2,000-Year-Old Mongolian Graves Reveal an Empire Built on Power, Wealth, and Alliances

2,000-Year-Old Mongolian Graves Reveal an Empire Built on Power, Wealth, and Alliances

The Tamir necropolis in Mongolia. Credit: Ameline Alcouffe / CC BY 4.0 A new study from Mongolia suggests that power and wealth shaped an ancient Xiongnu cemetery more strongly than family ties, challenging the idea that burial grounds with related people were always organized mainly around kinship. The research, led by Ameline Alcouffe and published in Antiquity, examined the Tamir cemetery on the Mongolian steppe. The site dates from about 100…