Prehistoric Mongolia

The climate of Central Asia became dry after the large tectonic collision between the Indian Plate and the Eurasian Plate. This impact threw up the massive chain of mountains known as the Himalayas. The Himalayas, Greater Khingan and Lesser Khingan mountains act like a high wall, blocking the warm and wet climate from penetrating into Central Asia. Many of the mountains of Mongolia were formed during the Late Neogene and Early Quaternary periods. The Mongolian climate was more humid hundreds of thousands of years ago.

History of Mongolia
Ancient period
Prehistory
Slab Grave culture 1300–300 BC
Xiongnu 209 BC–93 AD
Xianbei state 93–234
Rouran Khaganate 330–555
Göktürks (First, Eastern, and Second Turkic Khaganates) 555–630
682–744
Xueyantuo 628–646
Tang protectorate 647–682
Uyghur Khaganate 744–840
Liao dynasty 907–1125
Medieval period
Mongol khanates 9th–10th cent.
Khamag Mongol 10th cent.–1206
Mongol Empire 1206–1368
Yuan dynasty 1271–1368
Northern Yuan 1368–1635
Four Oirat 1399–1634
Dzungar Khanate 1634–1758
Qing dynasty 1691–1911
Modern period
National Revolution 1911
Bogd Khaganate 1911–19, 1921–24
Chinese occupation 1919–1921
People's Revolution 1921
People's Republic 1924–1992
Democratic Revolution 1990
Modern Mongolia 1990–present

Pre-human history

Mongolia is known to be the source of priceless paleontological discoveries. The first scientifically confirmed dinosaur eggs were found in Mongolia during the 1923 expedition of the American Museum of Natural History, led by Roy Chapman Andrews.

During the middle to late Eocene Epoch, Mongolia was the home of many Paleogene mammals with Sarkastodon and Andrewsarchus being the most prominent of them.

Stone Age

Homo erectus possibly inhabited Mongolia as much as 800,000 years ago but fossils of H. erectus have not yet been found in Mongolia. Stone tools have been found in the southern part of the Gobi desert, perhaps dating back as much as 800,000 years.[1]

Deer stones (also known as reindeer stones) are ancient megaliths carved with symbols that can be found all over central and eastern Eurasia but are concentrated largely in Siberia and Mongolia. Most deer stones occur in association with ancient graves; it is believed that stones are the guardians of the dead. Out of 900 of these deer stones found in Central Asia and Siberia, around 700 are located in Mongolia. Their true purpose and creators are still unknown. Some researchers claim 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 known deer stones respectively. Moreover, there are another 20 deer stones in Kazakhstan and the Middle East (Samashyev 1992) and 10 further west, specifically in the Ukraine and parts of the Russian Federation, including the provinces of Orenburg and the Caucasus, and near the Elbe River (Mongolian History 2003).

There are different viewpoints about the origins of deer stone art. According to H. L. Chlyenova, the artistic deer image originated from the Saka 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 studied deer stone art and have reached other conclusions.

See also

References
  1. Хүрээлэнгийн эрдэм шинжилгээний ажлын ололт амжилт, Institute of Mongolian Archaeology Archived 2013-12-26 at the Wayback Machine

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