Editing Xiongnu (section)

=== Archaeology ===
[[File:Chinggis Khaan National Museum 02.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of a Xiongnu burial at the [[Noin-Ula burial site]].]]
In the 1920s, [[Pyotr Kozlov]] oversaw the excavation of royal tombs at the [[Noin-Ula burial site]] in northern Mongolia, dated to around the first century AD. Other Xiongnu sites have been unearthed in [[Inner Mongolia]], such as the [[Ordos culture]]. [[Sinologist]] Otto Maenchen-Helfen has said that depictions of the Xiongnu of [[Transbaikal]]ia and the Ordos commonly show individuals with West Eurasian features.{{sfn|Maenchen-Helfen|1973|pp=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_CrUdgzSICxcC/page/n397 370]–371}} Iaroslav Lebedynsky said that West Eurasian depictions in the Ordos region should be attributed to a "Scythian affinity".<ref>{{cite book |last=Lebedynsky |first=Yaroslav |author-link=Iaroslav Lebedynsky |title=Les nomades |date=2007 |publisher=[[:fr:Éditions Errance|Éditions Errance]] |isbn=978-2-87772-346-6 |page=125 |quote=Europoid faces in some depictions of the Ordos, which should be attributed to a Scythian affinity}}</ref>

Portraits found in the [[Noin-Ula burial site|Noin-Ula excavations]] demonstrate other cultural evidence and influences, showing that Chinese and Xiongnu art influenced each other mutually. Some of these embroidered portraits in the Noin-Ula [[kurgan]]s also depict the Xiongnu with long braided hair with wide ribbons, which is seen to be identical with the [[Ashina tribe|Ashina clan]] hair-style.<ref>Camilla Trever, "Excavations in Northern Mongolia (1924–1925)", Leningrad: J. Fedorov Printing House, 1932 [http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/museums/shm/trever.pdf]</ref> Well-preserved bodies in Xiongnu and pre-Xiongnu tombs in [[Mongolia]] and southern [[Siberia]] show both East Asian and West Eurasian features.<ref>The Great Empires of the Ancient World – Thomas Harrison – 2009 – page 288</ref>

Analysis of cranial remains from some sites attributed to the Xiongnu have revealed that they had [[dolichocephalic]] skulls with East Asian craniometrical features, setting them apart from neighboring populations in present-day Mongolia.{{sfn|Psarras|2003|p=69}} Russian and Chinese anthropological and craniofacial studies show that the Xiongnu were physically very heterogenous, with six different population clusters showing different degrees of West Eurasian and East Asian physical traits.<ref name="Tumen"/>

[[File:Noin-Ula carpet, animal styleNoin-Ula carpet, animal style.jpg|thumb|[[Noin-Ula burial site|Noin-Ula]] carpet, animal style. 1st century AD.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hermitage Museum |url=https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/11.+Textiles%2C+Tapestry/430781}}</ref>]]
Presently, there exist four fully excavated and well documented cemeteries: [[Ivolga archaeological site|Ivolga]],<ref>A. V. Davydova, Ivolginskii arkheologicheskii kompleks II. Ivolginskii mogil'nik. Arkheologicheskie pamiatniki Siunnu 2 (Sankt-Peterburg 1996). А. В. Давыдова, Иволгинский археологи-ческий комплекс II. Иволгинский могильник. Археологические памятники Сюнну 2 (Санкт-Петербург 1996).</ref> Dyrestui,<ref>S. S. Miniaev, Dyrestuiskii mogil'nik. Arkheologicheskie pamiatniki Siunnu 3 (Sankt-Peterburg 1998). С. С. Миняев, Дырестуйский могильник. Археологические памятники Сюнну 3 (Санкт-Петербург 1998).</ref> Burkhan Tolgoi,<ref>Ts. Törbat, Keramika khunnskogo mogil'nika
Burkhan-Tolgoi. Erdem shinzhilgeenii bichig. Arkheologi, antropologi, ugsaatan sudlal 19,2003, 82–100. Ц. Тѳрбат, Керамика хуннского могильника Бурхан-Толгой. Эрдэм шинжилгээний бичиг. Археологи, антропологи, угсаатан судлал 19, 2003, 82–100.</ref><ref>Ts. Törbat, Tamiryn Ulaan khoshuuny bulsh ba Khünnügiin ugsaatny büreldekhüünii asuudald. Tükhiin setgüül 4, 2003, 6–17. Ц. Төрбат, Тамирын Улаан хошууны булш ба Хүннүгийн угсаатны бүрэлдэхүүний асуудалд. Түүхийн сэтгүүл 4, 2003, 6–17.</ref> and Daodunzi.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Ningxia Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute (寧夏文物考古研究所) |author2=[[Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]] Archaeology Institute Ningxia Archaeology Group |author3=[[Tongxin County]] Cultural Relics Administration (同心縣文物管理所) |script-title=zh:寧夏同心倒墩子匈奴墓地 |title= |language=zh |trans-title= |journal={{lang|zh-hant|考古學報}} [Archaeology Journal] |year=1988 |issue=3 |pages=333–356}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Bryan |title=Xiongnu Archaeology |year=2011 |publisher=Vor- und Fruhgeschichtliche Archaeologie Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn |location=Bonn |isbn=978-3-936490-14-5 |url=http://www.vfgarch.uni-bonn.de/veroeffentlichungen/bonn-bonn-contributions-to-asian-archaeology/bcaa-5-toc |editor-first=Jan |editor-last=Bemmann |access-date=13 December 2012 |archive-date=29 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729150654/http://www.vfgarch.uni-bonn.de/veroeffentlichungen/bonn-bonn-contributions-to-asian-archaeology/bcaa-5-toc }}</ref> Additionally thousands of tombs have been recorded in [[Transbaikal]]ia and Mongolia.

