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The Joint Mongolian / American / Russian Project, 'Altay,' is dedicated
to the study of the ecology of ancient cultures in the
Altay Mountains of North Asia. Since 1994, the Project has been surveying and documenting
surface archaeology in Baya Ölgiy aimag, where the Altay Mountains
separate Mongolia, Russia, and northern China.
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These remote mountains and valleys are rich in surface archaeology:
burial mounds from the late Bronze and Iron Ages, great stone
altars (khereksur) from the Bronze and early Iron Ages, and ritual
sites and stone images from the Turkic period. This region also
includes some of the finest and largest petroglyphic complexes in
North Asia. In addition, project members have recorded extensive
petroglyphs and Turkic ritual sites; deer stones; Turkic images
and ritual altars and khereksur, and a great number of other scattered
Turkic images, standing stones, and deer stones.
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Through this process of recording and documenting, the Project
is gradually building a vivid picture o f
the ecology of culture in the Mongolian Altay between the late Pleistocene
(approximately 11,000 calendar year B.P.) and the Turkic period (first
millennium C.E.).
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