Archaeologists uncover ancient Khunnu artifacts
A team of archaeologists from Chinggis Khaan University conducted an expedition near Delgerkhangai soum of Dundgovi Province, uncovering and deciphering ancient Khunnu artifacts.
The team held a press conference on August 9 to report on their findings. Two statues, one depicting a deer and another depicting a man, dating back anywhere from 13th century BC to 8th century BC were uncovered and studied.
“The Chinese characters in use 1,930 years ago were not at all compatible with the Chinese characters in use today. As a result, our team spent a lot of time with experts and researchers and concluded that the writings on the statue originate from the Eastern Khunnu Dynasty,” Chinggis Khaan University professor B.Baljinnyam told media.
The team worked with several Chinese and Japanese researchers but were not able to decipher the writings until J.Chimeddorj, a doctor and professor from Inner Mongolia worked on the texts for a year and was finally able to decipher its origins.
“The first state that our ancestors established was the Khunnu Empire. This empire separated into two, the Northern Khunnus and the Southern Khunnus. What this statue depicts is the infighting inside the Khunnu Empire, which ultimately led to its demise,” said archaeologist and dean of Chinggis Khaan University Kh.Lkhavgasuren.
“Around 1,000 books have been written about the Khunnu people and a lot of the timeline of the empire is disputed. Therefore, uncovering historic writings from that period helps clarify the dates and plays an important role in shaping the story,” Kh.Lkhavgasuren added.