Chandman Mountain Kurgan Field – Uvs Valley
Chandmani Kurgans · Uvs Lake Chandman
Early Iron Age (Pazyryk-related)·Chandman / Pazyryk (Uyuk–Chandman)·🇲🇳 Uvs Province, Chandman Mountain piedmont, Uvs Lake basin, Mongolia
About
About Chandman Mountain Kurgan Field – Uvs Valley
A chain of 35 Pazyryk-related kurgans (700–300 BCE) on the piedmont of Chandman Mountain at the southern rim of Uvs Lake basin, representing the easternmost extension of the Altai Pazyryk mortuary tradition into northwest Mongolia. Mounds 15–25 m cover frozen lensed chambers with felt and appliqué textiles echoing Pazyryk and Tuekta, but with Mongolian deer stone re-use as capping slabs, showing hybrid Altai–Mongolian ritual. Excavated 2009–2015 by Irkutsk–Khovd joint expedition, the kurgans yielded bronze mirrors, horse gear and a preserved felt swan analogous to Pazyryk 2, indicating long-distance felt trade.
Why it mattersEasternmost frozen Pazyryk-type graves bridging Altai Pazyryk and Mongolian deer stone worlds.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Felt swan long-distance trade
Theories
- 01Pazyryk eastward migration vs diffusion
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.700 – 300 BCE
- Period
- Early Iron Age (Pazyryk-related)
- Culture
- Chandman / Pazyryk (Uyuk–Chandman)
- Builders
- Uvs Lake pastoralists (Pazyryk-related)
- Purpose
- Frozen lineage elite cemetery with textile display
- Abandoned
- c.200 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 2009 Kovalev Uvs Lake survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
700 BCE
Initial lensed-chamber kurgans
2012
Felt swan recovered from Kurgan 8
On the ground
Structures & features
49.6200° N · 92.1200° E · 980 m · 2 mapped features
Kurgan 8 Felt Chamber
kurganLensed chamber with felt swan and textiles
49.6210° N · 92.1210° EDeer Stone Cap Slab K-12
megalithReused deer stone as chamber cap
49.6180° N · 92.1180° E