ARCHAEOLOGICAL MAPPING: Mongolia Empire's

The Mongolian Empire's Capital Was An 'Implanted' City, According to Archaeological Mapping

A team of international archaeologists has completed a detailed map of Karakorum, the 13th-century capital of the Mongolian Empire. Their findings, which were published on Thursday in the journal Antiquity, indicated that the settlement was far larger than previously thought and was "implanted" on the Mongolian steppe.

The team used a Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (or SQUID) to survey over 1,140 acres using advanced geophysics. The SQUID measures topographical features on the surface as well as magnetic fields below ground. Data, field surveys, aerial pictures, and historical records were all used to create the map.

The findings are a "deep re-evaluation of this ancient metropolis, which underlines its remarkable place in Mongolian and Eurasian history," according to Jan Bemmann, the study's lead author.

Mongolian Empire's

From 1220 to 1267 C.E., the Mongolian Empire was the world's biggest contiguous land empire, with its capital at Karakorum. It was founded by Genghis Khan's son and successor gödei on the site of one of Genghis Khan's camps, and construction was completed during the reign of Möngke Khan.

Karakorum was a walled settlement with four (4) gates that served as a commercial hub, administrative center, and royal residence after a palace was added in 1235. It was an example of steppe urbanism—a city built on the Mongolian plateau. The city's inhabitants included Chinese artisans, Muslim merchants, and captives from around the Mongolian Empire, according to a major historical record published by Franciscan monk William of Rubruck in 1254.

The investigation explains that “the novelty of these settlements resides in the fact that they were ‘implanted' by the ruler into a landscape without established architecture, and that the permanent people were brought from abroad.” "These cities remained foreign entities, [and] were cut off from the pastoralist lifestyle and economy in the area."

Bemmann characterized the concept of a "implanted" metropolis in an email to ARTnews as a newly founded town where the city and its residents "fall out of the sky" in one package. "Not only was the city newly established amid a landscape devoid of towns and permanent settlements, but the people who built the city were also brought—the majority of citizens were not drawn, but forced," he said. Karakorum was not integrated into the local economy, and analysts believe that the indigenous herders stayed away. "Implanted" means that "you can remove [the city] again without harming the local inhabitants," according to Bemmann.

By the early 15th century C.E., Karakorum had been abandoned, and its exact site had been lost until 1889, when it was found. According to the investigation, “the Mongolian city on which Karakorum was built is often recommend as a purely pastoral nomadic ecozone, but it is, in fact, rich in monuments, with permanent structures range from small settlements and walled enclosures to fortifications, monasteries, and large cities covering several square kilometers.”

The new map revealed previously unknown highways, districts, and substantial expansion beyond the municipal limits. It also indicated less densely built regions further away from the village, which could have served as temporary camps for social events such as quriltais or governing elite assemblies.

The thorough new measures, according to academics, are the first evidence of distinct zoning within the metropolis. To the north and east of the walls, Karakorum's design contains U-shaped and square complexes. Because the road leading out of the city from the east gate is bordered with extra buildings on both sides, the eastern gate would have been the most heavily frequented.

Structures of varied sizes create a crescent shape to the south and west, which are presumably buildings for the elite, as well as administrative and religious activity. Different colored glazed roof tiles and granite column bases can be found on the structures in this area.

Paths from the northern and western gates lead to the neighboring Orkhon River, while the two eastern access roads converge to the south-east and head towards China. Because no constructed water supply has yet been identified within Karakorum, researchers suspect that water from the river was delivered into the city on carts, in storage vessels, or in leather bags.

"It was incredible to see the map expand day by day, and with it, the digital recreation of Karakorum," Bemmann remarked. Excavation work will be required in the future to ascertain building materials, habitation strata, and types of activity at the various locations.