Jan Bemmann

Тус өгүүлэлд Увс аймгийн Өмнөговь сумын Яргайтын хадны оршуулгаас илэрсэн эх хэрэглэгдэхүүнийг анх удаа нийтэлж байна. Яргайтын хадны нэгэн оршуулгыг бүлэг этгээд тонож сүйтгэн 2016 онд зарим олдворуудыг зарж борлуулахыг оролдох явцад илэрч эрүүгийн хэрэг үүсэн шалгагджээ. Улмаар тус газраас олдсон олдворуудыг хураан авч ЦЕГ-аас 2017 онд тухайн үеийн ШУА-ийн Түүх, археологийн хүрээлэнд шилжүүлэн хүлээлгэж өгсөн билээ. Ийнхүү уг олдворууд судлаачдын гарт ирснээр өөр бусад хадны оршуулгын олдвор болон Түрэгийн үеийн морьтой оршуулгын эх хэрэглэгдэхүүнтэй харьцуулан судлах бололцоо үүссэн юм. Үүний дээр зохиогчдын зарим нь 2019 онд уг дурсгалт газарт очин ажиллаж тонуулаас үлдсэн эд өлгийн зүйлсийг түүвэрлэн авсны дээр дурсгалын тодорхойлолтыг үйлджээ. Олдворуудын харьцангуй он цагийг Түрэгийн үед хэмээн тогтоосон бол үнэмлэхүй он цаг НТ 580-675 он буюу Түрэгийн анхдугаар хаант улсын үед холбогдох нь тодорхой болсон бөгөөд харьцуулсан судалгааны үр дүнг баталсан байна. Энэхүү дурсгал нь Их мааньт ба Жаргалант хайрханы оршуулгын хамтаар Түрэгийн үед хамаарах хадны оршуулгын харьцангуй ховор жишээ болно.

In this article, the original finds from the Yargait rock tomb in the Ömnögovi sum, Uvs Aimag, are published for the first time. In 2016, a group of people looted the site and tried to sell some of the artifacts. As a result, the artifacts were confiscated and handed over to the then Institute of History and Archaeology by the Central Bureau of Police in 2017. The authors carried out a comparative analysis to compare the findings with other rock grave assemblages and with the grave goods of ancient Türkic horse-accompanied burials.
In addition, some of the authors carried out fieldwork at the site in 2019, providing a detailed description of the site and discovering further artifacts despite the previous looting. The study of the comparative finds allows a dating to the Early Türkic period, which was confirmed by the radiocarbon dating of a wood sample to 580-675 CE, roughly corresponding to the era of the first Türk Khaganate. Together with the monuments of Ikh Maanit and Jargalant Khairkhan, it is one of the few rock burials from the Türk period.

This study approaches four cemeteries in Central Mongolia, examines their internal organization, classifies the different graves, and arrives at a solid chronological division into three phases. We propose a new dating framework for the Bronze and Iron Ages in Central Mongolia.

For the first time, a Mongol-era walled enclosure was discovered on the right, eastern bank of the Orkhon in Arkhangai aimag. Its documentation was carried out with a fixed-wing eBee X drone. The design of the settlement, comparative examples and artifacts are briefly described. It was only used during the 13th/14th century CE and testifies to the intensive development of the Orkhon Valley during the Mongol Empire.

Innovations in horse equipment during the early Middle Ages provided advantages to societies from the steppes, reshaping the social landscape of Eurasia. Comparatively little is known about the precise origin of these crucial advances, although the available evidence points to early adoption in East Asia. The authors present new archaeological discoveries from western and northern Mongolia, dating to the fourth and fifth centuries AD, including a wooden frame saddle with horse hide components from Urd Ulaan Uneet and an iron stirrup from Khukh Nuur. Together, these finds suggest that Mongolian groups were early adopters of stirrups and saddles, facilitating the expansion of nomadic hegemony across Eurasia and shaping the conduct of medieval mounted warfare.

