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The earliest Bronze Age culture of the south-eastern Gobi Desert, Mongolia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2019

Joshua Wright ,
Galdan Ganbaatar ,
William Honeychurch ,
Batdalai Byambatseren  and
Arlene Rosen
Joshua Wright*
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, St Mary's Building, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, UK
Galdan Ganbaatar
Affiliation:
Institute of History and Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Science, Jukov Street 77, Ulaanbaatar-51, Mongolia
William Honeychurch
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Yale University, 10 Sachem Street, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Batdalai Byambatseren
Affiliation:
Institute of History and Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Science, Jukov Street 77, Ulaanbaatar-51, Mongolia
Arlene Rosen
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, 2201 Speedway, Stop C3200, Austin, TX 78712, USA
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: joshua.wright@abdn.ac.uk)
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Abstract

Studies of the Eurasian Bronze Age have tended to emphasise the homogeneity of social and political processes across the Steppe, evidenced by a common ‘package’ of practices and material culture. The Dornod Mongol Survey examines the major stone monumental forms and associated features of the Ulaanzuukh mortuary tradition of the Gobi region of Mongolia. Combining evidence for mortuary and ritual practices, ceramic traditions and new radiocarbon dates, the authors argue that the appearance of the earliest Bronze Age cultures in this region represents a disparate collection of local, regional and inter-regional expressions that challenge the established narrative of a ‘standard’ Eurasian Bronze Age.

Keywords

MongoliaBronze Agemonumentalityfunerary traditionssocial hierarchyplace-making
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 93 , Issue 368 , April 2019 , pp. 393 - 411
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2019 

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