
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-23
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Trench
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-24
Elev. Location
Unknown
Date: 6/29/2011
151
Disturbances
Vegetation
One possible
hearth ring to
east of Khirigsuur
has the look of
major
derangement/
destruction.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Terrace front S of B3-22
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
20m SW of B2-21 at edge of
terrace overlooking excellent
wet pasture.
Elev. Location
Unknown
Disturbances
At the front (W) end of the
highest terrace of Canyon
Creek Khuiten gol, directly
across from herder's cabin
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
N Side of Peat Valley Creek
below high boulder terrace
NW of 34-1 reef structure.
Elev. Location
DSKC
Surveyed
By
Disturbances
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
Suum: Tsengel
End of peat valley W terrace
over looking lake, on a small
projection of the terrace
toward the lake
Date: 6/26/2011
Method
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
looted
Suum: Tsengel
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Two rectangular structures
each 4x4.5m
aligned N/S each with an internal
oval slab-bordered pavement (a
burial) inside the north wall.
Structure external wall rocks are
spaced about 50-60cm apart. No
sign of disturbance.
None
None
Diagram included.
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
2.5-3.5m oval border
concentration, in midst of
ethnographic camp.
2.5-3.5m
None
None
B3-1 to B3-11 are on the
lower terrace on the west
side of Peat Valley stream,
beneath the tail of B-3.
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Round Khirigsuur with partial
segments of outer ring wall
(cannibalized?) made of LARGE
boulders. Mound in center (8m
diameter) is ringed by inslanting
slabs. "Mound" is not filled with
rocks only a few large ones and
shale deposits.
14m diameter
None
None
B3-11 to B3-20 not
assigned. B3-21 to B3-44
are on east side of Khuiten
gol, and west/north side of
Biluut 3 hill.
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Site Name: Biluut 3-1A
Description
Excavated trench paralleling
terrace front, with a large in situ
boulder in north end. Bermed up
edges show where soil has been
thrown out. No other rocks or
central features present. A
smaller circular pit excavated to
8m south.
Size
152
Remarks
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
3 mounds
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-25
Pazyryk
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Burial mound Pazyryk?
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-26
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Slab Feature Turkic
Biluut 3-27
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
Unknown
Concentratio
n
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-28
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Double
Mound
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-29
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Elev. Location
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Mid-slope, B3 N hillside,
western exposure.
Elev. Location
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
50m SE of B3-1
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Vegetation
Mid-slope on NE of B3-24
Date: 6/27/2011
Surveyed
By
Disturbances
On mid-slope 100m from
terrace edge 3 rock-filled
mounds side-by-side only 1m
apart parallel to hillslope. S
mound about 7m diameter
with rectangular arrangement
of large rock in middle,
oriented N-S. Rest of mound is
composed of cobbles, small
slabs.
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Elev. Location
Pazyryk
50m E of B3-1
Date: 6/29/2011
153
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
looted?
Suum: Tsengel
Description
Size
Depressed area W of rectangle
that leads downslope. Central
mound is smaller, with depressed
center and is 4m diameter.
Northern mound is adjacent, 9m
diameter with 60cm depression
running E-W downslope.
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Remarks
Probably
looted.
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Circular mound with central
depression in western part,
empty of rocks.
8x10m diameter
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Boulder oval 1m in diameter with 1m diameter
surrounding clusterd rocks, 6m
diameter.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Remarks
Slab feature of roughly
rectangular shape with 2
standing slabs on uphill, eastern
side, slightly downslope a linear
arrangement of small vertical
slabs forming the upper part of a
roughly rect. feature with a small
1x1.5m slab enclosure in its
center.
Remarks
Description
Size
Remarks
Two adjacent boulder mounds
oriented E-W Northern mound
10 diameters, with flat slabs
around edges, depressed center
(looted?) Western mound 12m
diameter with no separation from
E md. Slab lined edges.
Size
154
Both
probably
looted.
Remarks
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
Pavement
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-2B
Unknown
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Tent ring
Surveyed
By
Biluut 3-3
Method
Elev. Location
Ethnographi
c
Date: 6/23/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
N end of Peat Valley terrace
south of tail of B3 hill.
Elev. Location
Biluut Team Excavatio Burial
n
Mound and
Rectangular
structure
Unknown
75m S of fence paddlock in
"Peat Creek Valley" on east
side of the stream.
