Tsagaan Salaa Southwest Baga Oigor
Цагаан Салаа Баян-Өлгий Баруун Өмнөд · Baga Oigor SW Mongolia · Oigor Lower Gorge
Middle Bronze to Orkhon Turkic·Andronovo, Karasuk, Pazyryk, Turkic·🇲🇳 Bayan-Ölgii Province, Ulaankhus Soum, Baga Oigor River lower gorge, southwest fork, Mongolia
About
About Tsagaan Salaa Southwest Baga Oigor
Lower gorge of the Baga Oigor River, southwest tributary of the Tsagaan Salaa system, comprising 180-m canyon walls with 400+ petroglyphs on glacially polished schist: Middle Bronze (c.1700–1200 BCE) wheeled vehicles and Andronovo sun-heads, Late Bronze deer (c.1000 BCE) and Turkic tamgas (6th–8th c.) — the most compressed chrono-stratigraphy of the complex. The southwest gorge debouches onto the Ulaankhus steppe, functioning as the southern gateway to the high-altai gallery; two Khirgisuur and a Turkic memorial enclosure at the mouth mark its frontier role. Dense but less visited than central field.
Why it mattersSouthern gateway gorge compressing Middle Bronze to Turkic sequence at the steppe–altai transition.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why gateway position attracted Tamga carving concentration
- 02Khirgisuur association with rock-art
Theories
- 01Frontier sanctuary marking altai entry toll
- 02Turkic memorial gorge reusing Bronze sacred rocks
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.1700 BCE–800 CE
- Period
- Middle Bronze to Orkhon Turkic
- Culture
- Andronovo, Karasuk, Pazyryk, Turkic
- Builders
- Mongolian Altai gateway pastoralists
- Purpose
- Gateway gorge marking entry to sacred high valley from Ulaankhus steppe
- Abandoned
- c.800 CE
- Rediscovered
- 2009 French-Mongolian Baga Oigor prospection
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1500 BCE
Sun-heads and carts at gorge mouth
c.900 BCE
Arzhan-Maiamir deer overlay
c.700 CE
Orkhon tamga inscriptions
On the ground
Structures & features
49.2800° N · 88.8500° E · 2320 m · 2 mapped features
Southwest Gorge — Cart and Sun-Head Wall (Wall SW-2)
petroglyph panel2.5-m band with ox-cart, sun-head figure and accompanying dogs, Andronovo
49.2810° N · 88.8510° ESouthwest Gorge — Tamga Gateway Inscription (Panel SW-18)
inscriptionVertical row of 7 tamgas with Old Turkic rune-like marks, 7th c.
49.2790° N · 88.8490° E