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Come dip your toes in the Paleolithic!

To better understand and explain the complexities of Pleistocene cultural changes in Central Eurasia, we study the Paleolithic archaeology of the Russian Altai region, Mongolia, North China, Xinjiang, Qinghai, and ethnic Tibet…a broad transnational and multiethnic region sometimes glossed as “Haute-Asie,” now most commonly referred to as Central and Inner Asia or Central Eurasia.

Situated on the eastern periphery of this region, Mongolia was an important pathway for the migration of ancient human populations from west to east (and/or vice versa). Possible scenarios for the dispersal of ancient human populations in Mongolia are much more complicated than initially supposed due to the limited number of corridors penetrating natural barriers like the mountains of southern Siberia in the north and the arid mountain systems of the Mongolian and Gobi Altai ranges in the south.

Here you will find resources about the Paleolithic archaeology of this region, including the history of archaeological investigations there, recent finds, links to publications in peer-reviewed journals, and descriptions of current projects undertaken by our research group in Mongolia and elsewhere.

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography SB RAS, Russia

Institute of Archaeology, MAS, Mongolia

School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, USA

Latest Posts

JMRAAE’s Tsagaan Agui Cave project has won First Prize among archaeological research endeavors conducted in Mongolia in 2021

On December 15-16, 2021 the annual “Mongolian Archaeologists” conference was held at Mongolian State University in Ulaanbaatar. Archaeologists from the University, the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and various Mongolian museums reported the results of their 2021 investigations. Our JMRAAE team participated in two such presentations. Tsedendorj Bolorbat presented a synopsis…

Excavations at Tsagaan Agui Cave in 2021

In September and early October 2021, the Joint Mongolian-Russian-American Archaeological Expedition carried out test excavations and sample collecting in Tsagaan Agui Cave. Tsagaan Agui (Mong. White Cave) is located in the arid Gobi Altai desert in the Altai Mountains of southern Mongolia. Geographical isolation, arid conditions and relatively high elevation (about 2000 meters asl), make…

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