Not even a dozen burials are known from Neolithic times in the area of modern-day Mongolia. This period is of utmost interest as it constitutes the transitional phase from hunter-gatherer-fisher communities during the Palaeolithic to the introduction of mobile pastoralism around 3000 B.C.E. with the Afanas'evo culture. This article presents new excavation results from a Neolithic burial at "Ölziȋt Denzh" (internal site code KGS-11), near the center of Erdenemandal in Arkhangaȋ Aȋmag, Central Mongolia, and places this burial in the context of the earliest graves in Mongolia. The site consists of nearly 180 indistinct earth mound features, one of which was excavated to verify anthropogenic origin of the identified mounds. All mounds were strongly affected by burrowing animals. The excavation yielded the body of a female in an extremely crouched position. The find inventory contains two unique stone artifacts. Two radiocarbon dates put the burial at the first half of the fourth millennium B.C.E. The other 10 earliest burials from Mongolia fall into two regional groups, one in the Egiȋn Gol valley of northern Mongolia and one in eastern Mongolia; each group displays different burial customs and grave structures. Although it remains to be corroborated by further excavations, the pure earth mounds and their association within a large burial ground at Ölziȋt Denzh seem to be unique aspects of a burial style otherwise unknown for this time and region, as the comparison with the other largely contemporary remains from Mongolia shows. This article therefore aims to draw attention to a potentially new form of burial that has not previously been recognized in the field.
Full article: https://www.muse.jhu.edu/article/871373

Cities in the Eurasian steppes, a core of nomadic empires, are rare. Erecting a city from scratch is even less typical. However, Khar Khul Khaany Balgas, situated north of the Khangai Mountains in central Mongolia, is such an exceptional example, never built over by subsequent settlements. Overlooked until now because researchers dated its latest settlement phase into the 17th century A.D., the first radiocarbon dates and material culture prove its existence during the Mongol empire only. During the past years, we conducted comprehensive geophysical and topographic mapping of the site, as well as a pedestrian survey, including its hinterland, and excavated a kiln. The layout of the city resembles that of the capital, Karakorum. Both cities together reveal that the Mongol Khans had a specific idea about the organization of a city. They were dependent on Chinese craftsmen to erect the buildings but not on Chinese city planning and ideology.
The version of record of this manuscript has been published and is freely available in Journal of Field Archaeology https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00934690.2022.2085916
https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2022.2085916

Cities within a steppe environment and in societies based on pastoral nomadism are an often overlooked theme in the anthro-pological literature. Yet, with Karakorum, the first capital of the Mongol Empire (AD 1206-1368), we have a supreme example of such a city in the central landscape of the Orkhon valley in Mongolia. In this paper, we ask, what is the city in the steppes? Taking Karakorum as our starting point and case of reference and to attain a better comprehension of the characteristics of urbanism in the steppe, we apply a list of urban attributes compiled by Michael E. Smith (2016) to provide a thick description of Karakorum. The discussion not only comprises comparisons to other contemporary sites in Russia and Mongolia, but also addresses in detail the question of city-hinterland relations as a fundamental necessity for the survival of the city in an anti-urban environment. The analysis shows that during the Mongol period we can identify urbanism but no urbanization: there is no process of independent, natural growth of cities carried out by the population, but cities are "political" in the sense that they are deeply intertwined with the authority and have therefore much to tell about the relation between power and authority on the one hand and the ruled on the other.
An open access and high resolution pdf is available at https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41826-020-00039-x

In the thirteenth century AD, the city of Karakorum was founded as the capital of the Mongol Empire. Relatively little archaeological attention, however, has been directed at the site and the phenomenon of steppe urbanism. The authors report new magnetic and topographic surveys of the walled city and the surrounding landscape. The resulting maps reveal the city in unprecedented detail. Combining the magnetic and topographical data with aerial photographs, pedestrian surveys and documentary sources reveals the extent, layout and organisation of this extensive settlement. Road networks and areas of variable occupation density and types of activities deepen our understanding of this important commercial hub and royal palace, which is conceptualised as a form of ‘implanted’ urbanism.

