Khar Khul Khaany Balgas

Our research endeavors in and around Karakorum soon led us to the insight that we needed a comparative case study in order to understand our findings for Karakorum and situate them in a suitable frame of reference. If we want to arrive at a better understanding of urbanism in the steppe and how it is embedded within a primarily pastoral society, we need to look beyond the most prominent site itself and incorporate other sites into our research. Lacking such a case study, we decided to target another city in the Mongolian steppes contemporary with Karakorum and suitable for just this reference case we needed. This is Khar Khul Khaany Balgas in the Khanui River Valley, about 180 km northwest of Karakorum as the crow flies (Figure 1).

Pedestrian survey

Preparatory to the magnetic survey, to define the extent of the city and thus the area to be measured as well as to clean the city from metal waste contamination, an intensive, systematic, field walking survey was applied by the archaeological project team during three campaigns from 2017 to 2019 (Figure 3). One goal of the survey was to get a better understanding of the activities around the city and to delimit the city’s sprawl (Figure 4). We covered about 80 square kilometres and identified 101 sites – most of which were unknown – ranging amongst others from sherd scatters, over burial sites and possible raw materials extraction sites to modern ritual sites. Our comparative results show that the surroundings of the city were less well integrated into a system of satellite settlements as we were able to identify in the case of Karakorum. This finding makes the capital Karakorum stand out even more and points to further, unresolved questions concerning Khar Khul Khaany Balgas. Who were its builders and what had been the function of this city?

Test excavation and ground truthing the new map on the site

Our pedestrian survey discovered two sites with potential kilns for firing ceramics. One is situated on the edge of the river terrace, where we discovered two conspicuous rows of mounds, not far from the actual city, about 2 km to the north of the main compound (Figure 7). The outer appearance and finds of overly heated bricks on top of the mounds led us to the hypothesis that we were dealing here with rows of kilns for firing ceramic products, building materials or vessels for example. The second step was to get better information of the site; thus, we included the area in the 2018 magnetic measurements which show a chain of very strong magnetic signatures close to the river terrace edge.

Discovery of a burial from the fourth millennium BCE

A remarkable success is the evidence of a burial from the 4th millennium BCE, the first from this time for the whole of Mongolia! After we had registered an unusually high number of low earth mounds on a plateau in the Khanui Valley west of the administrative center Erdenemandal during the 2017 survey, the question arose whether these mounds were anthropogenic or due to the activities of burrowing animals (Marmota sibirica). Until now, such pure earthen mounds have not been noted or investigated in Mongolia because it is assumed that all burial structures are marked by surface stone settings. The 2018 excavation of one mound revealed a human skeleton with two stone artifacts at a depth of 2.3 m below the topsoil (Figure 9). Two AMS radiocarbon dates secure an age of the burial to the period 3800–3600 BCE. The buried individual was part of a large-scale aDNA study led by Prof. Dr. Christina Warinna (Harvard University). Not only could important population-historical insights be gained, but the analyses also confirmed the suspicions of the physical anthropologists that the person buried here was a woman.

Future works

Our research endeavors in Khar Khul Khaany Balgas show how much potential there is in a close study of the cities in the Mongolian steppes, from questions concerning their layout and planning and functions, down to handicraft and economic activities. Our engagement with the local communities and these research results helped to raise awareness for this cultural monument and its protection. The analysis of our data is ongoing, which will lead to further new insights into this understudied city of the Mongol World Empire and inspire new research at the site.
 
Last update January, 30, 2023