Nomad Science Mongolia

Our 2027 applications are now open! If you are interested in preserving Mongolia’s cultural and natural heritage through research and public outreach, NOMAD Science assembles an annual international, interdisciplinary team to conduct fieldwork in northern Mongolia. This is a physically and mentally challenging opportunity with the promise of great adventure for the right type of person!

While many of our participants are working towards an archaeology degree, team members come from a variety of disciplines, educational backgrounds, generations, and nationalities. All of our programs feature cross-cultural collaboration, with approximately half of the team members being Mongolian and the other half from outside Mongolia. Whether this is a requirement for your bachelors/masters/PhD program, or you are looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience just for fun, check out our program choices below. No previous experience necessary for most of our programs.

If you find external funding that you’d like to apply for (it’s never too early!), and we can support you in any way (letters of support, brainstorming project ideas, looking over proposals, etc.) please contact us. The program fee covers all costs for the duration of the project for food, transportation, permits, and equipment. This does not include international travel to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, travel insurance, or personal camping gear.

As always, NOMAD Science is grateful for the partnership of the Institute of Archaeology, co-director Dr. J. Bayarsaikhan and many other collaborators and colleagues for all of the programs listed below.

Session I: Darkhad Archaeology

APPLICATION

15 SPOTS AVAILABLE

0 SPOTS RESERVED

Description: This course incorporates two distinct research streams providing a broad experience in Mongolian archaeology. Participants will get experience doing archaeology on sites ranging in age from the Neolithic through the Mongol Empire. Building on the last 20 years of work by our team in the Darkhad Depression, this 4 week program is designed to provide instruction and experience in a wide variety of archaeological methodologies and approaches.

Research theme one will focus on salvaging and studying looted tombs. Thieves have targeted nearly every known cemetery in the region, hauling away untold treasures and destroying much of Mongolia’s priceless cultural heritage. Our teams travel to these disturbed cemeteries and recover what we can – which has historically actually turned out to be quite a bit! Despite the missing components and jumbled contexts, archaeologists can still learn a lot about ancient peoples from what remains. However, without our intervention, much of what remains will decay, be destroyed, lost, or looted again.

Research theme two will target a deeply stratified rich multicomponent habitation site that has great potential in informing us about the transition from hunting and gathering towards pastoralism in Mongolia. Herding is central to Mongolian national identity, history, economics, and culture, and yet very little is known about how it came to be. It’s not just about what goes into the cooking pot – food production changes the ways in which people relate to eachother, animals, territories, resources, and the spritual world.

This program is designed for participants interested in cultural heritage preservation and education, field conservation, salvage archaeology, and bioarchaeology. Participants will have the opportunity to get experience in both research streams as well as contributing to our local cultural heritage education events. The team will be stationed at a base camp and travel to various nearby sites on a daily basis. Sites will be accessible by car or after a short hike.

MORE INFO COMING SOON

Dates: June 24 – July 20

Fee:  $4,250  USD