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The Nomad as State Builder: Historical Theory and Material Evidence from Mongolia

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Journal of World Prehistory Aims and scope

Abstract

Theory on nomadic political complexity has largely been based on twentieth century ethnography and numerous historical accounts of the military confederations of pastoral nomads. Over the past two decades, archaeologists have increasingly used material evidence to evaluate ideas about nomadic polities and have added indigenous and local-scale perspectives to an understanding of nomadic political process in many regions across the Old World. One of these is Mongolia, a major center of nomadic state and empire formation, where archaeologists have recently focused attention on an early regional polity that arose at the end of the first millennium BC and is known as the Xiongnu (also Hsiung-nu) state. This paper synthesizes the latest archaeological research on the Xiongnu state in order to evaluate historical models that explain state emergence among nomads on the far eastern steppe. The material record from Mongolia adds the detail and resolution needed to refine existing explanations for Xiongnu state emergence.

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Acknowledgments

The Egiin Gol and Baga Gazaryn Chuluu projects received generous support from many individuals and organizations. I would like to thank the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the National Science Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, and Yale University. Our work would not have been possible without the kind encouragement of Professor D. Tseveendorj, director of the Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences. Thanks are also due to the people of Egiin Gol and Baga Gazaryn Chuluu who were extremely generous and hospitable throughout our projects. This research was greatly assisted by Chunag Amartuvshin, Joshua Wright, Russell Nelson, Z. Batsaikhan, D. Erdenebaatar, Daniel Rogers, William Fitzhugh, and Bruno Frohlich. Special thanks are extended to our research staff members Michelle Machicek, J. Gerelbadrakh, J. Burentogtokh, P. Khatanbaatar, Erik Johannesson, Emma Hite, Jeremy Beach, and D. Molor. Finally, comments by the anonymous reviewers were extremely insightful and I appreciate their help in improving this study.

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    William Honeychurch

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Honeychurch, W. The Nomad as State Builder: Historical Theory and Material Evidence from Mongolia. J World Prehist 26, 283–321 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-013-9069-2

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