Inhumation and cremation in medieval<br />Mongolia: analysis and analogy

International audienceThe authors study burials of the medieval period in westernMongolia shortly before the emergenceof Genghis Khan. They find that both inhumation and cremation are practised, with a varietyof accompanying rituals. Systematic micro-analysis of bone fragments on the one hand, and theaccounts of early travellers on the other, allow these researchers to propose detailed explanationsof mortuary practice in thirteenth century Altai that will be highly suggestive to prehistoriansworking elsewhere