The initial movement of herders and livestock into the eastern steppe is of great interest, as this region has long been home to pastoralist groups. Due to a paucity of faunal remains, however, it has been difficult to discern the timing of the adoption of domesticated ruminants and horses into the region, though recent research on ancient dairying has started to shed new light on this history. Here we present proteomic evidence for shifts in dairy consumption in the Altai Mountains, drawing on evidence from sites dating from the Early Bronze to the Late Iron Age. We compare these finds with evidence for the rise of social complexity in western Mongolia, as reflected in material remains signaling population growth, the establishment of structured cemeteries, and the erection of large monuments. Our results suggest that the subsistence basis for the development of complex societies began at the dawn of the Bronze Age, with the adoption of ruminant livestock. Investments in pastoralism intensified over time, enabling a food production system that sustained growing populations. While pronounced social changes and monumental constructions occurred in tandem with the first evidence for horse dairying,~1350 cal BCE, these shifts were fueled by a long-term economic dependence on ruminant livestock. Therefore, the spread into the Mongolian Altai

This paper gives a state of the art report of an ongoing interdisciplinary project on bioarchaeological research on cemeteries in the Upper Orkhon valley, Central Mongolia, in particular at the Maikhan Tolgoi site. The archaeological focus is on the investigation of the development, use and transformation of a ritual landscape in the course of the Bronze and Iron Age. The contribution of physical anthropology is an osteological and archaeometric analysis of the human inhumations with regard to lifestyle and subsistence economy. A specific topic relates to the emergence of the first mounted nomads in the region. Macro-and microscopical inspection of the skeletons excavated to date reveal that males, females and children had been buried at this exceptional cemetery, and that many of the adults died at a conspicuously advanced age. Palaeodiet was reconstructed by stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone collagen, followed by an isotopic sourcing. We show that freshwater fish was consumed on a regular basis, and that the demands of protein and carbohydrate were largely covered by secondary animal products. First analysis of stable strontium and oxygen isotopes in bone apatite suggests a considerable catchment area of the burial site.

Several khirigsuurs, slab graves, and other stone structures were excavated during rescue excavations in the Middle Orkhon Valley in 2006 and 2007. The information from these excavations provides the most extensive data—including the first large series of radiocarbon dates—on the Bronze Age and Early Iron Ages from central Mongolia. Contrary to what some have asserted, it becomes clear that khirigsuurs always served as graves for one individual also in this part of the country. Our discussion of slab graves highlights the particular custom of animal scapula depositions in specific graves as well as the removal of the head/skull, both, in our view, ritual practices. The investigation of three structures along the Khöshöö Tsaĭdam road revealed a much greater diversity of monument types in the Bronze and Early Iron Ages than had previously been recorded and illustrates the growing complexity of those periods beyond the traditional narratives centering around the monument types of khirigsuurs, slab graves, and deer stones.
The full text is only available at Springer doi.org/10.1007/s41826-018-0001-8

This article is devoted to the practice of erecting stelae in the steppes. Focusing on Mongolia, we show that stelae were used almost continuously from the Early Bronze Age until the Mongol Empire period, with a hiatus during the Xiongnu to Turk periods. Our discussion of slab burial stelae investigates their context and distribution and highlights lines of tradition. Furthermore, this review shows that future research has to move beyond the investigation of burial structures themselves and needs to incorporate the various additional features that modern documentation techniques of complete ritual landscapes reveal.

In 2005 Judith Kolbas published a remarkable interpretation of the Uyghur site Tsagaan Sumiĭn Balgas, Khotont sum, Arkhangaĭ aĭmag, situated in a valley on the northern slope of the Khangaĭ mountain range north of a small creek which finally enters north of Karabalgasun into the Orkhon River. The dating and its implication for urbanism in Mongolia are discussed.

From 2007-2009 the Mongol-French joint expedition carried out research on Dörvölzhin gazar. We surveyed the site, without finding any artifacts, did a topographical survey, conducted geophysical survey
and small test excavations at four different locations of the site. The
trench in the southern wall clarified that it was erected in rammed earth technique (hāngtǔ) by several layers of clay and earth and between some of them wooden beams were placed in a parallel position across the wall. An AMS radiocarbon analyses of a sample of one wooden beam gives a dating range from 536-660 AD and refers roughly to the period of the First Turkic Qaghanate (AD 552–630). Until now this is the only Turkic walled enclosure identified so far.