WF, Bayaraa Excavatio Boulder
n
pavement
Unknown
Lower B3 terrace on east side
of Khirigsuur go near 2
Pazyryk mounds and another
pavement simliar to B3-20,
but larger.
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-30
Date: 6/26/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Khirigsuur
WF/DC
Survey
Ethnographic Kazakh
camp ground
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Biluut 3-31
Method
Elev. Location
DSK
complex,
Late Bronze
N of winter herder dwelling
(in hollow) east of Peat Valley
Stream.
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
steppe
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Center of mound
has been
disturbed.
Lower terrace E of wetland
Date: 6/29/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Disturbances
15m NE of B3-1
Date: 6/26/2011
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Elev. Location
155
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Circular boulder pavement
simliar to B3-1. Probably closely
related to B3-20.
6m diameter
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Circle of surface cobbles 5m
diameter-No cultural material
noted.
5m diameter
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
yes, C 14,
found from
rectangular
feature
yes
B3-3 to B3-10 are on the
west terrace of Peat Valley
below (south) of fenced
pasture.
Site Name: Biluut 3-2B
Remarks
Burial mound of large boulders
ca 8m. Diameter
with a standing stone in its S side.
A stone tent ring about 6-7m
diameter adjoins the mound to E,
and a rectangular walled
structure adjoining to W, with
oval hearth ring in center, trough
like features in each corner
we
excavated
the
rectangular
structure.
Boulder/ cobble pavement about 6x6m
6x6m width surface stones each
packed together tightly. We
spend three days exacavating this
mound and found two small
rectangular stone slab boxes just
under the 2nd level of rocks.
Only poorly None
preserved
fragments of
a possibly
human finger
or toe bone.
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Detailed Diagram
Included. Large hearth
ring rocks. Boulder cone at
each corner but no
uprights.
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Size
2 Khirigsuurs on moraine crest
north of herder camp. Southern
Khirigsuurs is square with
completely paved enclosure and
4 large 1.5x1.5m hearth rings
around W/SW side of fence. 2
rings have 10 stones 2 only 8. A
space is open on west side of
each ring.
Large area of ethno camps
throughout lowest terrace, with
ger impressions, rock features,
dumps, artifacts.
Description
Size
156
Remarks
WF/DC
SITE NAME:
Survey
Cobble
Features
Biluut 3-32
Unknown
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Large
Rectangular
enclosure
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-33
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Irrigation
ditch
Biluut 3-34
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
Pavement
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Cobble circle Unknown
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Slab feature
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Square slab
enclosure
SITE NAME:
SITE NAME:
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-35
Biluut 3-36
Biluut 3-37
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
E side of canyon creek
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
Elev. Location
Modern
Surveyed
By
Suum: Tsengel
N part of terrace
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
75m N of B3-30.
Elev. Location
Unknown
Date: 6/29/2011
Terrace front over Canyon
Creek
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
Terrace edge 12m E of B3-34.
Elev. Location
Unknown
Date: 6/29/2011
Edge of steppe overlooking
canyon
Elev. Location
Turkic?
On terrace below B3 E side of
Khuitan gol gorge.
157
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Two square concentrations of
each 4-5m in
cobbles, 4-5m in diameter with
diameter
slab rocks in center and around
some edges. Northern feature has
a 30cm high standing stone on
east side.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Large earthwork enclosure with 28x28m
28m N-S, 28m E-W banked wall
50-60cm high, and a central
boulder feature in cetner. Central
cobble feature 3x3m rectangular
slab feature 5m to south (tested
by WF in 2008).
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Size
Remarks
Size
Shared ditch running parallel to
terrace on east side of Canyon
Creek.
Remarks
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
4x4 boulder cluster
4x4m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
11 cobbles in circle. 80cm chain.
Possibly a hearth.
80cm
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
1.5x2.0m cone of flat slabs.
1.5x2.0m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
3.5x4m slab lined enclosure filled 3.5x4m
with boulders slabs inclined
inward. Some boulders thrown
out in N may indicate looting-2
small standing slabs at NE corner.
158
Remarks
Remarks
Remarks
Remarks
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-38
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Burial mound Pazyryk
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-39
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Slab Oval
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Burial
SITE NAME:
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-3B
Biluut 3-4
Date: 6/26/2011
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
pavement
Biluut 3-40
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
Rings
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
Biluut 3-41
Method
Elev. Location
Unknown
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Terrace at E side of upper
Khuiten gol canyon.
