Bronze Age burial mound in northern Mongolia near Jargalant

Khirigsuur, also Kheregsüür or Khirgisuur, is a type of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

burial, encountered in

Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...

. It is composed of a central stone mound with a stone burial chamber generally beneath it, a stone enclosure, and external mounds and circles on the periphery. Etymologically, the word "Khirgissur" is linked to the word " Kirgizstan". In Mongolia, Khirgisuur burials are frequently associated with

Deer Stones Deer stones (), sometimes called the Deer stone-khirigsuur complex (DSKC), in reference to neighbouring khirigsuur tombs, are ancient megaliths carved with symbols found mainly in Mongolia and, to a lesser extent, in the adjacent areas in Siber ...

, to the point that the "Deer Stone culture" is often called "Deer Stone-Khirgisuur Complex” (DSK)". Archaeologically, Khirgisuur burial sites belong to an earlier archaeological period compared to that of the Deer Stones, but they were appropriated by Deer Stone builders.

References

Sources

*{{cite book , last=Jacobson-Tepfer , first=Esther , title=Monumental Archaeology in the Mongolian Altai , date=2023 , publisher=Brill , isbn=978-90-04-54130-6 , doi=10.1163/9789004541306_008 , language=en , chapter=Deer Stones (pp.155–191) Megalithic monuments Monuments and memorials in Mongolia World Heritage Sites in Mongolia