SUMMARY The international project " Geo-Archaeology in the Steppe – Reconstruction of Cultural Landscapes in the Orkhon valley, Central Mongolia " was set up in July 2008. It is headed by the Department of Pre-and Protohistoric Archaeology of Bonn University. The project aims at the study of prehistoric and historic settlement patterns, human impact on the environment and the relation between towns and their hinterland in the Orkhon valley, Central Mongolia. The multidisciplinary project is mainly sponsored for three years by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and bridges archaeology, natural sciences and engineering (sponsorship code 01UA0801C). Archaeologists of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and of the Bonn University, geographers of Free University Berlin, geophysics of the Institute for Photonic Technology Jena and the RWTH Aachen University, and geographers and engineers of the German Aerospace Centre Berlin collaborate in the development of new technologies and their application in archaeology 1. On the basis of Russian aerial photographs from the 1970s, an initial evaluation regarding potential archaeological sites was made. Due to the poor geometric and radiometric resolution of these photographs, identification of archaeological sites in many cases remained preliminary, and detailed information on layout and size could not be gained. The aim of the flight campaign in September 2008 was therefore the confirmation of these sites as well as their high resolution survey. A 10 megapixel range finder camera was used for the recording of high resolution aerial photography. This image data is suited for accurate determination and mapping of selected monuments. The airborne camera was adapted and mounted on an electrically operated eight propeller small drone. Apart from high resolution geo-referenced overview pictures, impressive panoramic images and very high resolution overlapping image data was recorded for photogrammetric stereoscopic processing. Due to the overlap of 85% along and across the track each point in the image data is recorded in at least four pictures. Although a smaller overlap might be sufficient for generating digital surface models (DSM), this redundancy increases the reliability of the DSM generation. Within this photogrammetric processing digital surface models and true ortho photo mosaics with a resolution up to 2,5 cm/pixel in X, Y, Z are derived.

In this article we present the framework and first results of a recently initiated project that focuses
on a unique necropolis where khirigsuurs, slab graves, deer stones and currently undefined structures
co-exist in this ritual space, and in time. By combining the approach of landscape archaeology with
bioarchaeological research and in-depth investigation of life-histories of monuments and their ritual
structures we aim at a better understanding of the past population(s).
Key words: Bronze Age, Iron Age, Mongolia, bioarchaeology, isotope analyses