Date: 6/29/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Disturbances
Lower Peat Valley terrace
halfway from terrace's north
end to its south end.
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
8m E of B3-38
Suum: Tsengel
Terrace south of B3 tail, inside
part of terrace under higher
terrace bank.
Date: 6/26/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Elev. Location
Unknown
Method
Terrace E of Canyon River
gorge.
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
159
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
7x8m diagram boulder mound,
no depressed center, edge with
flat slabs.
7x8m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
1.0x1.5m diameter oval made of
vertical slabs. Hearth?
1.0x1.5m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Oval concentration of boulders
4.5x2.5m with marmot hole at
north end, and a large peaked
upright stone at grave head
(north end). A line of large
boulders extends from S and N
grave west towards the high
terrace. Ethnographic camps
throught this area.
4.5x2.5m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Tear-drop-shaped boulder
14m long, 5m wide.
pavement with rounded larger
and to S and trailing pointed end
toN. There may be some question
whether this is a cultural or
natural feature.
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
5 small boulder rings- 1m
diameter. Hearths? Possibly
related to large standing slab at
terrace edge.
each 1m diameter
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Site Name: Biluut 3-3B
Remarks
May be
undisturbe
d.
Remarks
Remarks
Remarks
Remarks
160
Remarks
WF/DC
SITE NAME:
Survey
Slab feature
Biluut 3-42
Turkic?
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
Mound
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Burial Mound Unknown
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Fallen slab
SITE NAME:
SITE NAME:
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-43
Biluut 3-44
Biluut 3-5
Date: 6/29/2011
Date: 6/26/2011
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
Concentr.
Biluut 3-6
Date: 6/26/2011
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Grave?
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-7
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
Unknown
Concentratio
n
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-8
In a small level place with
juniper bushes midway up BD
hill on side facing Khuiten gol.
50m in from front of terrace to
east. 30m east of B3-4.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
At terrace front.
Date: 6/26/2011
Method
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
SE side of terrace east of
upper Khuiten gol gorge.
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
Unknown
GPS
Type
Period/Age
In boulder field at E edge of
upper Canyon Terrace.
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Terrace front at E side of
canyon head.
Elev. Location
Date: 6/26/2011
161
Middle of lower terrace,
extending south from a large
rectangular 'glacial erratic'.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Rectangular arrangements of
standing slabs inclined outwards,
with largest slab (21m long)
standing 80cm high at SE corner.
Much modern debris has been
burned in this feature-glass,
bone, plastic. A former ritual site?
None
None
Yes
Samples
Collected
Potential
9x15m boulder mound 80cm
9x15m
high with 3 depressions in center.
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
7x10m diameter burial mound.
Looks intact.
7x10m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Rectangular arrangement of large 7x3m
rocks 7x3m, some rocks may be
natural.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Boulder concentration 5x2.5m
5x2.5m
rectangular shape aligned to NW.
Very large granite rocks.
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Long linear concentration of
rocks (med/ small sized) aligned
N-S 4-5m wide and 32m long.
Cultural? Natural?
4-5m wide and 32m
long
None
None
Description
Size
Fallen standing slab in the
ground. Some boulders present in
this area.
Remarks
Remarks
Remarks
Description
Size
Remarks
Size
Remarks
162
Remarks
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
Pavement
SITE NAME:
Biluut 3-9
Unknown
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
pavement/
burial
Biluut 4-2
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Khirigsuur
SITE NAME:
BN-1
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Circular
Khirigsuur
SITE NAME:
BN-10
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Boulder
Mound
Surveyed
By
BN-11
Method
Elev. Location
Unknown
Date: 6/29/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Center of mound
has been
disturbed.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
N side of Khuiten (canyon) gol
at edge of bank.
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
N of winter herder dwelling
(in hollow) east of Peat Valley
stream.
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
Elev. Location
DSK
Complex,
Late Bronze
Surveyed
By
Vegetation
Near terrace front facing peat
valley creek
Date: 6/26/2011
Method
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
Disturbances
Middle of lower peat valley
terrace
Date: 6/26/2011
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
E of the previous group of
burials, located at the base of
the nest higher terrace and
close to the river bank.