The archaeologists at a Xiongnu cemetery in [[Arkhangai Province]] said the following: <blockquote>"There is no clear indication of the ethnicity of this tomb occupant, but in a similar brick-chambered tomb of the late Eastern Han period at the same cemetery, archaeologists discovered a bronze seal with the official title that the Han government bestowed upon the leader of the Xiongnu. The excavators suggested that these brick chamber tombs all belong to the Xiongnu (Qinghai 1993)."<ref name="Lai 34–43">{{cite journal|last=Lai|first=Guolong|title=The Date of the TLV Mirrors from the Xiongnu Tombs|journal=The Silk Road|volume=4|issue=1|pages=34–43 |url=http://www.silkroadfoundation.org/newsletter/vol4num1/srnewsletter_v4n1.pdf}}</ref></blockquote>Classifications of these burial sites make distinction between two prevailing type of burials: "(1) monumental ramped terrace tombs which are often flanked by smaller "satellite" burials and (2) 'circular' or 'ring' burials."<ref>{{cite book|last=Miller|first=Bryan|title=Xiongnu Archaeology|year=2011|publisher=Vor- und Fruhgeschichtliche Archaologie Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn|location=Bonn|isbn=978-3-936490-14-5|url=http://www.vfgarch.uni-bonn.de/veroeffentlichungen/bonn-bonn-contributions-to-asian-archaeology/bcaa-5-toc|editor=Jan Bemmann|page=23|access-date=13 December 2012|archive-date=29 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729150654/http://www.vfgarch.uni-bonn.de/veroeffentlichungen/bonn-bonn-contributions-to-asian-archaeology/bcaa-5-toc}}</ref> Some scholars consider this a division between "elite" graves and "commoner" graves. Other scholars, find this division too simplistic and not evocative of a true distinction because it shows "ignorance of the nature of the mortuary investments and typically luxuriant burial assemblages [and does not account for] the discovery of other lesser interments that do not qualify as either of these types."<ref>{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Bryan |title=Xiongnu Archaeology |year=2011 |publisher=Vor- und Fruhgeschichtliche Archaologie Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat Bonn |location=Bonn |isbn=978-3-936490-14-5 |url=http://www.vfgarch.uni-bonn.de/veroeffentlichungen/bonn-bonn-contributions-to-asian-archaeology/bcaa-5-toc |editor-first=Jan |editor-last=Bemmann |page=24 |access-date=13 December 2012 |archive-date=29 July 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729150654/http://www.vfgarch.uni-bonn.de/veroeffentlichungen/bonn-bonn-contributions-to-asian-archaeology/bcaa-5-toc }}</ref>