Borders and beyond: Excavating life on the medieval Mongolian frontier

(Press-News.org) New archaeological findings along a little-known medieval wall in eastern Mongolia reveal that frontier life was more complex than previously believed. Excavations show evidence of permanent habitation, agriculture, and cultural exchange, suggesting that these walls were not solely defensive structures but part of a broader system of regional control and interaction during the Jin dynasty.


Link to pictures and video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1krCqKwVHzMIA-EaU7AhES47HikEgElmp?usp=sharing


A team of international archaeologists led by Professor Gideon Shelach-Lavi of the Department of Asian Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem has uncovered new insights into life along one of Asia’s most enigmatic medieval frontiers. Their findings, recently published in the journal Antiquity, focus on a little-known section of the Medieval Wall System and reveal that the main function of this section was not military defense. In fact, excavation reviled that in this part of the Medieval Wall System there was now standing linear wall but only a relatively shallow trench that starched over 300 km long.  Researchers now believe that the main function of this line, that included also walled forts, was managing movement of nomadic populations, controlling local unrest, regulating trade, marking territory, and shaping regional interactions.


The Medieval Wall System is a vast network of trenches, earthen walls, and fortified enclosures constructed between the tenth and thirteenth centuries across parts of Mongolia, China, and Russia. Despite its impressive scale, many segments remain poorly understood. Since 2018, the collaborative research project The Wall: People and Ecology in Medieval Mongolia and China based in the Hebrew university—funded by the European Research Council—has worked to map, excavate, and interpret these monumental features. The 2023 field season focused on the Mongolian Arc, a remote frontier zone running through Mongolia’s Sukhbaatar and Dornod provinces parallel to the current border with China.


“Our goal was not only to understand how these walls were built, but to uncover what life was like for the people who lived near them,” explained Professor Shelach-Lavi. “This goes beyond military history—it’s about reconstructing everyday experiences on the edges of imperial power.”

The team’s excavation centered on a fortified enclosure known as MA03 in Sukhbaatar Province, dated by radiocarbon analysis to the period of the Jin dynasty (twelfth to thirteenth century). Although traditionally thought to serve defensive purposes, the shallow trench near MA03 lacked a substantial wall, suggesting that it functioned more as a territorial marker or checkpoint than a military barrier. Within the enclosure, the researchers uncovered stone architecture, an advanced heating system, and a range of artifacts—including animal bones, pottery, iron tools, and a broken iron plough. These remains point to a permanent settlement engaged in herding, hunting, and agriculture, challenging the common perception of the region as exclusively nomadic. The heating system, similar to those found in medieval China and Korea, further suggests cultural exchange and adaptation to Mongolia’s severe winters.

One of the most striking discoveries was a mid-fifteenth-century burial inserted long after the enclosure had been abandoned. The grave, which contained well preserved textiles, wooden objects, and metal artifacts, was dug directly into the collapsed remains of the enclosure wall.

“This tells us that even centuries later, the site still held meaning,” said Professor Shelach-Lavi. “It remained visible in the landscape and may have been remembered—or even revered—by later communities.”

The findings contribute to a growing body of research suggesting that ancient frontier walls across Eurasia served not just military ends, but also administrative and symbolic functions. In the context of Mongolia—long associated with mobile pastoralism—the study reveals a more complex and adaptable way of life.

“Our research reminds us to look beyond capital cities and royal courts,” said Professor Shelach-Lavi. “People lived, worked, traded, and built communities along these borderlands.

Understanding their lives helps us understand the broader dynamics that shaped Eurasian history.”

Learn more: https://www.the-wall-huji.com/the-mongolian-arc

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