Ghost of Genghis? Ancient Mongolian Wall 'Rediscovered'

When is the Great Wall of China not in China?

That's a question that can now be answered yet again, as a recent team of researchers has uncovered a 62-mile-long stretch of the vaunted Wall in the Gobi Desert, inside southern Mongolia. Further, this is thought to be part of the Wall of Genghis Khan, which is even more shrouded in mystery.

This section of wall is 9 feet tall in places, which fits the larger-than-life personality of the "Great Khan." (Ironically, the Great Wall was originally built in large part to repeal invaders such as Genghis Khan.)

Because the "discovered" part of the wall is in such a remote location, the exploration team think that they are the first to investigate in a very long time, perhaps since the wall section was lost to the sands of time. The team used online tools including Google Earth to put more detail to what appeared to trace elements of a structure barely seen on satellite maps. Once convinced that they were on to something, they started digging. And then, voila!

The wall sections are made of different materials, including, in one case, wet mud and shrubs. The most dominant feature, though, is dark basaltic rock, discovered in straight edges that suggest nothing so much as quarrying with intent.

The hard scientists have gotten into the act with their radiocarbon dating machines and determined that the wall section was built after A.D. 1000, which would mean at the very least that the walls were updated at that time. Initial estimates put construction during the Western Xia dynasty, which reigned from 1038 to 1227 and struggled mightily against encroaching Mongol tribes. (Genghis Khan himself was born in 1162, so the timing fits in nicely.)

The one bit of mystery that still has archaeologists a bit puzzled is the near complete lack of detritus around the walls, which is a bit of a worry if you're looking for evidence of human activity. We humans, after all, are a notoriously messy bunch of folks who by our very nature leave behind all manner of clues as to our existence: our preference for entertainment, our favorite foods, etc. But there, deep in Mongolia, at the Is-it-really-the-Wall-of-Genghis-Khan, can be found no broken pottery, no discarded weapons, no coins with strange-bearded kings on them, nothing that would point the finger at any one people as being the ones who lived near and defended the wall — which lends a bit of credence to the competing theory that the walls were built merely to herd animals (although why they would need walls 9 feet tall do that is a bit puzzling, unless they were herding giraffes). 

Scholars who have studied the ancient Mongolian scrolls theorize that Genghis Khan's son Ogedei, who was the 2nd Great Khan, wanted the walls to rein in the wandering gazelles that he liked to look after so much. But remember, as modern historians who study Mongolian times would, that the Gobi was a desert, then as now, and that not too many animals would have survived in the arid conditions without a whole lot of water — and if Ogedei had a network of irrigation canals built just to keep his pet gazelles among the living, it might explain why his own life and reign came to a sudden end.

What we are left with, then, are some facts and some questions, not necessarily related but all stimulating in an inquisitive sense. As is often the case with history, more information is needed.