ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
 
Location: Northern Mongolia, Bulgan Aimag (closest city Erdenet)
Site: Survey and excavations in Egiingol River Valey, various time periods
Period:     Neolithic through 19th century AD
 
Volunteers:
Dates Needed (subject to change due to airline flights, etc.):
      Session 1: June 6 to June 28, 1998
      Session 2: July 4 to July 26, 1998
 
Application Deadline: March 15, 1998
 
Minimum Age: 21
 
Experience Required: None. But participants must be able to withstand challengin
g
field conditions.
 
Cost:       Tax  deductible $1800 per 3 week session; $3000 per 6 week session
covers lodging in Ulan Bator, meals and local communte from Ulan Bator to site a
nd return.
Travel to Mongolia and insurance not included.
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
 
THE PERILOUS FRONTIER by Thomas Barfield.
 
"Pastoral and Nomadic Tribes at the Beginning of the First Millennium
BC," by A. Askarov, et. al. in HISTORY OF THE CIVILIZATIONS OF CENTRAL
ASIA:  DAWN OF CIVILIZATION edited by A. H. Dani and V. M. Masson.
 
ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE SOUTHERN GOBI OF MONGOLIA edited by Walter A. Fair-
servis, Jr.
 
"Early nomads of Mongolia," by V. V. Volkov, in NOMADS OF THE EURASIAN
STEPPES IN THE EARLY IRON AGE edited by J.Davis-Kimball.
 
 
PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
 
     The Egiin Gol river valley is located in northern Mongolia
about 150 km south of Lake Baikal.  Over 100 sq. km of the valley is scheduled
to be flooded early in the next century by a large hydro-electric dam project.
Archaeological survey and excavation is being conducted
there in advance of flooding by a joint Mongolian-American team.
     Previous work in the valley has revealed the existence of various types
of sites from a variety of time periods.  There are extensive lithic and pottery
 
scatters, several large kheregsur complexes, Buddhist monasteries dating to the
18th and 19th centuries AD, and numerous burials dating to the Xiong-nu confeder
acy
and the Mongol Empire.  Volunteers will work with American and Mongolian
archaeologists, and Mongolian students in excavating some of these sites.  Surve
y will be
conducted further up river to see what sites exist in the valley.  Experience
is not needed; training will be  provided by both American and Mongolian archaeo
logists.
       We will try to be split the work day between excavation and survey.  We w
ill
be on site at 8:30 AM and work until lunch (about 1 PM).  After a short break fo
llowing
lunch, we will continue excavation or survey until the evening meal
(about 7:30 PM).  Volunteers will be expected
to work six days a week.  On their day off, volunteers can fish or
explore the surrounding countryside.
       The Egiin Gol valley is in a wooded steppe zone at an altitude of
1000 to 1500 m asl.  The summertime temperature ranges from 40F to
80F and it usually rains for a few hours several times a week.
       Volunteers must realize that living conditions in Mongolia will be
quite primitive and that they will be over 100 km from the nearest town.
Volunteeers must be flexible, have a spirit of adventure, and realize
Murphy's Law reigns supreme in Mongolia.
 
 
 
Sponsor:    Dr. Mark Hall
            American-Eurasian Research Institute, Inc.
            (formerly Kazakh/American Research Project, Inc.)
            Center for the Study of Eurasian Nomads
            1607 Walnut Street
            Berkeley, CA 94709
            Tele: 510 549-3708; FAX 510 849-3137
            e-mail: [log in to unmask]