In the windswept steppe of northeastern Mongolia, archaeologists have unearthed a rare window into daily life along the medieval frontier of the Liao Empire. Excavations at a remote garrison site revealed thousands of animal bones—evidence of herding, hunting, fishing, and a harsh environment—offering a ground-level view of survival far from the imperial centers recorded in history books. The findings challenge traditional accounts by illuminating the lives of soldiers and civilians who lived not in palaces, but along the empire’s long and lonely wall.

In the remote steppe of northeastern Mongolia, far from the opulent courts and bustling cities of medieval East Asia, a buried trash heap is telling a different story of empire—one of survival, adaptation, and forgotten lives on the edge.

A new study led by doctoral candidate Tikvah Steiner of the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, under the supervision of Prof. Gideon Shelach-Lavi and Prof. Rivka Rabinovich, has unearthed an unusually rich zooarchaeological deposit at Site 23—a garrison outpost along the 4,000-kilometer-long medieval wall system that once marked the shifting frontiers of the Liao Empire (916–1125 CE). The research is part of the ERC funded project “The Wall- people and ecology in medieval China and Mongolia”, led by Prof. Shelach-Lavi from the Dept. of Asian Studies at Hebrew University. The results, published in Archaeological Research in Asia, reveal a compelling portrait of life on the margins of empire: not just soldiers, but possibly their families and support staff raising livestock, supplemented by hunting and fishing, and enduring harsh climatic conditions—all in near-total absence from historical record.

Built by the semi-nomadic Kitan rulers of the Liao dynasty to secure their northern borders, the function and use of the long-wall system in present-day Mongolia and northern China is little understood. Despite its’ monumental scale, the wall and the people who lived along it are scarcely mentioned in the many historical texts of the period.But the trash heap—or midden—analyzed by Steiner’s team offers a more intimate glimpse into the empire’s outer defenses. Dated to around 1050 CE, the deposit contains over 7,000 animal bones, many of them remarkably well preserved. Sheep, goats, horses, dogs, gazelles, and even catfish—each bone, burn mark, and butchery cut opens a window into how this garrison survived.

“What we found was not just a military checkpoint supplied by a central power,” says Steiner. “This was a self- sufficient group—perhaps of soldiers, perhaps of civilians—managing livestock, crafting implements from bone, hunting and fishing in the local environment, possibly receiving some sort of supplies from the central power, and making choices about which animals to slaughter and when, all in a challenging and isolated environment.”

The analysis suggests a largely self-sufficient pastoral economy, with evidence of sheep and goat herding, horse breeding, some hunting of wild gazelle and mustelids, and seasonal fishing. The high number of neonatal animal remains—especially of lambs and puppies—suggests that this community may have suffered a devastating climatic event such as a late spring freeze, echoing historical accounts of environmental crises that strained the Liao Empire in its final decades.

Unlike the sweeping imperial chronicles of the Liaoshi, which glorify courtly hunting expeditions and tribute missions, the bones from Site 23 reveal the quiet, daily negotiations of life and death in the hinterlands. The presence of cattle phalanges split for marrow extraction, worked bones used as tools or ornaments, and even a rare whistling arrow carved from bone—all point to a resourceful, resilient population adapting imperial policy to local conditions.

“The historical texts focus on emperors, not outposts,” adds Prof. Rabinovich. “But archaeology lets us hear the voices of those who lived, worked, and died far from the palace. These bones are a form of testimony.”

The research marks a significant contribution to the interdisciplinary study of medieval Inner Asia, bridging the often-separate worlds of historical texts and material culture. It also provides an important comparative dataset for understanding frontier life across empires, from the Roman limes to the Great Wall of China.