Spirits of the steppes

In the heart of the Mongolian steppes rise more than 1,200 granite stelae engraved with stylized deer motifs. These "deer stones" were fashioned by the first nomadic tribes of Upper Asia in the Final Bronze Age, between 1300 and 700 B.C. These monoliths, weighing several hundred kilos, are the remains of a powerful civilization whose heirs were the First Steppe Empire and Genghis Khan, and whose cultural traits, notably equestrian practices and archery, seem to have endured to the present day.

Research carried out jointly by Mongolian archaeologists (National University and Academy of Sciences) and the team from Monaco's Museum of Prehistoric Anthropology since 2006 at the Tastsyn Ereg site, 500 kilometers west of Ulan Bator, Mongolia's capital, has enabled us to gain a better understanding of the daily lives of these nomadic populations, whose economic activity revolved mainly around livestock breeding. The diversity and quality of the engravings on the stones and the objects found are rare testimonies to the culture of these nomadic populations, whose imagination remains little-known...

This exhibition was produced in collaboration with the Musée d'Anthropologie préhistorique de la Principauté de Monaco, the National University of Mongolia and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences.

Scientific curators: Jérôme Magail, anthropologist, Musée d'Anthropologie préhistorique de Monaco, Jamiyan-Ombo Gantulga, archaeologist, National University of Mongolia and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (University of Bonn).

Exhibition organization: Lionel Izac, Sophie Izac and the Musée d'Ensérune team (Centre des monuments nationaux)