Elev. Location
163
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Tear-drop-shaped boulder
pavement with a few small
standing shale slabs and a large
upright granite boulder in the
middle. Old enough for some
granite rocks to be eroded into
flat upper surfaces.
15x4m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Linear boulder pavement with a 1x2m
probable burial at north end.
16x4m. Rectangular boulder
feature along southwest side.
Possible that the linear pavement
is natural.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Diagram included. Large
hearth ring rocks. Boulder
cone at each corner, but no
uprights.
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Circular khirigsuur 9x9m with no 9x9m
obvious fence. 2 hearth circles to
the west. 1 Southeth 13 stones. 2
Northern 13 stones.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Size
2 Khirigsuurs on moraine crest
north of herder camp. Southern
khirigsuur is square with
completely paved enclosure and
4 large 1.5x1.5m hearth rings
around W/SW side of fence. 2
rings have 10 stones, 2 only 8. A
space is open on west side of
each ring.
Site Name: BN-1
Description
Size
Site Name: BN-10
Size
At entrance to gorge, covered
with juniper growth.
Not
obviously
disturbed
Remarks
Site Name: BN-11
Description
Size
164
Remarks
WF Team
SITE NAME:
Survey
BN-12
Boulder
cache
Unknown
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Standing
stone
SITE NAME:
BN-13
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Standing
slab
enclosures
SITE NAME:
BN-14
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Square slab
enclosure,
standing
stone
SITE NAME:
BN-15
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Circular
Unknown
stone mound
SITE NAME:
BN-16
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Standing
slab inside
square slabs
SITE NAME:
BN-17
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Square
mound
W end of the "stone shelter"
terrace
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
On a small hidden terrace
west of the Khuiten gol gorge.
Herders have built a 3-sided
stone walled structure (no
south wall or roof) from slabs
and borders taken from
burials.
W of rectangular boxes, 50m
west of stone house.
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
Elev. Location
Turkic?
Surveyed
By
On a high terrace N of the
Khuiten gol gorge located a
few m east of a hugh round
glacial boulder.
Elev. Location
Turkic?
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
Turkic?
Surveyed
By
Part way up the riverside trail
to next terrace above the big
grave complex.
W end of "stone shelter"
terrace
Elev. Location
Unknown
8m W of BN-16 on "stone
shelter" terrace
165
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Site slabs have
been taken and
used for structure
5m from site NE
of rectangular
boxes.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Looted mound
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Recently
scavanged and
looted.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Slabs recently
looted.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Recently looted
for slabs
Vegetation
Semi-circle of boulders at
riverside, up against a large
boulder. Possibly a meat cache.
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Site Name: BN-12
Description
Size
A large prominent standing stone
swuare top. 112 tall, 62 wide and
25 inches. A square setting of
vertical slabs 1.5x1.5m.
Remarks
Site Name: BN-13
Description
Size
Long 2mx10m set of 6
rectangular boxes 1.5mx1.5m
each having had a small standing
stone, now cannibalized by
herders. Additional square
enclosure 17m from NE of
rectangular boxes. Enclosures
one oriented 030/40 degrees.
Remarks
Site Name: BN-14
Description
Size
Vertical slab enclosure with a
standing stone.
Remarks
Site Name: BN-15
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
10m diamter
10m diamter
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
102x47x8cm dimensions of slab.
102x47x8cm
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
3m square
3x3m
None
None
Remarks
Site Name: BN-16
Remarks
Site Name: BN-17
166
Remarks
SITE NAME:
BN-18
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Circular
Khirigsuur
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Square burial Unknown
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Stone mound Pazyryk
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Boulder ring Unknown
SITE NAME:
SITE NAME:
SITE NAME:
SITE NAME:
BN-2
BN-3
BN-4
DSKC
Date: 6/29/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Stone Ring
BN-6
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Square
Khirigsuur
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
BN-7
Method
N of BN-2
Elev. Location
Disturbances
Vegetation
Recently looted
for stones.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
NW of BN-3 (2m)
Elev. Location
DSKC
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
12m N of upslope of BN-4
Date: 6/29/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Suum: Tsengel
Adjacent and south of BN-3
Date: 7/29/2011
Method
N BN-1 (3m)
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
10m NE of BN-17
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
BN-5
Elev. Location
167
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Site Name: BN-18
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
6x7m square sided burial mound 6x7m
with pile of large stones in center.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Small diagram included.
