Crumbling tower in ancient Mongolian ruins offers clues about Khitan history
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Looking up from the floor inside the tower in June. Some of the woodwork remains [Credit: Tetsuo Shoji] |
A team of researchers from Nara University made a number of discoveries about the structure of the tower. They also found remnants of a mural that suggests the Khitan were more advanced than historians realized.
The research team was headed by Tetsuo Shoji, an associate professor of information media, and Yoshihiro Senda, a professor of archaeology whose expertise is castles.
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The ruined tower in the fortified settlement of Kherlen Bars in June [Credit: Tetsuo Shoji] |
The eight-sided tower is thought to have been constructed around the 11th century. The bricks are stacked high in circular formation to create a hollow chamber inside. Broken pieces of timber are still visible in the inner walls, suggesting the tower had seven levels. The top of the tower collapsed long ago, so the structure now rises to a height of only 16.5 meters.
With brick walls 1.8 meters thick, the structure has a diameter of 9 meters. The diameter of the inner chamber is 5.6 meters at the base and narrows in height. The researchers confirmed the presence of plaster on a part of the inner wall and traces of color, indicating a mural once covered the surface.
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An image of the tower's inner chamber obtained through 3-D measurement [Credit: Tetsuo Shoji] |
It sits on what was the front line of the Liao's entry into the Mongolian steppes. The ruins are thought to have been a military garrison where soldiers would gather to shore up the kingdom's northern defenses.
Mongolian scholars excavated the area around the tower in 1953, but no full-scale investigation had been conducted since.
"Precisely recording the pagoda's measurements is a highly significant accomplishment," said Matsukawa.
Author: Kazuto Tsukamoto | Source: The Asahi Shimbun [September 19, 2014]
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