Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Voices from the Steppe.- Chapter 2: Overcoming the Tyranny of Distance: Culture Contact and Politics.- Chapter 3: Solving Contradictions: Nomads and Political Complexity.- Chapter 4: The Heartland of Inner Asia: Mongolia and Steppe Pastoral Nomadism.- Chapter 5: The Late and Final Bronze Age Cultures of Mongolia, 1400-700 BC.- Chapter 6: The Surrounding Bronze Age World: Kazakhstan and South Siberia, 1300-700 BC.- Chapter 7: At the Edge of Inner Asia: The Northern Zone and States of China, 1200-700 BC.- Chapter 8: Nomadic Alternatives: Forming the State on Horseback.- Chapter 9: Not of Place, but of Path: Nomads on the World Stage.- Chapter 10: Steppe Cores, Sedentary Peripheries, and the Statecraft of Empire.

About the Author

William Honeychurch is an assistant professor at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.  His research focuses on interregional interaction and the development of complex political organization, the rise of states and empires among nomadic peoples, and the construction and use of monumental landscapes.  He has worked in Mongolia since 1991 and combines innovative survey techniques with habitation and mortuary excavation to recover the often sparse remains of ancient mobile communities.  Along with colleagues from the Mongolian Institute of Archaeology, Dr. Honeychurch has carried out multi-year survey and excavation projects at the Mongolian sites of Egiin Gol, Baga Gazaryn Chuluu, and Delgerkhaan Uul in order to better understand the local foundations of steppe politics and lifeways.  His research results have helped to shed light on the cultural and political importance of pastoral nomadic societies around the world.

Reviews

“The meticulous explanations of the theoretical framework; the state of the research; as well as the geographical, economic, and historical context of the regions analyzed … make the book suitable for teaching and as an introductory tool for anyone approaching the history of Mongolia for the first time. … offers a very useful collection of new archaeological results, a well-informed summary of the state of the research, and a thought-provoking set of questions to inspire further studies on the subject.” (Francesca Fiaschetti, Asian Highlands Perspectives, Vol. 40, 2016)