Practically everyone has heard of the great wall of China, but the prestigious monument is not the only huge border in North East Asia.
An international team of researchers has surveyed a section related to the medieval wall system (MWS) away Network of walls, enclosures and trenches in China, Mongolia and Russia. In particular, researchers examined the 252-mile-lumb (405 km) section in Mongolia, called the Mongolian arc, and an excavation in an enclosure. Instead of a thick stone wall, archaeologists highlighted a shallow gap, suggesting that the barrier did not serve defensive objectives.
Gidon Shelch-Lavi, an archaeologist at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, said in an archaic statement, “We demanded the use of the enclosure and Mongolian arc.” “What was its function? Was it primarily a military system designed to defend against the attacking forces, or was it aimed at controlling the outer areas of the empire by managing the border crossing, addressing civil disturbance, and stopping a small -scale raid?”
Various dynasties worked on 2,485-mile-lumb (4,000 km) MWS, such as Gin dynasty (1115 to 1234 CE), whose empire included the regions of modern-day North China and Internal Asia. While the enclosure was made of thick stone walls, archaeologists found that the wall was actually a shallow trench with a pile of earth.
A gap certainly could not defend against an attacker army – but it could help people guide gates and serve as a symbol of the power and region’s control. Fort made with this obstacle allowed soldiers or guards to monitor who is coming and going. In other words, researchers suggest that those who come to power used the Mongolian arc, so that the movement of citizens, animals and goods could be controlled instead of protecting the frontier.
Under the leadership of Shelch-Lavi, archaeologists also detected coins from the song dynasty (960 to 1279 CE), iron artworks and a hot stone platform, which would have been used as both a stove and bed. In addition, “quite investment in the walls of Garison, as well as in their inner structures, suggests a year round,” Shelch-Lavi explained. He and his colleagues expanded their work in one Study Published in the magazine of antiquity today. More especially, it indicates that dynasties that created MWS attach great importance to the infrastructure that can symbolize their power and also enable business.
Moving forward, future research can throw light on those who went with this frigid frontier hundreds of years ago. “Analysis of samples taken from this site will help us better understand the resources used by Garrison, their diet and people deployed in their way of life,” Shelch-Lavi concluded.
