The Development of Prehistoric Archaeology in Mongolia

Abstract

Mongolia has many prehistoric archaeological sites that document the lives of the region’s ancient inhabitants, and the florescence and growth of a multitude of cultural traditions, including the Mongols themselves. The persistence of preliterate or nonliterate pastoral nomadic traditions in greater Mongolia through to the ethnohistoric present has placed a premium on archaeological studies of the region’s prehistoric adaptations. The history of prehistoric studies in Mongolia can be divided into three principal stages: early (late nineteenth century to the 1930s), middle (from 1946 through the 1980s), and late (1990 to the present). The principal archaeological discoveries associated with each of these stages are the focus of this article.