Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c.. Jan Bemmann from the Department for Prehistory and Early Historical Archaeology at the University of Bonn and Principal Investigator of the BCDSS has been conducting research on city foundations in the Mongolian Empire since 2007, and his colleague Dr. Susanne Reichert since 2009. Both researchers are currently in the East Asian country. Since they are well connected with Mongolian researchers there, the award did not come entirely unprepared. "Our friends had warned us in advance to bring good clothes," Bemmann reports.
In the research group 5438 "The Urban Influence on the Mongolian Plateau: Interconnections of Urbanism, Economy and Environment", newly funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG), Jan Bemmann and Susanne Reichert also deal with the effects of cities in the Mongolian Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries on the supply of basic foods, energy and building materials to the inhabitants. Another important aspect of their research is the impact on the environment at that time, such as deforestation and subsequent soil erosion.
The new project focuses on the remains of two cities located in present-day Mongolia that were rebuilt from scratch under the heirs of Genghis Khan. They embody the dramatic transformation from a natural pastoral economy to an urban landscape: Karakorum - the capital of the Mongol Empire - and Khar Khul Khaany Balgas. The research group plans to study the two city sites themselves and their influence on the surrounding regions.
The funding is set to run for four years. "We will use the time for intensive excavations," says Prof. Bemmann. For the next few years, Jan Bemmann and Susanne Reichert, both members of the Transdisciplinary Research Unit (TRA) "Present Pasts" at the University of Bonn, have two annual stays in Mongolia on their agenda: about four to five weeks starting in mid-May and another one from mid-August until the end of September. "After that, the first snow falls," Prof. Bemmann explains. Then the excavation campaign rests until the following year.