Turkish and Mongolian researchers are conducting archaeological excavations in the graves on Bogd Khan Mountain, which overlooks Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia.
The excavations focus on the graves and monuments of medieval-period nomads in the Bogd Khan Mountain and Tuul River basin, located in the Altanbulag district of Tov province.
Kursat Yildirim, one of the project coordinators from Istanbul University, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that they initiated the project on the history of the nomads, and the history, culture and art of the Turks and Mongols.
"We planned a three-year project. In our first year, we are excavating Bogd Khan Mountain in a Turkish-Mongolian partnership as part of joint field studies,” he said.
Yildirim said the tomb they excavated in the Tuul River basin dates back to the fifth and eighth centuries.
"The tomb may belong to the Juanjuan, Gokturk or Uyghur period. It is a square-planned tomb complex measuring 10 meters by 10 meters,” he said.
He said this tomb is much larger than the others, adding it has a unique tomb feature in terms of size.
He said their main goals this year are to determine the external plan of the monument and clean the surface soil.
"As we went deeper into the surface parts, we found horse and sheep bones first. These were immediately sent to laboratories for radiocarbon analysis,” he added.
As a result of the studies, the excavation report will be written in Mongolian and Turkish, reflecting the parties' consensus, he maintained.
