The Munkhkhairkhan culture, also Munkh-Khairkhan or Mönkhkhairkhan was a Middle

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 ...

culture of southern

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and western

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 ...

, named after

Mönkhkhairkhan Mountain Mönhhairhan Mountain (, ; "Holy eternal mountain") is the second highest mountain in Mongolia, located in the Bayan-Ölgii and Khovd Province. See also * List of mountains in Mongolia Mongolia has three major mountain ranges. The highest ...

in western Mongolia, and dating to 1800–1600 BCE. It immediately follows the

Afanasievo culture The Afanasievo culture, or Afanasevo culture (Afanasevan culture) ( ''Afanas'yevskaya kul'tura''), is an early archaeological culture of south Siberia, occupying the Minusinsk Basin and the Altai Mountains during the eneolithic era, 3300 to 2 ...

and the

Khemtseg culture The Chemurchek culture (Ch:切木尔切克, ''Qièmùěrqièkè''; Ru: Чемурчекская культура), also called Khemtseg, Hemtseg, Qiemu’erqieke, Shamirshak (2750–1900 BCE), is a Bronze Age archaeological culture of western Mo ...

. It was contemporary with the

Andronovo culture The Andronovo culture is a collection of similar local Late Bronze Age cultures that flourished 2000–1150 BC,Grigoriev, Stanislav, (2021)"Andronovo Problem: Studies of Cultural Genesis in the Eurasian Bronze Age" in Open Archaeology 202 ...

, but its very existence suggests that the Androvo culture did not extend far into Mongolia. Some of the best known sites of the Munkhkhairkhan culture are Ulaan Goviin Uzuur (UAA) 1&2 and Khukh Khoshuunii Boom (KHU). The domestication of horses using carts for transportation, was one of the characteristics of the Munkhkhairkhan culture. The Munkhkhairkhan culture had tin-bronze knives, of a type thought to have been developed in Western Siberia before 1900 BCE as part of the

Seima-Turbino phenomenon The Seima-Turbino culture, also Seima-Turbinsky culture or Seima-Turbino phenomenon, is a pattern of burial sites with similar bronze artifacts. Seima-Turbino is attested across northern Eurasia, particularly Siberia and Central Asia, maybe from ...

. This knife technology was probably then transferred through Munkhkhairkhan to various Chinese cultures, such as the

Qijia culture The Qijia culture (2400 BC – 1600 BC) was an early Bronze Age culture distributed around the upper Yellow River region of Gansu (centered in Lanzhou) and eastern Qinghai, China. It is regarded as one of the earliest bronze cultures in China. ...

Erlitou culture The Erlitou culture () was an early Bronze Age society and archaeological culture. It existed in the Yellow River valley from approximately 1900 to 1500 BC. A 2007 study using radiocarbon dating proposed a narrower date range of 1750–15 ...

Lower Xiajiadian culture The Lower Xiajiadian culture (; 2200–1600 BC) is an archaeological culture in Northeast China, found mainly in southeastern Inner Mongolia, northern Hebei, and western Liaoning, China. Subsistence was based on millet farming supplemented ...

, where very similar knives have been found. File:Bone spoon, Ulaan Goviin, 1800-1600 BCE.jpg, Bone spoon, Ulaan Goviin, 1800-1600 BCE.

National Museum of Mongolia The National Museum of Mongolia () formerly known as the National Museum of Mongolian History () is a history museum focusing on Mongolian history located in Chingeltei, Ulaanbaatar. It characterizes itself as "a cultural, scientific, and educat ...

File:Early Bronze Age Bronze Knife & Awl (35326707130).jpg, Bronze knife and awl, Ulaan Goviin, 1800-1600 BCE.

File:Reconstruction of an Early Eastern Eurasian chariot (Mongolia, 2000-1500 BCE).png, Hypothesized horse transport technology in use during the Munkhkhairkhan culture period.

References

{{reflist Bronze Age Asia Archaeology of Siberia Archaeology of Mongolia Archaeological cultures in Mongolia