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The earliest stone monuments that are most commonly
found in Mongolia today date from the bronze age.
The nomadic herdsmen of those times constructed
stone mounds and stone-flagged graves of great
size, and used great skill in the beautiful execution
of carved 'reindeer stones'. Such stone monuments
were placed on the steppe, in valleys, in gullies
or on the tops of small hills either singly or
in groups of up to twenty stones, either as graves
or markers of dedicatory sites, and some of them
still remain in their original positions. The
'reindeer stones' are between one and four meters
high. The four sides of a long oblong stone are
nicely trimmed and the total surface is divided
vertically into three bands. All around the stone
in the upper section are images of the sun and
moon, and in the middle section are many deer,
leaping and flying. The lower section is decorated
with carvings of knives, swords, bows and quivers,
battle axes, whetstones, hooks, mirrors and so
on.
The deer themselves are executed according to
a very precise formula, with long narrow limbs
like those of birds, graceful necks, majestic
curving many-branched antlers, but most especially
the full flight of their leap is shown with consummate
skill. Some particular examples of these 'reindeer
stones' have, carved in the upper section of the
stone, a human head and face. The skill with which
these animals, widespread among the nomadic peoples
of Central Asia, are represented is everywhere
plain. 'Reindeer stones' have been found over
an exceptionally wide area; of the 500 so far
brought to light, 450 have been discovered in
this country and the remainder in southern Baikalia,
Tuva, the Russian Altai - from Central Asia in
fact to the Danube basin. Scholars of these stone
monuments estimate that they range in age from
the second millennium to the third century BC.
Other examples of the stone monuments of Central
Asia are the statues which are to be found right
across Mongolia from east to west. Those that
have been found on the Mongolian territory fall
into two basic categories and the most common
date from the sixth to eighth centuries. These
stone statues are skillfully carved to show the
clothes that these ancient people made and wore:
hats, belts, weapons, jewelry and sometimes the
tools of their trades. Scholars research and categorize
the carvings on the statues and, by comparing
them with other archaeological finds and with
written records, can establish their date and
tribe. A large group of statues was found in the
eastern part of the country from the Turk period
but these are quite different, and it is thought
that they are from the Mongol state of the 13th
and 14th centuries. What is particular about these
examples is that the figures are carved seated
on backed chairs not associated with other kinds
of stone statue, and their clothes, hats, hairstyles
and utensils are very different from those on
the Turk stones.
The purpose of these stones was probably the same
as that of the Turk monuments - they were erected
as part of a cult dedicated to the memory of the
great Khans, and thus are descended from the early
reindeer stones. Study of the stone statues and
research into the customs, religious beliefs,
and social relations of those people not only
serves to enrich the science of history, it is
also very important in that it shows the level
of skill that these early artists attained.
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