Samples
Collected
Potential
Large boulder Khirigsuur with
cobble filled center
Site Name: BN-2
Description
Size
Site Name: BN-3
Size
A large circular mound of stones
with depressed center.
Site Name: BN-4
Description
Size
Circular bolder pavement with
lots of broken slab rock in center.
BN-3 overlaps BN-3 and was
built later.
Remarks
Remarks
Remarks
Remarks
Site Name: BN-5
Description
Size
8 stone boulders. Open center,
very large high boulders, widely
spaced apart, as though to create
a council ring of seats. An
unusual feature. First of its kind,
since it is certainly not a burial
feature.
Remarks
Yes, view
of east. WF
DSCN 3596
Site Name: BN-6
Description
Size
Plaza completely paved with
cobbles. Juniper growing in
center. 2 large hearth rings to the
NW of mound. 1-12 stone, 2-12
stones 12 meters to south.
Not
obviously
disturbed
Site Name: BN-7
Description
Size
168
Remarks
WF Team
SITE NAME:
Survey
Circular
Khirigsuur
BN-8
DSKC
Date: 6/29/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Square
Khirigsuur
SITE NAME:
BN-9
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF Team
Survey
Circular
Mound
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/RU/DC Survey
SITE NAME:
East Bay-1
Method
Unknown
Date: 6/22/2011
DC/WF
Excavatio Square
n
Khirigsuur
with spokes
East Bay-10
S of road between B1/B2 .
Circular ger patterns, hearths
and other features, artifacts
etc.
Elev. Location
DSKC
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
DC/EF
Survey
Rectangular
structure
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
eroded
surface,
gravel.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
East Bay, on isthmus 6
penninsula
Date: 7/10/2011
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
Date: 7/9/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Elev. Location
Ethnographic Ethnographi
Camp
c
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Date: 6/29/2011
Method
DC 601
DSKC
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
10m NE of BN-6
Elev. Location
Unknown
In a high valley/pasture
associated with the higher of
the two 'new' log herder
houses above East Bay Plain
SE of the low pasture in a
small draw/canyon.
169
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
11x11m fenced and 7x7m
11x11m
mound. Covered in juniper and
not disturbed. Large 14 stone
hearth ring 10m to the northwest.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Remarks
Site Name: BN-8
Size
Square Khirigsuur with pinnacles
at north and south corners rubble
filled plaza. Mound composed of
very small rocks. A small
Khirigsuur.
Site Name: BN-9
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Circular bolder mound, 6m
diameter.
6m diameter
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Lots of recent camp debris-odd
shoes, broken crockery, metal
scraps, bones, hearth stone
features. Some circular patterns
of former ger tents.
75m x 50m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
8 hearth rings along NE khir
fence. 4 more around N corner.
Double wall spokes to each
corner. Small cobble mound with
some burrowing/ derrangement
in center spoke-like feature from
mound to midway in NW fence.
No other obvious internal
features.
16m diameter
mound
Charcoal and None
burned bone
excavated
from hearth,
#7.
A very large and wellmade structure with 4
'spokes' to the fence
corners.
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Site Name: DC 601
Remarks
Site Name: East Bay-1
Remarks
9x15m rectangular boulder
9x15m
enclosure made with large rocksno obvious function-lies in the
middle of the draw where spring
water would flood and possible
sheep pen-old lichen covered
rocks. Too large to be a dwelling,
and in the wrong location.
170
SITE NAME:
East Bay-11
Date: 7/10/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Stone feature Unknown
SITE NAME:
East Bay-2
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
DC/WF
Survey
Circular
khirigsuur
SITE NAME:
East Bay-3
DC/WF
Excavatio Circular
n
Khirigsuur
and deer
stone
DSKC
DS
Survey
Circular
Khirigsuur
Unknown
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
DC/WF
Survey
Khirigsuur? DSKC
Stone mound
SITE NAME:
Surveyed
By
East Bay-5
Method
Elev. Location
Elev. Location
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Circular part of East Bay Plain
about 100m north of road.
Date: 7/9/2011
Elev. Location
NE extension of plain up
toward herder cabin
Date: 7/7/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Disturbances
Southernmost Khirigsuur on
East Bay Plain, nearest to hill
bordering the plain.
