Herding the Golden Mountains

Herding the Golden Mountains is not merely an archaeologist's field journal spanning two decades in Altay; it is a spiritual journey that dialogues with the mountains and rivers and communes with the ancients. The toil and joy of archaeological fieldwork, the silence and vitality of petroglyphs - all come alive through the wind and sand, as vast and unadorned as the grasslands themselves.The narrative unfolds around the excavation processes at key archaeological sites in Altay, including Burqin County, Habahe County, the Yelaman Tombs, the East Talde Tombs in Habahe, the Kanas Tuvu New Village Tombs, the Kalasu Tombs, and the renowned Tongtiandong (Cave of Heaven) site. In addition, the book features special sections exploring petroglyphs, standing stones (deer stones), and stone figures, delving into the spiritual and symbolic world behind these ancient creations.The author guides us across the landscape as a traveler, and into the depths of history as a scholar. Amid the vast expanse of sky and earth, he records the vivid and authentic life of an archaeological team - a tapestry woven with dedication and discovery, and a profound herding of the soul across the wilderness.¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿--¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿Yu Jianjun is a Research Fellow at the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, a Distinguished Professor at Northwest University's Silk Road Archaeological Research Center, and a Visiting Scholar at Peking University's Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences. A recipient of the Xinjiang Outstanding Expert Award, his research focuses on the prehistoric archaeology of Xinjiang and the broader Eurasian steppe.¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