Elite woman’s grave dates from before Genghis Khan's Mongolian Empire and the Great Wall of the Mongols

Amazing stuff!

Israeli archaeologists work in Mongolia!

"... Buried in the walls of the fortress is the grave of an elite woman who pre-dates the rise of the founder of the Mongolian Empire, Genghis Khan (also known as Chinggis Khan). The frontier fortress is about 1.4 km west of Khar Nuur lake in eastern Dornod province of Mongolia, only kilometres from the Chinese border.

Genghis Khan rose to prominence in 1206 CE. Before that, the Kitan-Liao Empire controlled great swaths of land between 916 and 1125 CE.

The period between these great dynasties is poorly understood as very few records survive. ...

The Khar Nuur fortress was part of a larger set of walls and fortresses stretching more than 4,000km. Khar Nuur’s walls and ditches alone make up about 737km. ...

Within its walls were found a wood coffin, various artefacts and the body of a 40 to 60-year-old woman. Hers is one of only 26 burials from the period found in Mongolia.

Radiocarbon dating shows the woman was buried between 1158 and 1214 CE.
She was buried wearing a yellow silk robe, a headdress and golden earrings. Her grave also contained a silver cup, bronze vessel, gold bracelet, and coral and glass beads. These finds point to her status as a member of the elite during this pre-Mongol period. ...

Many of the artefacts are of non-local origin, being sourced as far as hundreds of kilometres away. ..."

From the abstract:

"On the Mongolian plateau, the period between the collapse of the Kitan Empire (c. 1125 CE) and the rise of the Mongol empire (1206 CE) is still poorly understood. Although events leading up to the rise of Chinggis Khan's initial Mongol state are recorded in a number of historical sources, these accounts often look backwards over decades or even centuries from the perspective of a mature empire already made.  ... The eastern reaches of the Mongolian plateau is a region that can speak to these events based on the material record of archaeology. The Mongol-Israeli-American Archaeological Project has surveyed and excavated along Kitan frontier ‘long-walls’ in the northeast of Mongolia since 2018. One of our fortuitous discoveries was a well-furnished burial interred within the enclosure wall of a Kitan era frontier fortress. Analysis of this grave reveals that it likely postdates the use of the fortress and provides important information about local communities, their networks, and organization during the 12th century CE."

Elite woman’s grave dates from before Genghis Khan's Mongolian Empire

An elite grave of the pre-Mongol period, from Dornod Province, Mongolia (open access)

Fig. 1. Drone photo of Cluster 27 in northeastern Mongolia. A red circle marks the location of the excavated burial. The inset map shows the location of Cluster 27 in red and two other enclosure sites along the long wall (Clusters 23 and 24) in black.

Fig. 2. A plan of the excavated grave at Khar Nuur, Cluster 27 including a profile view and three elevation measurements (masl). The dotted lines show an approximate configuration of the coffin based on partial wood recovery and soil staining. Fragmentary pieces of bark originally used as a coffin cover are also shown overlying the context. The burial assemblage