Unraveling the Mongolian Arc: a Field Survey and Spatial Investigation of a Previously Unexplored Wall System in Eastern Mongolia

Abstract

This paper explores, for the first time, a 405 km long wall system located in eastern Mongolia: the “Mongolian Arc” consists of an earthen wall, a trench, and 34 structures. It is part of a much larger system of walls built between the 11th and 13th centuries a.d. The Mongolian Arc, despite its magnitude, has been largely overlooked in existing academic discourse. Our team collected remote sensing data of different types and conducted an archaeological field survey of the entire Mongolian Arc. The different datasets obtained in the lab and the field were analyzed using a geographic information system (GIS). These results were integrated with excerpts from relevant primary sources to provide a preliminary interpretation of the design and potential functions of the Mongolian Arc. Key areas of exploration include the idiosyncratic gaps along the wall, the spatial organization of the wall and structures, and their interrelationship with the adjacent landscape.