Prehistoric Mongolia

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Xiongnu 209 BC – 155
Xianbei 93–234
Nirun 330–555
Göktürk 552–744
Uyghur 742–848
Kirghiz 539–1219
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Medieval period
Khamag Mongol 1120–1206
Mongolian tribes 900s–1207
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1636/91/1758– 1911
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Climate of Central Asia became dry after large collision between Indian Plate and Eurasian Plate. This impact threw up a massive chain of mountains (Himalayas). The Himalayas, Greater Khingan and Lesser Khingan mountains act like a high wall, blocking the warm and wet climate from passing into Central Asia. Mountains of Mongolia formed during the Late Neogene and Early Quaternary. Mongolian climate was more humid hundreds of thousands years ago.

Pre-human history

Mongolia is known to be the home of priceless paleontological discoveries. First scientifically confirmed dinosaur eggs were found in Mongolia during the 1923 expedition.
During middle to late Eocene Mongolia became the home of the most magnificent animals of Paleogene with Sarkastodon and Andrewsarchus being the most prominent of them. Much later ancient Mongolia was infested by gluttonous Indricotheriums that ate most of the Mongolian forests.

Stone Age

Homo erectus inhabited in Mongolia 850,000 years ago but fossils of homo erectus still not found in today's Mongolia. Stone tools have been found in the southern regions, dating back to 850,000 years.[1]

Deer stones (also known as reindeer stones) are ancient megaliths carved with symbols that can be found all over the world but are concentrated largely in Siberia and Mongolia. Most deer stones stand behind ancient graves; it is believed that stones are the guardians of the dead. There are around 700 deer stones in Mongolia of a total 900 deer stones archeologists have found in Central Asia and South Siberia. Their true purpose and creators are still unknown. Some researchers claims that deer stones are rooted in shamanism and are thought to have been set up during the Bronze Age around 1000 BC, and may mark the graves of important people. Later inhabitants of the area likely reused them to mark their own burial mounds, and perhaps for other purposes. In Mongolia, the Lake Baikal area, and the Sayan Altai and Altai Mountain regions, there are 550,20,20, and 60 deer stones respectively. Moreover, there are another 20 deer stones in Kazakstan and the Middle East (Samashyev 1992) and 10 in the far west, specifically in the Ukraine and parts of the Russian Federation, including the provinces of Orenburg and Kavkasia, and near the Elba River (Mongolian History 2003).

There are different viewpoints about the origins of deer stone art. According to H.L. hlyenova, the artistic deer image originated from the Sak tribe and its branches (Chlyenova 1962). Volkov believes that some of the methods of crafting deer stone art are closely related to Scythians (Volkov 1967), whereas D. Tseveendorj regards deer stone art as having originated in Mongolia during the Bronze Age and spread thereafter to Tuva and the Baikal area (Tseveendorj 1979). D.G. Savinov (1994) and M.H. Mannai-Ool (1970) have also researched deer stone art and have expressed other conclusions.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Хүрээлэнгийн эрдэм шинжилгээний ажлын ололт амжилт, Institute of Mongolian Archaeology

Further reading

  • Ryan Schmidt, UNRAVELING THE POPULATION HISTORY OF THE XIONGNU TO EXPLAIN MOLECULAR AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL MODELS OF PREHISTORIC MONGOLIA (DISSERTATION)

External links

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