Duurlig Nars Xiongnu Cemetery – Khentii
Duurlig Nars Cemetery · Khentii Xiongnu Tombs · Bayan-Adarga Hunnu
Late Iron Age, Xiongnu Empire·Xiongnu (Hunnu) northern imperial elite·🇲🇳 Khentii Province, Bayan-Adarga District, Mongolia
About
About Duurlig Nars Xiongnu Cemetery – Khentii
Northern Xiongnu pine-forest cemetery where 2006–2015 Smithsonian–Mongolian excavations of 100+ shaft tombs yielded 3 intact elite log coffins with Han silk banners (dragon, phoenix), lacquer ear cups, Japanese-like bronze mirrors and felt carpets with Caucasian mummy connections preserved by sandy permafrost podzols. Tomb 64 produced a Chinese silk inscribed 'servant of the Chanyu' and lapis lazuli from Afghanistan, tracing Hunnu tributary chain 4,000 km. Corridor of shallow satellite burials and horse mandibles marks rank hierarchy; Duurlig Nars parallels Noyon Uul and Gol Mod but preserves exceptional textiles revealing Han–Hunnu gift exchange rather than tribute alone.
Why it mattersBest-preserved northern Hunnu textile corpus; complements southern desert Gol Mod/Noyon Uul showing ecological gradient of Hunnu empire (forest vs steppe burial).
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether silk was tributary gift or market trade vs diplomatic hostage exchange
- 02Source of lapis and silk road before formal Silk Road institutionalized
Theories
- 01Northern Hunnu as autonomous forest-wealth elite prefiguring Xianbei
- 02Textile iconography as Hunnu self-fashioning via Han motifs
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.100 BCE–50 CE (Mid to Late Xiongnu)
- Period
- Late Iron Age, Xiongnu Empire
- Culture
- Xiongnu (Hunnu) northern imperial elite
- Builders
- Xiongnu chieftains with Han trade goods
- Purpose
- Forest shaft necropolis with silk/lacquer prestige goods as diplomacy archive
- Rediscovered
- 2006 William Honeychurch & Chunag Amartuvshin excavation
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
100 BCE
Earliest shaft tombs with felt + silk
20 CE
Peak elite log coffins with dragon silk
2006
Georadar locates intact Tomb 64
2012
Inscribed silk translation as 'Chanyu servant'
On the ground
Structures & features
49.0200° N · 110.3200° E · 1020 m · 3 mapped features
Tomb 64 Inscribed Silk Coffin
tombIntact log coffin with dragon silk 'Chanyu servant'
49.0200° N · 110.3200° ESouthern Horse Mandible Row
horse depositHorse skulls with bronze bridle lining central tombs
49.0150° N · 110.3250° EPine Forest Satellite Cluster
necropolisShallow 20-tomb cluster marking subordinate rank
49.0250° N · 110.3150° E
Gallery