Archeologists have mapped the ancient Mongolian capital city of Karakorum in detail for the first time by using geophysics.
TORONTO -- Archeologists have mapped the ancient Mongolian capital city of Karakorum in detail for the first time using geophysics, allowing them to reveal the layout, organization and size of the extensive settlement.and featured in the February 2022 edition of the journal Antiquity, details efforts to uncover the breadth of the city, first founded on the Mongolian plateau in the 13th century by the son and successor of Genghis Khan, Ogodei.
After the dissolution and splicing of the Mongol empire in 1260 into the Yuan Empire, Ilkhanate, Chaghatayid Khanate and Golden Horde, Khubilai Khan established the capital of the Yuan Empire at Dadu, modern day Beijing. Subsequent expeditions by German, Russian, Mongolian and Japanese teams have limited their mapping efforts to the walled areas and buildings in front of Karakorum’s eastern gate, despite aerial photographs from the 1970s clearly showing the settlement extended far beyond that.
By using a motorized measurement device that allowed the recording of magnetic and topographic data at high resolution simultaneously, known as “SQUID” or Superconducting Quantum Interference Device sensor array, researchers combed over 465 hectares in 52 days during two campaigns in 2016 and 2017. The study also revealed for the first time distinct zoning within Karakorum, with the south and west sides of the city being dominated by compounds of various sizes with coloured, glazed roof tiles and granite column bases, which researchers posit were for elite members of the empire, administration and ritual activities.
Two paths from the western gate end at an ancient tributary of the Orkhon River, and because no structures for water supply have been discovered, it is thought that water from the river was carted into Karakorum in storage vessels or leather bags, the study says.
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