065: Dig Eastern Mongolia: explore the world of ancient nomads

Learning Outcomes

In the Fieldwork

• How to plan and carry out a systematic pedestrian survey.
• Geophysical survey on the steppe, and how its results guide the excavation.
• How to dig and which archaeological techniques are used.
• Basic principles of stratigraphy and recording of the excavation.
• Basic procedures for sample collection, including flotation of botanical samples.
• Recognition of Xiongnu-period finds.

In the Laboratory

• Sorting, cleaning and recording of the artefact collection.
• Sorting and preparation of botanical and faunal samples.
• Typology of artefacts.
• Planning and analysis of the survey data.

Theory

• Archaeology of mobile societies.
• Archaeological and historical perspectives on the Xiongnu, the first nomadic state.
• Archaeology of Mongolia.
• Archaeology of settlement sites in the nomadic world.

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