Deer Stone Monuments and Related Bronze Age Sites
Deer Stone Monuments and Related Bronze Age Sites
Located on the slopes of the Khangai Ridge in central Mongolia, these deer stones were used for ceremonial and funerary practices. Dating from about 1200 to 600 BCE, they stand up to four metres tall and are set directly in the ground as single standing stones or in groups, and are almost always located in complexes that include large burial mounds called khirgisüürs and sacrificial altars. Covered with highly stylized or representational engravings of stags, deer stones are the most important surviving structures belonging to the culture of Eurasian Bronze Age nomads that evolved and then slowly disappeared between the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE.Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Monuments des pierres à cerfs et sites associés de l’âge du bronze
Situées sur les versants des monts Khangaï, en Mongolie centrale, ces pierres à cerfs sont liées à des pratiques cérémonielles et funéraires. Datant d’environ 1200 à 600 av. J.-C., elles mesurent jusqu’à quatre mètres de hauteur, sont placées directement dans le sol en tant que pierres isolées ou en groupes et sont presque toujours situées au sein d’ensembles comprenant de grands tertres funéraires appelés khirgisüürs et des autels sacrificiels. Recouvertes de gravures de cerfs très stylisées ou figuratives, les pierres à cerfs sont les plus importantes structures subsistantes de la culture de l’âge du bronze des peuples nomades eurasiens qui évolua puis disparut lentement entre les IIe et Ier millénaires avant J.-C.Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
معالم أحجار الغزلان والمواقع ذات الصلة من العصر البرونزي
توجد أحجار الغزلان على سفوح مرتفعات "خانغي" وسط منغوليا، وكانت تُستخدم في الطقوس الاحتفالية والجنائزية. ويعود تاريخ هذه الصخور إلى الفترة الممتدة بين عامي 1200 و 600 قبل الميلاد، ويصل ارتفاعها إلى أربعة أمتار وتقف منتصبة في الأرض فرادى أو في مجموعات، ونجد هذه الصخور دائماً في تجمعات تلال المدافن الضخمة المعروفة باسم « khirgisüürs »، وكذلك في المذابح القربانية. هذه الصخور مغطاة بنقوش منمقة أو تمثيلية للغزلان، وهي أهم الهياكل الصخرية التي لا تزال قائمة ويعود أصلها إلى ثقافة البدو الرُحَّل في العصر البرونزي الأوراسي التي تطورت ثُمّ اندثرت ببطء بين الألفية الثانية والأولى قبل الميلاد.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
鹿石遗迹以及相关青铜时代遗址
这些遍布蒙古中部杭爱山脊上的鹿石用于仪式和葬礼，其年代可追溯至公元前约1200-600年。鹿石高度可达4米，或独石、或群石，直接嵌入大地。它们常位于大型墓冢（喀尔其苏尔）、祭坛等综合建筑群中。鹿石上刻有高度风格化或代表性的鹿纹图案，是青铜时代欧亚大陆游牧民族文化中最重要的存留物。此类游牧文化在公元前2000-1000年间演变，之后逐渐消失。
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Оленные камни и связанные с ними объекты бронзового века
Эти оленные камни, расположенные на склонах хребта Хангай в центральной Монголии, использовались в ритуальных и погребальных целях. Датируемые периодом 1200-600 гг. до н.э., они достигают четырех метров в высоту, устанавливаются непосредственно в землю в виде одиночных камней или групп и почти всегда располагаются в комплексах, включающих большие курганы (khirgisüürs) и жертвенные алтари. Оленные камни, покрытые стилизованными или изобразительными гравировками оленей, являются наиболее важными из сохранившихся сооружений, относящихся к культуре евразийских кочевников бронзового века, которая развивалась и затем медленно исчезала в период со II по I тысячелетие до н.э
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Monumentos de piedras de ciervo y sitios conexos de la Edad del Bronce
Emplazadas en las laderas de la cordillera de Khangai, en Mongolia central, estas piedras de ciervo se utilizaban para prácticas ceremoniales y funerarias. Datan de entre los años 1200 y 600 a.C., miden hasta cuatro metros de altura y se colocan directamente en el suelo, solas o en grupos, casi siempre en complejos que incluyen grandes túmulos funerarios llamados khirgisüürs y altares de sacrificio. Cubiertas de grabados de ciervos muy estilizados o representativos, las piedras de ciervo son las estructuras más importantes que se conservan de la cultura de los nómadas de la Edad de Bronce euroasiática, que evolucionó y luego desapareció lentamente entre los milenios II y I a. C.
