Resilient herders: A deeply stratified multiperiod habitation site in northwestern Mongolia

Abstract

Currently, the development of mobile pastoralism in Mongolia is known almost exclusively from burial and ritual contexts. Here we present the results of archaeological excavations and geoarchaeological work carried out at a deeply stratified multiperiod habitation site in northwestern Mongolia. Data include an unprecedented number of well-preserved artifacts, faunal and botanical remains, sedimentary information, and chronology that document the development of pastoralism in this region. Our findings index the local durability of pastoralist occupation over 4000 years, as well as the adaptive resilience of the herders here, indeed up to the present day, and this despite major changes in the sociopolitical, socioeconomic, and environmental conditions through time.