DAY 177

ART AROUND THE WORLD

Deer Stones

NOMADIC ART OF MONGOLIA

By definition, nomadic peoples do not leave much behind. When they migrate, they blend with their new environments, creating a hybrid culture unique to its time and place. The people who populated the northern Mongolian/southern Siberian steppe followed this pattern and, around 1,000 BCE, began creating unique works of art called “deer stones.” Named for the repetitive deer and antler designs found on many of these slight granite monoliths, several hundred are scattered throughout upper Mongolia’s remote wilderness—an area twice the size of the state of Texas. Archeologists have traced the origins of deer stones to between 1,000 BCE and 700 BCE, which corresponds to the time when Mongolian culture shifted from sedentary herdsmen to nomadic horsemen. The stones stand as memorials to powerful chiefs, brave warriors, and favorite horses.

Many scholars regard the tattoo-like carvings that adorn the stones as stylized representations ranging from Mongolian forest elk to the mythic Tree of Life. Unfortunately, the stones, exposed to the harsh windswept grasslands for more than 3,000 years, have suffered severe erosion. Even though these totemic sculptures remain a mystery, they can be appreciated as dramatic archaeological monuments to the creativity of Mongolia’s Bronze Age people. —SBR