GPS
Type
Period/Age
East Bay-4
Date: 7/9/2011
Method
Suum: Tsengel
In hills east of East Bay Plain
SE of 'new' uppermost herder
house-below rectangular
structure in the draw.
DSKC
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Date: 7/9/2011
Surveyed
By
Elev. Location
171
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Seems
undisturbed.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Description
Size
U shaped enclosure of rocks on
NE side of valley. No obvious
function. Old lichen-covered
rocks. Located off to the side of
the valley's drainage. A possible
pasture function? Irrigation
ditches in the area, but that does
not help explain their function.
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Description
Size
A well-constructed Khirigsuur
with 4 double-lined spokes and a
single-rock lined fence. 3 hearth
rings to NW of fence/ mound. A
large granite rock in middle of
mound but not a deerstone.
Description
Size
A large circular Khirigsuur with 4
double-lined spokes and 2 hearth
rings, both of which we
excavated. A granite deerstone
was lying down in the sod at
eastern edge of the mound.
Central mound had a borrow pit.
We excavated the DS where it
was found.
Charcoal and None
burned bone
from both
hearths.
Diagram included.
None
None
Large diagram included.
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
11m dia. mound of small
11m diameter
boulders and cobbles. .5m high.
No internal features but there is a
suggestion of a hearth N of
mound, and possible horse burial
to SE 3m from edge of mound.
7/10/2011 Excavated the stone
circle and found no horse or
other remains.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Description
Size
Size
172
DC/WF
SITE NAME:
Survey
Khirigsuur?
East Bay-6
Pazyryk?
Date: 7/9/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Cemetery
SITE NAME:
East Bay-7
GPS
Type
Period/Age
DC/WF
Survey
Circle
Khirigsuur
Elev. Location
Center of East Bay plain east
of a small knoll
Date: 7/9/2011
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
DC/WF
Survey
Stone circle
DC/WF
Survey
Khirigsuur
Circular
Khuiten Delta-1
On a dip in the clay bluff N
side of plain extension 150m
SW of herder cabin.
Unknown
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Date: 7/9/2011
Method
East Bay-8
Modern
Kazakh
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
25m NE of East Bay-4
Elev. Location
Horse head
burial?
Middle of East Bay Plain,
approx. 100m east of EB-7.
DSKC
Next to new cabin up a draw
NE of the plain.
Date: 7/9/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
DC/WF
Survey
Large rock
piles
Elev. Location
Modern
On terrace at SW part of
Khuiten gol delta
173
Looted-4 huge
cover stones lying
on surface in
cetner of mound.
Possibly a
Khirigsuur
because of nearby
hearth circles.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Only a small
disturbance in
center of mound.
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
undisturbed
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
12m diameter moudn 1m high
12m diameter
with large rocks bordering edge
of mound around NE side. Mostly
built of small cobbles. Center is
looted and riddled with marmot
and squirrel hoels and dung. 3
hearth rings aound NE side of
mound, 8-10m from edge of
mound.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
None
None
Remarks
Size
15 burial cairns, one of wood
cribbing. Found a quartzite
'cleaver' a few meters NE of
burials (left in the field).
Description
Size
4-spoked khirigsuur with welldefined mound .5m high and
fence. A large rectangle stone
south east side of mound maybe a
deer stone. 12m diameter mound,
26m diameter fence, 14 hearth
circles most around NE and SW
sides.
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
1.2m circle of rocks with one in
center. Possible unassociated
horse head burial?
1.2m
None
None
10.5 diameter mound .7m high of 10.5m diameter
stream cobbles .16m diameter
fence. 6 hearth circles with 10,11
rocks around west/ north side of
fence.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
Site Name: Khuiten Delta-1
8 large and 2 small piles of slab
rock and large boulders-seeming
to be graves but Jagaa said were
piles of constructution rock.
However, all are 2x long as wide
and most aligned to north.
Size
None
Remarks
Diagram included.
Immediately to the E is a
large stone boulder
structure part of which is
circular and has a central
grave-like slab feature,
while to the E part of it
extends to much larger
rectangular or oval shape.
