The Dornod Mongol Survey is a large regional research project in Southeastern Mongolia tackling major questions in the prehistory of the steppe. Through a combination of archaeological survey, excavation, geoarchaeology and bioarchaeology we are examining the dynamics of prehistoric societies in Eastern Eurasia.
The project has three main chronological and topical foci, the advent of pastoralism (5000-3500 year ago), the growth of regional collectives and the practice of local politics (3500-2500 year ago), and the growth of regional polities (3000-1500 years ago). The scale and homogeneity of the Eurasian steppe and its inhabitation by mobile communities have traditionally posed challenges for regional archaeological projects.
The Dornod Mongol Survey uses land-use and paleoenvironmental modeling and archaeological survey sampling strategies to address this key issue in Eurasian regional archaeology.