An Elite Grave of the Pre-Mongol Period, from Dornod Province, Mongolia

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. Archaeology provides one path 
towards a better understanding of the circumstances, people, and polities contemporaneous with the collapse of 
the Kitan Empire and emergence of the Jurchen Jin and Mongol states. The eastern reaches of the Mongolian 
plateau is a region that can speak to these events based on the material record of archaeology. The MongolIsraeli-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