Khoit Tsenkher Central Gallery
Хойт Цэнхэр Төв Агуй · Khoid Tsenkher Central Mongolia · Blue Cave Central
Upper Palaeolithic·Altai Palaeolithic (Mal'ta–Afontova horizon)·🇲🇳 Khovd Province, Mankhan Soum, Khoit Tsenkher River, central limestone branch, Mongolia
About
About Khoit Tsenkher Central Gallery
Central limestone branch of the Khoit Tsenkher cave system — Mongolia's longest cave (220 m above sea, 200+ m passages) — preserving the core painted gallery 40 m inside the north entrance, with Late Upper Palaeolithic polychrome (c.15000–12000 BCE) bison, ibex and ostriches executed in ochre, charcoal and kaolin on stalactite-draped walls. The central gallery (12×6 m, 4 m high) is the only zone with intact Palaeolithic ground ochre and Mangolian ostrich eggshell fragments dated 15000 BP, linking Altai cave art to the Siberian Mal'ta tradition. Areas north and south have later Turkic petroglyphs on the entrance façade, but central gallery is pure Palaeolithic.
Why it mattersOnly securely dated Upper Palaeolithic cave-painting complex in Mongolia, bridging Siberian Mal'ta to Altai rock-art.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Ostrich imagery link to Central Asian ostrich range
- 02Pigment source provenance
Theories
- 01Winter aggregation cave of Mammoth hunters
- 02Palaeolithic ostrich-egg exchange node
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.15000–12000 BCE (Late Upper Palaeolithic)
- Period
- Upper Palaeolithic
- Culture
- Altai Palaeolithic (Mal'ta–Afontova horizon)
- Builders
- Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers
- Purpose
- Ritual cave sanctuary with ochre painting at limestone karst
- Abandoned
- c.12000 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 1967 Soviet-Mongolian expedition; 1991 Derevianko pigment analysis; 2021 E3S conservation
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.15000 BCE
Earliest polychrome bison and ibex painting
1967
Okladnikov exploration
2021
E3S conservation assessment
On the ground
Structures & features
47.3450° N · 91.9600° E · 1580 m · 2 mapped features
Central Gallery — Polychrome Bison Panel
cave painting0.9-m red-ochre bison with charcoal outline and kaolin highlights, Palaeolithic naturalism
47.3460° N · 91.9610° ECentral Gallery — Ostrich Procession Frieze
cave paintingRow of three pink ochre ostriches with elongated necks, 1.1 m band, with eggshell scatter below
47.3440° N · 91.9590° E
Gallery