The Survey Archaeology of Northern and Southern Mongolia: A Diachronic Study of Nomadic Polities and Landscapes in Transition

FAIN: RZ-50625-06

Yale University (New Haven, CT 06510-1703)
William Henry Honeychurch (Project Director: November 2005 to August 2009)

Excavation, analysis, and interpretation at archaeological sites in the Eurasian steppe to study social and political organization among pastoral societies during the Mongolian Empire. (24 months)

Archaeological studies of pastoral nomadic societies have been invigorated by recent collaborative research projects across the Eurasian steppe zone. This research contributes an important perspective on the forms of socio-political organization practiced among mobile groups. We propose a novel approach to understanding the organizational techniques and methods of finance that supported large scale imperial polities of eastern Eurasia, specifically those centered on the Mongolian steppe. Using archaeological survey data from the northern Mongolian valley of Egiin Gol and the Middle Gobi desert, we evaluate the latest historical explanations for the rise and fall of these polities.

Associated Products

Inner Asia and the Spatial Politics of Empire (Book)
Title: Inner Asia and the Spatial Politics of Empire
Author: William Honeychurch
Abstract: This monograph uses the latest archaeological results from Mongolia and the surrounding areas of Inner Asia to propose a novel understanding of nomadic statehood, political economy, and the nature of interaction with ancient China. In contrast to the common view of the Eurasian steppe as a dependent periphery of Old World centers, this work views Inner Asia as a locus of enormous influence on neighboring civilizations, primarily through the development and transmission of diverse organizational models, technologies, and socio-political traditions. This work explores the spatial management of political relationships within the pastoral nomadic setting during the first millennium BCE and argues that a culture of mobility, horse-based transport, and long-distance networking promoted a unique variant of statehood. Although states of the eastern steppe were geographically large and hierarchical, these polities also relied on techniques of distributed authority, multiple centers, flexible structures, and ceremonialism to accommodate a largely mobile and dispersed populace. This expertise in “spatial politics” set the stage early on for the expansionistic success of later Asian empires under the Mongols and Manchus. Inner Asia and the Spatial Politics of Empire brings a distinctly anthropological treatment to the prehistory of Mongolia and is the first major work to explore key issues in the archaeology of eastern Eurasia using a comparative framework. The monograph adds significantly to anthropological theory on interaction between states and outlying regions, the emergence of secondary complexity, and the growth of imperial traditions. Based on this approach, the window of Inner Asian prehistory offers a novel opportunity to investigate the varied ways that complex societies grow and the processes articulating adjacent societies in networks of mutual transformation.
Year: 2015
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/inner-asia-and-the-spatial-politics-of-empire-archaeology-mobility-and-culture-contact/oclc/909760754&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: http://www.springer.com/us/book/9781493918140#otherversion=9781493943272
Secondary URL Description: Publisher's listing
Access Model: Book
Publisher: New York: Springer
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781493918140
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire (Book)
Title: Genghis Khan and the Mongol Empire
Editor: William Honeychurch
Editor: William W. Fitzhugh
Editor: Morris Rossabi
Abstract: This is a heavily illustrated and accessible scholarly treatment of Mongol history for the wider public, offering a comprehensive view from pre-historic times to the modern age, published in conjunction with a 2009 exhibition at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The book contains contributions from archaeology to biological anthropology. Presented in five parts - Before Genghis, lands and peoples of Mongolia; Genghis Times; Mongolian Western Empire; Kublai Khan and Yuan China; concluding with Genghis' Legacy, the decline of the Yuan dynasty to the present day. Findings from excavations and extensive evidence of handicraft production and metalwork illustrate the book. The clear prose and wide-ranging illustrations will fascinate general readers as well as scholars. The book has contributions from forty leading scholars and is published in collaboration with The Smithsonian Institution and the Mongolian Preservation Foundation.
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/genghis-khan-and-the-mongol-empire/oclc/939072827&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Secondary URL: https://books.google.com/books/about/Genghis_Khan_and_the_Mongol_Empire.html?id=nhaPNAEACAAJ
Secondary URL Description: Google Books
Access Model: Book
Publisher: Media, PA: Dino Don Inc. and the Mongolian Preservation Foundation; and Washington, D.C.: Arctic Studies Center, Smithsonian Institution
Type: Edited Volume
ISBN: 9780295989570
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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