Remarkably well-preserved rock burial was discovered during a recognition trip after a demand to make a rescue recovery of a bow, probably unearthed from a grave, by a local School teacher in Ömnögobi soum of Uvs aimag in 2019. Upon our arrival in May 2019 in Ömnögobi soum, the news about the bow was lost, which was re-appeared in evening of next day after our strong request to the local policeman, and we were decided to visit the place which could be a rock grave widely distributed in this area of Mongol Altai range. We were guided by local teacher T. Tsegmid and herdsman Ts. Byambajav, son of the second supposed to have found the bow few months ago in the nearby mountain Yolyn Khets [Rocky Mount of Vulture – in Mongolian].
Yolyn Khets is a dark reddish granitic hill at the piedmonts of Kharkhiraa-Turgen mountain system dominating the whole western part of Uvs aimag. The place where supposed to have been discovered the above- mentioned bow is a small niche open to the south direction is located in 2057 m a.s.l. Inside the niche we have discovered the removed granite boulders and sediment soil in disorder attesting recent human intervention. In the surface we had not seen anything except some broken parts of iron arrowhead, but few cm’s below begun to appear the wooden parts of a rectangular structure supposed to be a frame coffin and forefront of a leather boots. The situation obliged us to conduct an excavation, because the given region was taken by local and guest gatherers of raw Altai balsam, who were becoming the major treat to the conservation of rock burials in Mongolia recent years.
In the wooden frame coffin we have discovered a burial of a 30-35-year-old woman. North-East orientation and supine position of the deceased is typical during the Mongol Imperial period. The fact that the woman was buried in full clothes can be seen in the leather shoes worn on his feet, the remains of preserved felt and textiles. The ritual was performed by placing the sheep tibia on the side of the deceased's head and the backbone under his back. Also accompanied by a well-crafted wooden comb and a bow and arrow probably places above the frame coffin. This unique burial ritual abundant in Mongolian Altai region is called rock burial, which allows us to handle organic objects survived to our day with considerable preservation.
The rock burial had all the characteristic features of a Medieval Mongolian burial, including the tibia of small ruminants, the accompanying back bone, the direction and location of the burial, and assembly of typical artifacts. We
have noted in our fieldwork report that some of the artifacts may be dated to the Medieval period or the Mongol Imperial period. This relative chronology is confirmed by the absolute chronology carried out at the AMS laboratory of the University of Cologne, Germany.
The most special feature of this funeral is that the woman's funeral is accompanied by a bow and arrows. Among Mongolian medieval women he custom to accompany them with weapons is still very rare. Few women graves with birchbark tubes from old excavations in Dornogobi and Khovd aimags identified as quivers could be in fact parts of head dress called bogtag, typical in Medieval Mongolian funeral rites.
The further research should continue and first of all, a comprehensive natural science study of human bones is needed. It should also be noted that an in-depth study of burial artifacts is expected.
At the foot of the hill, we have discovered another rock burial beneath of the large rock. Unfortunately, we were found here only three wooden pieces of a single saddle. The rock grave seems to have been looted more than once since ancient times. The saddle wood is particularly well preserved and its design is clear, and even the natural colors are visible, so it can be a valuable material to the study medieval Mongolian saddles.

Abstracts for papers with a maximum of 600 words are due 2023/12/31. After a short review process we will notify the applicants by mid-January. PhD students and young postdocs (up to 5 years after finishing the dissertation) from Europe and the US. Established scholars are warmly welcome as discussants. There will be a keynote lecture by a distinguished scholar on the first evening. The maximum number of speakers will be twenty.

International conference, Bonn, October 26-28, 2023:
Base metal fragments from archaeological sites in the Roman Northwest and adjacent Barbaricum were never a controversial find group. Favoured for their chronological or socio-cultural potential, they are largely classed as recycling material up until Late Antiquity. At that time, however, coinage experiences a massive change. Bronze coins become increasingly devalued before entirely disappearing from the monetary system during the first half of the 5th century AD. The archaeological record reflects this transformation in a complex, enigmatic manner. Viewed together, the practices surrounding coins and ‘scrap’ reveal a myriad of questions concerning possible meanings of value and their transformations.
In some instances, people tried to melt down bronze coins, in order to recycle them: was this devaluation or valorisation? On one hand, some excavations yield carpet-like layers of scattered coins. Were they lost—or discarded? On the other, the Theodosian bronze coin hoards must also be taken into account: stashes of value or waste metal rendered useless? On the same note, the question arises whether artefacts were fragmented into weighted units—as is the case for the well-known (Hack-)silver. If so, for what purpose, and on which chronological, regional and quantitative scale? Did Hackbronze, occasionally or even regularly, hold para-monetary functions equal to small ingots?
‘What’s aught but as ‘tis valued?’ (W. Shakespeare): The conference is an opportunity to discuss and examine how to reconstruct transformations in practice such as the above toward coins and base metal artefacts, thus assessing the significance of bronze within material culture. Ideally, this enables us to approach not only the extent of monetisation, but also rarely-identified material—and immaterial values and meanings which in turn can be linked to the material practice as well as the created artefacts.
The conference offers space for an international forum at the intersection of both Roman (Provincial) and early Historic archaeology, and Numismatics. The issues to be raised concern the base metal coins in the archaeological record, their circulation and manners of reuse, phenomena around counterfeits and local imitations, as well as practices regarding copper alloy artefacts: origin and production, transport and trade. Special attention will be paid to fragmentation, reuse, deposition and loss. Supraregional trends and small-scale observations are equally welcome. The geographic focus is on the Roman Northwestern provinces including the British Isles and the adjacent—as well as more distant—regions of European Barbaricum.