source: UNESCO/CPE
Description is available under license CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0
Outstanding Universal Value
Brief synthesis
The Deer Stone Monuments and Related Sites are significant and striking examples associated with the Late Bronze Age culture of Eurasian nomadic peoples. Deer stone monuments dated from approximately 1200 to 600 BCE. They are almost always located within complexes that include khirgisüürs (elaborated burial mounds), sacrificial altars, human burials and remains of horses, and other elements. Together the four component parts represent the occurrence and diversity of Mongolian deer stone monuments, khirgisüürs and satellite structures, and are notable examples of the world's megalithic ceremonial and funeral sites. Deer stones are gigantic steles, ranging in height up to four metres with engravings of stylised stag images. Elaborately decorated the stones are set directly in the ground singly or in groups.
In terms of ornamentation, cultural significance, archaeological and landscape contexts, the Mongolian deer stones are unique within the world’s Bronze Age monumental heritage sites. About 1,500 deer stones have been discovered across the Eurasian steppe, classified into three distinct forms based on their artistic traditions. More than eighty percent of these occur in Mongolia, and the images of a stylised stag that cover these stones are without parallels across Bronze Age Eurasia. The significance of deer stone complexes at Khoid Tamir, Jargalantyn Am, Urtyn Bulag and Uushigiin Övör lies not only in their ancient origins and broad distribution, but also in their number, the variety and elegance of their ornamentation, and their intact spatial associations with khirgisüürs and other elements.
Criterion (i): The Deer Stone Monuments are of exceptional beauty and cultural significance and are masterworks of Late Bronze Age culture. They constitute an outstanding example of Bronze Age megalithic monumental art of the highest quality, demonstrating the artistic vitality and creative genius of human achievement in prehistoric times. They demonstrate an extraordinary variety in their ornamentation, yet all featuring the imagery of a great antlered stag.
Criterion (iii): The Deer Stone Monuments and Related Sites provide an exceptional testimony to the culture of Eurasian Bronze Age nomads, which had evolved and disappeared slowly from the 2nd to the 1st millennia BCE. In their landscape settings, they are testimony to the ceremonial and funeral practices of these peoples.
Integrity
The serial property includes all the elements necessary to express its Outstanding Universal Value, and the selection of component parts has been justified. The elements within the four component parts reflect the original layout and size of the complexes as they were shaped in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. Aside from some tourism facilities, there are no commercial activities associated with the property. The individual component parts and the serial property as a whole meet the requirements of integrity.
Authenticity
Archaeological studies support the truthfulness of cultural values attributed to the sites within the property. The component parts reflect the original form, design, materials, layout, size, and locations of these complex monuments as they were created and shaped in the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages. Surviving vestiges and monuments attest to the artistic skills and techniques used in the creation of these complex structures, and the knowledge and talent of the people who built them.
Protection and management requirements
Legal protection is provided through the Mongolian Law on the Protection of Cultural Heritage (2014) and the List of Immovable Historical and Cultural Heritage Properties under State, Provincial and Local (Soum) Protection (2008). Protection applies to the four component parts via various provincial and local proclamations and lists. Khoid Tamir and Uushigiin Övör are included in the State list, while Jargalantyn Am and Urtyn Bulag are in provincial and local lists. Uushigiin Övör is also a monument under State Special Protection.
All component parts derive some protection from their remote locations and their traditional land use by nomadic herders. For the most part, such traditional ways of protection are still observed within these areas.
A concise management plan establishes a shared set of objectives for the four component parts. This has been elaborated with the active participation of local communities and stakeholders. A site management administration unit for the protection and management of World Heritage properties which will ensure the implementation of the integrated management plan has been established. There are a number of aspects of the management system that require continuing development and implementation including documentation, risk management, sustainable tourism planning and monitoring.
