A Layered History of Karakorum

The up to 5 m thick stratigraphy in the center of Karakorum, the most important city of the Mongol Empire north of the Gobi, is analyzed with a combination of established stratigraphical methods and a novel software with special software and thus a solid basis for any study of this center is created. Nine construction phases can be distinguished. The catalogue comprises the more than 2000 features uncovered from 2000–2005 in the artisans’ quarter and the 130 spatial units defined on this basis, so that for the first time comprehensive information on an ancient city in Mongolia is available.