174
SITE NAME:
Khuiten Delta-2
Date: 7/9/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
DC/WF/RK
Survey
Circluar
Khirigsuur
SITE NAME:
Khuiten Delta-3
GPS
Type
Period/Age
DC/WF
Survey
Stone
pavement
mound
Surveyed
By
Method
LOF Team
Excavatio Pond Site
n
SITE NAME:
West Lake-1
WF/DC
Survey
Stone mound Unknown
Elev. Location
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Bridge
foundation
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Appears
undisturbed
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
S of the small pond between
The burial has
sandy/
B1 and B2, on a steady terrace been looted,
gravel 50%
at bast of B1 hillside
maybe more than
once
Elev. Location
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
NW shore of embankment
northwest of Biluut
Date: 6/30/2011
Surveyed
By
West Lake-3
Date: 6/30/2011
GPS
Type
Period/Age
SITE NAME:
.5m SW of Khuiten gol lower
ford, in western edge of
ethnographic camp area.
Unknown
Method
West Lake-2
Elev. Location
Date: 7/1/2011
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Early
Bronze?
GPS
Type
Period/Age
Suum: Tsengel
Next to huge glacial erectile on
the shore west of Khuiteu gol
delta, above a rock art site.
Date: 7/9/2011
Method
Pond Site
Elev. Location
DSKC
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Modern
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Several hundred meters
upstream from lake shore
eastern side of embankment
north of Biluut.
Date: 6/30/2011
175
Suum: Tsengel
Description
Size
A small circular khirigsuur on a
small level place, well-defined
fence and mound, all apparently
undisturbed. Two hearth rings a
few meters to NW of khirigsuur.
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Remarks
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
8.5x8.5m stone pavement with
small rocks relatively widely
spaced apart. Small attached
'loops' at S, W sides of mound.
There is a single white quartz
lock right in the center of the
mound.
8.5x8.5m
None
1 quartzite biface
midsection, 1 small
ceramic fragment
from the mound.
Anotehr ceramic
fragment 100m to
NE
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
Remarks
Site Name: Pond Site
A large metagreywacke standing approx 6x10m
stone in a small box enclosure SW
of a looted grave. To NW extends
a rectangular enclosure approx
6x10m bordered by small
standing slabs on E,W, and north
sides, and by a line of cobbles on
the S side.
yes, charcoal
yes,
excellent
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
3x3m stone mound, possibly
3x3m
relatively recent as stones are not
embedded in soil. Lichen cover
suggests most stones have been
moved recently.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Site Name: West Lake-1
Size
Remarks
Large piles of boulders on either
side of stream, with wood posts
remnants used for supporting the
roadway. One support timbers
12inches in diameter was 120
years old when cut.
Size
176
Remarks
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Boulder
cluster or
cache
SITE NAME:
West Lake-4
Unknown
Date: 6/30/2011
Surveyed
By
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Tent ring
SITE NAME:
West Lake-5
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Circular
Khirigsuur
West Lake-6
N of road at head of clay hill
inlet at east side of small clay
(kettle pond?)
Date: 6/30/2011
Method
GPS
Type
Period/Age
WF/DC
Survey
Burial mound Pazyryk
Elev. Location
DSKC
Surveyed
By
Disturbances
Vegetation
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
N of road at west end of inlet
Date: 6/30/2011
Method
On a knoll close to shore,
overlooking lakeshore road
Elev. Location
Unknown
Surveyed
By
SITE NAME:
Elev. Location
Elev. Location
15m diameter mound of large
rocks, with depressed center,
juniper growth in NE
quadrandt. Heavily lichencovered but probably looted in
antiquity.
177
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
no obvious
evidence of
looting or
disturbance in the
mound
Suum: Tsengel
Disturbances
Vegetation
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
2x2m diamater cluster of rocks
alongside a large boulder.
2x2m
None
None
Description
Size
Samples
Collected
Potential
4m diameter ring of small stones, 4m diameter
with hearth cobbles in center.
Charcoal in surface vegetation
but not in soil-some flakes of
basalt but non definitive.
No
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
A large granite slab btwn mound Fence ring 9m
and fence may be a removed
diameter. Mound is
capstone, and the stone is
6m diameter.
irregular shape, and not a normal
standing stone, but it may have
served this purpose, located in
the N/NW edge of mound.
None
None
Description
Samples
Collected
Potential
None
None
Remarks
Remarks
Size
Remarks
Size
178
Remarks

Rock Art and Archaeology

Transcription

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