Editing Mongolia (section)

=== Prehistory and antiquity ===
{{Main|Prehistoric Mongolia|Proto-Mongols}}

The ''[[Khoit Tsenkher Cave Rock Art|Khoit Tsenkher Cave]]''<ref name="Novgorodova">Eleanora Novgorodova, Archäologische Funde, Ausgrabungsstätten und Skulpturen, in ''Mongolen (catalogue)'', pp. 14–20</ref> in [[Khovd Province]] shows lively pink, brown, and red ochre paintings (dated to 20,000 years ago) of [[mammoths]], [[lynx]], [[bactrian camel]]s, and [[ostrich]]es, earning it the nickname "the [[Lascaux]] of Mongolia". The [[Venus figurines of Mal'ta]] (21,000 years ago) testify to the level of Upper Paleolithic art in northern Mongolia; Mal'ta is now part of Russia.
Neolithic agricultural settlements (c. 5500–3500 BC), such as those at Norovlin, Tamsagbulag, Bayanzag, and Rashaan Khad, predated the introduction of horse-riding nomadism, a pivotal event in the history of Mongolia which became the dominant culture. The [[Genetic history of East Asians|ethnogenesis]] of [[Mongolic peoples]] is largely linked with the expansion of [[Ancient Northeast Asian]]s. The Mongolian pastoralist lifestyle may in part be derived from the [[Western Steppe Herders]], but without much geneflow between these two groups, suggesting cultural transmission.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Population dynamics and the rise of empires in Inner Asia: Genome-wide analysis spanning 6,000 years in the eastern Eurasian Steppe gives insights to the formation of Mongolia's empires |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/11/201105183836.htm |access-date=4 June 2023 |website=ScienceDaily |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Xiaomin |last2=Sarengaowa |last3=He |first3=Guanglin |last4=Guo |first4=Jianxin |last5=Zhu |first5=Kongyang |last6=Ma |first6=Hao |last7=Zhao |first7=Jing |last8=Yang |first8=Meiqing |last9=Chen |first9=Jing |last10=Zhang |first10=Xianpeng |last11=Tao |first11=Le |last12=Liu |first12=Yilan |last13=Zhang |first13=Xiu-Fang |last14=Wang |first14=Chuan-Chao |date=2021 |title=Genomic Insights Into the Genetic Structure and Natural Selection of Mongolians |journal=Frontiers in Genetics |volume=12 |page=735786 |doi=10.3389/fgene.2021.735786 |issn=1664-8021 |pmc=8693022 |pmid=34956310 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Horse-riding nomadism has been documented by archeological evidence in Mongolia during the Copper and Bronze Age [[Afanasevo culture]] (3500–2500 BC);<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nomadic-herders-left-strong-genetic-mark-europeans-and-asians|first=Ann|last=Gibbons|date=10 June 2015|title=Nomadic herders left a strong genetic mark on Europeans and Asians|journal=Science|publisher=AAAS|access-date=5 November 2022|archive-date=2 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902191050/https://www.science.org/content/article/nomadic-herders-left-strong-genetic-mark-europeans-and-asians|url-status=live}}</ref> this [[Indo-European migrations|Indo-European]] culture was active to the [[Khangai Mountains]] in Central Mongolia. The wheeled vehicles found in the burials of the Afanasevans have been dated to before 2200 BC.<ref>{{Cite book |last=David Christian |title=A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia |date=December 16, 1998 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-631-20814-3 |page=101}}</ref> Pastoral nomadism and metalworking became more developed with the later [[Okunev culture]] (2nd millennium BC), [[Andronovo culture]] (2300–1000 BC) and [[Karasuk culture]] (1500–300 BC), culminating with the Iron Age [[Xiongnu]] Empire in 209 BC. Monuments of the pre-Xiongnu Bronze Age include [[deer stone]]s, keregsur [[kurgans]], [[Slab Grave Culture|square slab tombs]], and rock paintings.

Although cultivation of crops has continued since the Neolithic, agriculture has always remained small in scale compared to pastoral nomadism. Agriculture may have first been introduced from the west or arose independently in the region. The population during the [[Copper Age]] has been described as mongoloid in the east of what is now Mongolia, and as europoid in the west.<ref name="Novgorodova" /> Tocharians ([[Yuezhi]]) and [[Scythians]] inhabited western Mongolia during the Bronze Age. The mummy of a Scythian warrior, which is believed to be about 2,500 years old, was a 30- to 40-year-old man with blond hair; it was found in [[Altai Mountains|the Altai]], Mongolia.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 25, 2006 |title=Archeological Sensation-Ancient Mummy Found in Mongolia |work=Spiegel Online |publisher=Spiegel.de |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,433600,00.html |url-status=live |access-date=2010-05-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522230511/http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,433600,00.html |archive-date=May 22, 2010 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> As equine nomadism was introduced into Mongolia, the political center of the [[Eurasian Steppe]] also shifted to Mongolia, where it remained until the 18th century. The intrusions of northern pastoralists (e.g. the Guifang, Shanrong, and [[Donghu people|Donghu]]) into China during the [[Shang dynasty]] (1600–1046 BC) and [[Zhou dynasty]] (1046–256 BC) presaged the age of [[nomadic empire]]s.