Intangible Heritage and Archaeology in Mongolia

Gerry Wait
NEXUS HERITAGE
In 2010-11 the author participated in a project in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. The Mongolian International Heritage Team brought together international consultants paired with members from the various departments of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, jointly directed by Jeff Altschul from SRI and Byambaa Gunchinsuren from the MAS-Institute of Archaeology. The project started off as an extremely large and holistic management plan for a copper-gold mine, but eventually grew to encompass new national legislation and a structure for managing heritage impacts arising from mining in the South Gobi. The author’s remit was the Intangible heritage of the Gobi, partnering with the Institute of History MAS – where ethnography had been placed. Our investigations focussed among other forms on the Mongolian long-songs – the urtyn duu – and the uvt
gazruud or sacred places. The Mongolian peoples of the Gobi, perhaps because of their strong nomadic heritage, are far more attuned to the variety and importance of the intangible aspects of their culture and, as will be described, the resulting study was phenomenally rich and sets very high expectations for future environmental impact studies and conservation plans.