A group of Xiongnu aristocratic tombs that the National Museum of Korea helped excavate in Mongolia has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
The National Museum of Korea said the "Duurlig Nars Xiongnu tombs," which it jointly studied over the past 30 years with the Institute of Archaeology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and the National Museum of Mongolia, were inscribed as the World Heritage "Xiongnu aristocratic tombs" at the 48th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee being held in Busan.
Among the six sites of the Xiongnu aristocratic tombs inscribed by the World Heritage Committee, the "Duurlig Nars site" is a representative Xiongnu tomb group that became known through investigation by the Korea-Mongolia joint academic research team. According to the museum, on-site excavations in Mongolia have been conducted 24 times from 1997 to the present, and the systematically accumulated research results played a decisive role in the World Heritage inscription.
The museum said, "It carries special significance in that a national museum of Korea achieved results by investigating humanity's cultural heritage beyond its borders, which led to a World Heritage inscription."
Located in Khentii Aimag, Mongolia, the "Duurlig Nars site" is the largest Xiongnu tomb group in eastern Mongolia, with about 300 Xiongnu tombs distributed across it. Discovered in 1974, it went uninvestigated for a long time until its true nature was finally revealed through the National Museum of Korea's investigation, which began in 2006. Excavation work is still underway on-site in Mongolia, with the survey of the main burial chambers scheduled to be completed this year.
According to the National Museum of Korea, investigations so far have successively confirmed important artifacts showing the life, death, and external exchanges of the Xiongnu people. A silver belt ornament in the shape of a human face, excavated from an accessory tomb of Tomb No. 160 (160-E3), is rarely found except in Xiongnu tombs in northeastern Mongolia, such as the Tsaram tomb group in Russia's Republic of Buryatia. It is a valuable material that shows the character of the region to which the Duurlig Nars site belongs.
A museum official said, "We plan to continue the Korea-Mongolia joint academic research, illuminate the relationship between the Xiongnu and the ancient culture of the Korean Peninsula, and lead international academic cooperation."
