According to scientists, the findings will make it possible to learn more about the migration of peoples on the territory of Eurasia and about the history of the local peoples of Altai, who came many centuries ago from the territory of Mongolia.
Archaeologists of Altai State University (Altai State University), together with their Mongolian colleagues from Ulan Bator, discovered in the area of construction of a future hydroelectric power station on the Egiin-Gol River in Mongolia, the oldest known stone mounds of the Neolithic period (VIII-III millennium BC) in Asia, the study of which will allow you to learn more about the origin of the peoples of antiquity, the ways of their migration and the connection of the indigenous population of various territories. TASS announced this on Monday following the results of the expedition by the head of the Department of Archeology, Ethnography and Museology of Altai State University Alexei Tishkin.
“In Northern Mongolia, mounds of the Neolithic period, dating back to the 7th millennium BC, with well-defined stone structures, were first discovered. Earlier, Neolithic burials were known in different places of Eurasia, but they, as a rule, were ground, that is, without obvious grave structures. It turns out that these are generally the most ancient stone mounds. Neolithic burial grounds were investigated in the nearest territory, in Transbaikalia, but they date back to a little late time and only individual stones are recorded on the modern surface, without barrow structures, Tishkin said, noting that studies of Mongolian Neolithic materials continue and only after a certain time can we talk about what were the people who left behind such mounds
According to the archaeologist, it is quite difficult to find Neolithic burials - for 9 thousand years, the landscape has changed a lot. In the Egiin-Gol valley, they were found during a continuous study of the alleged flood zone after the construction of the hydroelectric power station. The discovered finds will make it possible to learn more about the migration of peoples in Eurasia and the history of the autochthonous (local) peoples of Altai, who came many centuries ago from the territory of Mongolia.
“This material is completely unique and can be used to solve the problems of the origin of some peoples. This year, for example, within the framework of cooperation between Altai State University and Stockholm University (Sweden), an article was published with a large team of authors, which presents the results of a paleogenetic analysis of the Neolithic population of Eastern Siberia. One of the conclusions was that the ancient people of Transbaikalia are genetically related to modern Tubalars who live in Gorny Altai in the area of Lake Teletskoye, which indicates that migration took place in ancient times from east to west,”the expert explained.
Mounds of nomads
In the same place, on the territory of Northern Mongolia, the expedition explored the mounds of the nomads of the early Iron Age and the Middle Ages. During the excavations, a group of mounds of the Turkic time was discovered and excavated - the obtained materials will help to carry out a comparative analysis with the results of research in Altai and to continue the reconstruction of the Turkic culture. Another important area of research by scientists from Altai and Ulan Bator Universities is the study of domestic animals of ancient nomads. According to Tishkin, it is important to record the period of transition from appropriating forms of economy - hunting, fishing, gathering to productive livestock raising.
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“We examined a mound of the culture of slab graves [burials in the form of rectangular enclosures made of vertically placed granite slabs] about 2,500 years old, in which, along with the burial of an ancient man, there were the remains of a sheep and a horse. The bones of these animals are also suitable for genetic research. Such scientific work is being implemented within the framework of the AltSU project, supported by the Russian Science Foundation. Significant results have already been obtained; The available information is important for the reconstruction of the processes of the formation of a manufacturing economy, when people radically changed their way of life, nutrition, material and spiritual culture,”summed up the archaeologist of Altai State University.