Mongolia’s Frozen Heritage Journal Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • While pastoral cultures from Mongolia and the dry steppes of eastern Eurasia have had an outsized impact on Eurasian history, the region’s geomorphology, reliance on organic materials, and a nomadic culture that lacks long-lasting architecture on the landscape have conspired to limit our knowledge of important anthropological processes in the deep past. Frozen archaeological sites, including permafrost and finds from glaciers and ice patches, serve as a key exception to this rule, providing detailed snapshots into the ancient lifeways of Mongolia’s mountain zones. However, these sites pose unique challenges for archaeological conservation, and rapid climate warming, paired with other issues like looting, threatens to degrade them faster than they can be identified, studied, or preserved. Here we summarize the known frozen heritage of Mongolia and highlight a recent to-date unpublished case study on salvaging and studying frozen archaeological sites.

publication date

  • August 15, 2021

has restriction

  • closed

Date in CU Experts

  • January 24, 2022 6:27 AM

Full Author List

  • Clark J; Bayarsaikhan J; Ventresca Miller A; Vanderwarf S; Hart I; Caspari G; Taylor WTT

author count

  • 7

Other Profiles

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 2050-3393

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 2050-3407

Additional Document Info

start page

  • 103

end page

  • 120

volume

  • 5