Mongolia's Deer Stones No one knows for sure why the ancient inhabitants of Mongolia created and erected their standing stones, which are named for the carved depictions of what look like flying deer. There are around seven hundred of these deer stones in the world, and five hundred of them are in the Darkhat Valley, in northern Mongolia near the Siberian border. These stones are rooted in Shamanisn and are thought to have been set up around 1000 BC, and may mark the graves of important personages. Later inhabitants of the area likely reused them to mark their own burial mounds, and perhaps for other purposes. The tallest of the stones stands fifteen feet high and the shortest is just under two feet. The stones usually occur in groups of five or more. The carvings on the stones are typically divided into three sections which are thought to represent the sky, the earth and the underworld, which is how the myths of central Asia divide the world. At the top of the stones, there are carvings of the sun and moon, or just a circle which some have interpreted as an earring, though the reasoning behind that is not clear to me. One stone at Lake Erkhel has a face carved at the top, which lends credence to the explanation that the stones were set up to honor the dead. In the midsection of the stone can be found the flying deer carvings and those of other hooved animals, usually in profile. It is a traditional Mongolian belief that these animals carry the spirits of the dead into the afterlife. The flying mammals are often depicted in groups so that they resemble flocks of birds. Carvings at the bottoms of the stones are of a dagger and a belt. Many of the deer stones are surrounded by smaller stones piled in square or circular formations, which Bruno Frolich of the Smithsonian has speculated may denote the sex of the interred, though all the stone structures may not prove to be graves when excavated. Buried horse heads have been discovered arranged in a circle around one of the stone sites at Lake Erkhel. The deer stones may have links to other cultures. Similar stones have been found at Cimmerian sites in central Asia. Esther Jacobson-Tepfer of the University of Oregon thinks that Mongolian deer stone art influenced the Scythian animal art style, which had become widespread in central Asia by 600 BC, but Russian scholars believe that the Mongolian style was derived from the Scythian. Since Scythian burials often incorporated horses and tack, perhaps the Mongolian finds of buried horse heads will provide some more definite connection between the two cultures. Some researchers see similarities in the designs on Eskimo death masks and ivory ornaments to those of bronze age art in Mongolia. Today, the Tsaatan reindeer herders in the region have incorporated the stones into their Buddhist rituals. The joint Mongolian-Smithsonian Deer Stone Project has been documenting the stone sites since 2001, recently scanning the stones with lasers to create 3D images. Sources: Powell, Eric A. "Mongolia." Archaeology Magazine, January/February, 2006, pp. 17-23. Arts Council of Mongolia Image by Aloxe used in accordance with the GNU Free Documentation License Take the Challenge!

Mongolian Riddle Challenge

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