The Dornod Mongol Survey (DMS) will excavate,
analyse, and publish findings on
archaeological sites in the Sukhbaatar region of eastern Mongolia, looking to answer questions about Mongolia's political traditions, the rise of the Great Wall, and the rivalry between the civilizations of China and Inner Asia.
This proposal requests support for a three year archaeological survey and excavation project (2017-2020) to test a new model for Xiongnu state emergence. The Dornod Mongol Survey (DMS) project seeks to test this model in a part of Mongolia where archaeological research is still greatly under-represented, specifically in the southeastern steppe region of Sukhbaatar province. Our study not only adds significantly to knowledge of Mongolia’s political heritage, but to a fuller understanding of the development of East Asia as a vast territory composed of diverse political traditions alternately in competition and alliance over millennia. Study of these processes helps to explain the making of the Xiongnu state, the rise of the Great Wall frontier, and the enduring legacy of rivalry between the very different civilizations of China and of Inner Asia.