In the desert steppes of eastern Mongolia, an international team of archaeologists have completed excavations of a sarcophagus with stone columns covered with Turkic runic inscriptions. According to radiocarbon analysis, the unique archaeological site was created in the 8th century. Osaka University reported.
Work on the study of a stone structure about 1300 years old began two years ago. The excavations were carried out by archaeologists under the guidance of Professor Takashi Osawa of Osaka University. In the course of their research, they discovered 12 new runic inscriptions.
“The main feature of the monument is its structural and square configuration, in which the stone sarcophagus is surrounded by 14 stone pillars with inscriptions. Tamgas (generic signs) of more than 100 ancient Turkic tribes are carved on the stones,”the official statement of the scientific institution says.
During the excavations, particles of calcined coal, sheepskin and horse bones were also found. Radiocarbon analysis showed that the ritual complex was built in the 8th century, at the end of the second dynasty of the ancient Turkic rulers of Qashqai.
Professor Takashi Osawa deciphered the inscriptions and found that the person who was buried and remembered in the inscriptions was the highest official in Eastern Mongolia during the reign of Tengri-Kagan - the emperor of the East Turkic Khaganate from 716-741. The deceased first bore the title of Yabgu (governor), and then - the commander-in-chief of the East Told-Shad.
The burial was destroyed and plundered in antiquity, but scientists believe: the sarcophagus made it possible to obtain previously unknown information about the history of the relationship of the Turks of the Qashqai dynasty with the peoples of the Mongolian steppe - Tatars, Khitan and Tabachi. In addition, the location of the stone pillars on the plateau also provided important information about the religious ideas and worldview of the ancient nomads.
Nikolay Grishchenko