Participants: PhD students and young postdocs (up to 5 years after finishing the dissertation) from Europe and the US. Established scholars are warmly welcome as discussants. There will be a keynote lecture by a distinguished scholar on the first evening. The maximum number of speakers will be twenty. In Germany, as in many western countries, there are no professor positions at universities devoted specifically to Archaeology of Central and Inner Asia (this includes Russia mainly Siberia Moreover, the current number of scholars focusing on these regions is not large, and they are spread all over Europe and beyond often without the chance to discuss questions with other scholars who work in the same regions. The purpose of this gathering is to help young researchers tap into these existing, though thin, networks and to build new networks of their own with others who work in regions of Eurasia east of the Ural Mountains. We seek to offer a plenum beyond special conferences or large events like the EAA or SEAA to present preliminary results and discuss special problems, and to create an open and inspiring atmosphere for the exchange of ideas. We will start at 2 pm on the first day and close the conference at noon on the third day.

Short Report:

Results of the excavation campaign 2022 in the abandoned mining area of Bennerscheid near Königswinter. Mainly remains of the Roman lead and silver mining were found. A secondary use of the site is evidenced by a (smelting?) furnace from the High Middle Ages.

A project outline can be found at: https://www.iak.uni-bonn.de/de/institut/abteilungen/vor-und-fruehgeschichtliche-archaeologie/projekte-1/bennerscheid

The initial movement of herders and livestock into the eastern steppe is of great interest, as this region has long been home to pastoralist groups. Due to a paucity of faunal remains, however, it has been difficult to discern the timing of the adoption of domesticated ruminants and horses into the region, though recent research on ancient dairying has started to shed new light on this history. Here we present proteomic evidence for shifts in dairy consumption in the Altai Mountains, drawing on evidence from sites dating from the Early Bronze to the Late Iron Age. We compare these finds with evidence for the rise of social complexity in western Mongolia, as reflected in material remains signaling population growth, the establishment of structured cemeteries, and the erection of large monuments. Our results suggest that the subsistence basis for the development of complex societies began at the dawn of the Bronze Age, with the adoption of ruminant livestock. Investments in pastoralis...

Cities in the Eurasian steppes, a core of nomadic empires, are rare. Erecting a city from scratch is even less typical. However, Khar Khul Khaany Balgas, situated north of the Khangai Mountains in central Mongolia, is such an exceptional example, never built over by subsequent settlements. Overlooked until now because researchers dated its latest settlement phase into the 17th century a.d., the first radiocarbon dates and material culture prove its existence during the Mongol empire only. During the past years, we conducted comprehensive geophysical and topographic mapping of the site, as well as a pedestrian survey, including its hinterland, and excavated a kiln. The layout of the city resembles that of the capital, Karakorum. Both cities together reveal that the Mongol Khans had a specific idea about the organization of a city. They were dependent on Chinese craftsmen to erect the buildings but not on Chinese city planning and ideology.

Cities within a steppe environment and in societies based on pastoral nomadism are an often overlooked theme in the anthropological literature. Yet, with Karakorum, the first capital of the Mongol Empire (AD 1206–1368), we have a supreme example of such a city in the central landscape of the Orkhon valley in Mongolia. In this paper, we ask, what is the city in the steppes? Taking Karakorum as our starting point and case of reference and to attain a better comprehension of the characteristics of urbanism in the steppe, we apply a list of urban attributes compiled by Michael E. Smith (2016) to provide a thick description of Karakorum. The discussion not only comprises comparisons to other contemporary sites in Russia and Mongolia, but also addresses in detail the question of city–hinterland relations as a fundamental necessity for the survival of the city in an anti-urban environment. The analysis shows that during the Mongol period we can identify urbanism but no urbanization: there is no process of independent, natural growth of cities carried out by the population, but cities are “political” in the sense that they are deeply intertwined with the authority and have therefore much to tell about the relation between power and authority on the one hand and the ruled on the other.

