A History of Mongolian Archaeological Studies

Abstract

Archaeological investigations in Mongolia over the past century have revealed a rich cultural history ranging from prehistoric times to the late pre-modern era. Mongolia’s unique geographical position in the heart of eastern Eurasia constitutes a nexus of cultural interactions, the innermost space of a great Venn diagram of overlapping spheres of culture development, most especially the Chinese, Siberian, and larger Central Asian realms. While this geographical circumstance has led many archaeologists and historians to correctly describe Mongolia as a “crossroads of cultures,” too often this portrayal has resulted in Mongolia being depicted as little more than a place where other, far-flung cultures were amalgamated rather than as a hearth for the emergence and florescence of a unique pattern of cultural developments as much the result of autochthonous development as re-sorted cultural influx from many directions. In this chapter, the history of Mongolian archaeological studies is presented in a chronological framework that takes into account the dynamics of culture change in the region. For practical reasons, “Mongolia” is used here as a gloss to refer to the modern parliamentary republic of Mongolia (Mongol Uls), but archaeological discussions also take into account traditionally ethnic Mongolian adjacent territories, especially in China, Russia, and Kazakhstan.