Deer stone

Deer stone site near Mörön in Mongolia.

Deer stone, Mongolia.

Deer stones are Mongolian ancient megaliths carved with symbols. The name comes from their carved depictions of flying deer. Their purpose and creators are unknown.

Geographic distribution

Archaeologists have found over 900 deer stones in Central Asia and South Siberia. Similar images are found in a wider area, as far West as the Kuban Region, the Bug River in the Ukraine, the Dobruja Region of Bulgaria and the Elba.

Location of some Mongolian Deer Stone sites: Jargalantyn Am 48 10.416N 101 05.436E; Urt Bulag 48 05.577N 101 03.197E; Urt Bulag#2 48 04.772N 101 03.517E; Uushgiin Ovor 49 39.313N 099 55.675E

Origin and dating

Deer stones were probably originally erected by Bronze Age nomads around 1000 BCE though further research into the Cimmerian stone stelae-Kurgan stelae should be taken into much consideration. Later cultures have often reused the stones in their own burial mounds (known as kheregsüürs) and for other purposes. Modern vandals have also defaced and even looted the stones.

Designs

In additions to images of flying deer, the stones also include a circle at the top and stylised dagger and belt at the bottom, which has made some scholars speculate that the stones were supposed to represent notable people. Some rare stones do have a human face carved at the top. The tallest of the stones is 15 feet tall.

Modern studies

In 1892, V.V. Radlov published a collection of drawings of deer stones in Mongolia. Radlov's drawings showed the highly stylized images of deer on the stones, as well as the settings in which they were placed. Radlov showed that in some instances the stones were set in patterns suggesting the walls of a grave, and in other instances, the deer stones were set in elaborate circular patterns, suggesting use in rituals of unknown significance.

In 1954 A.P. Okladnikov published a study of a deer stone found in 1856 by D.P. Davydov near modern Ulan-Ude now known as the Ivolga stone, displayed in the Irkutsk State Historical Museum. Okladinkov identified the deer images as reindeer, dated the stone's carving to the 6th-7th Centuries BC, and concluded from its placement and other images that it was associated with funerary rituals, and was a monument to a warrior leader of high social prominence.

A 1981 study by V.V. Volkov is the most extensive study of deer stones to date. It identified two cultural conditions behind the deer stones. The eastern deer stones appear to be associated with cemeteries composed of above-ground slab graves. The other cultural tradition is associated with the circular structures suggesting use as the center of rituals.

In 2006 The Deer Stone Project of the Smithsonian Institution and Mongolian Academy of Sciences began to record the stones digitally with 3-D laser scanning.

Sources

• Eric A. Powell - Mongolia (Archaeology magazine January/February 2006)
• Jacobson, Esther, The Deer Goddess of Ancient Siberia BRILL, 1993 ISBN 9004096280, 9789004096288
• Masson, Vadim, History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Volume 1 Motilal Banarsidass Publ., 1999 ISBN 812081407X, 9788120814073
• Cremin, Aedeen, Archaeologica: The World's Most Significant Sites and Cultural Treasures frances lincoln ltd, 2007 ISBN 0711228221, 9780711228221 p 236
• History of Civilizations of Central Asia UNESCO, 1992 ISBN 9231027190, 9789231027192
• Magail Jérôme (2004).– Les « Pierres à cerfs » de Mongolie, cosmologie des pasteurs, chasseurs et guerriers des steppes du Ier millénaire avant notre ère. International Newsletter on Rock Art, Editor Dr Jean Clottes, n° 39, pp. 17-27.ISSN 1022-3282
• Magail Jérôme (2005a).– Les « Pierres à cerfs » de Mongolie. Arts asiatiques, revue du Musée national des Arts asiatiques –Guimet, n° 60, pp. 172-180.ISSN 0004-3958
• Magail Jérôme (2005b).– Les « pierres à cerfs » des vallées Hunuy et Tamir en Mongolie, Bulletin du Musée d’Anthropologie préhistorique de Monaco, Monaco, n° 45, pp. 41-56.ISSN 0544-7631
• Magail Jérôme (2008).– Tsatsiin Ereg, site majeur du début du Ier millénaire en Mongolie. Bulletin du Musée d’Anthropologie préhistorique de Monaco, 48, pp. 107-120.ISSN 0544-7631
• Savinov D.G. : Савинов Д. Г. (1994).- Оленные камни в культуре кочевников Евразии. Санкт-Петербург, 209 с.
• Volkov,V.V. (1995). - Chapter 20 Early Nomads of Mongolia in Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the Early Iron Age Edited by Davis-Kimball, J. et al. ISBN 1885979002
• Volkov V.V. : Волков В.В. (1981).- Оленные камни Монголии. Улан-Батор.
• Volkov V.V. : Волков В.В. (2002).- Оленные камни Монголии. Москва.

See also

• Deer Stones of Siberia
• Menhir
• Carlin stone
• Dolmens
• Gowk Stone
• Statue menhir
• List of megalithic sites
• Megalith
• Standing stone
• Obelisk
• Obelix