The international project "Geo-Archaeology in the Steppe - Reconstruction of Cultural Landscapes in the Orkhon valley, Central Mongolia" was set up in July 2008. It is headed by the Department of Pre- and Protohistoric Archaeology of Bonn University. The project aims at the study of prehistoric and historic settlement patterns, human impact on the environment and the relation between towns and their hinterland in the Orkhon valley, Central Mongolia. The multidisciplinary project is mainly sponsored for three years by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and bridges archaeology, natural sciences and engineering (sponsorship code 01UA0801C). Archaeologists of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and of the Bonn University, geographers of Free University Berlin, geophysics of the Institute for Photonic Technology Jena and the RWTH Aachen University, and geographers and engineers of the German Aerospace Centre Berlin collaborate in the development of new technologies and their application in archaeology1. On the basis of Russian aerial photographs from the 1970s, an initial evaluation regarding potential archaeological sites was made. Due to the poor geometric and radiometric resolution of these photographs, identification of archaeological sites in many cases remained preliminary, and detailed information on layout and size could not be gained. The aim of the flight campaign in September 2008 was therefore the confirmation of these sites as well as their high resolution survey. A 10 megapixel range finder camera was used for the recording of high resolution aerial photography. This image data is suited for accurate determination and mapping of selected monuments. The airborne camera was adapted and mounted on an electrically operated eight propeller small drone. Apart from high resolution geo-referenced overview pictures, impressive panoramic images and very high resolution overlapping image data was recorded for photogrammetric stereoscopic processing. Due to the overlap of 85% along and across the track each point in the image data is recorded in at least four pictures. Although a smaller overlap might be sufficient for generating digital surface models (DSM), this redundancy increases the reliability of the DSM generation. Within this photogrammetric processing digital surface models and true ortho photo mosaics with a resolution up to 2,5 cm/pixel in X, Y, Z are derived.

In this article we present the framework and first results of a recently initiated project that focuses on a micro-region in the Upper Orkhon Valley with the unique necropolis of Maikhan Tolgoi where khirgisuurs, slab graves, deer stones and currently undefined structures co-exist in one ritual space and overlap in time.
About 3km northeast another small necropolis – Ar Bulan Bronze – is situated on a hill above the Orkhon, a small Xiongnu period cemetery consisting of nine graves, is located nearby. In a first phase of the project the visible structures have been documented and mapped. In 2011, 2012 and 2015 excavations have been conducted. In this article we report shortly on the structures that had been excavated in the years 2011 and 2012. The cemetery of Maikhan Tolgoi is characterized by a unique density and variety of structures situated along the slope of a mountain ridge. The necropolis exhibits at least 108 identifiable surface structures (Fig. 1). While 31 structures are classifiable as slab graves and 37 as khirgisuurs other surface structures, such as stone rings and coverings of various designs are not specific for any known culture.
The density and variety of structures in this cemetery is not only exceptional for the whole upper and middle Orkhon valley, but also for other regions as well. So far a total of twelve structures of different shape, size, and construction have been investigated in Maikhan Tolgoi (Fig. 1; structures 3, 10, satellite 3 and 9 of khirgisuur 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 51, 52, and 89). In Ar Bulan Bronze, two satellite structures of khirgisuurs and two slab graves have been excavated (ABB gr. 2 and 10, Figs. 8-12). In the Xiongnu period cemetery one grave (ABKH, gr. 2, Fig. 13-15) has been investigated together with its northern stone line.
Especially noteworthy is grave 3 with a slight figure shape that was E-W orientated. It dates between 1737-1526 BC and thus is currently the oldest grave of such a type in Central Mongolia. Four structures (Maikhan Tolgoi nos. 3, 13, 52, Ar Bulan Khunnu, gr. 2) produced almost complete skeletons with good bone preservation, thus allowing for a complex anthropological investigation. But also the partial skeletons of Ar Bulan Bronze, gr. 2 and 10 allowed for the conduction of isotopical analyses. All skeletons from Maikhan Tolgoi and Ar Bulan display muscle attachment features indicative of significant mechanical stress caused by work related loading that are more pronounced on the lower extremities than on the upper body.