Climate change threatens reindeer herders’ way of life in Mongolia’s north, and yields clues to their past
- Nomadic Dukha reindeer herders, used to snow and ice staying frozen all summer in Mongolia’s remote boreal forest, have been badly affected by global warming
- As they watch the disappearing ice threaten their animals, archaeologists retrieve artefacts the melting lays bare and seek pointers to the Dukhas’ history
Now the region is in the grip of a climate crisis; rising temperatures pose threats to the landscape, the survival of its reindeer population, and the way of life of the herdsmen who rely on the animals.
Because of its high altitude, numerous ice patches – persistent accumulations of snow and ice – used to remain year-round. But in the past decade they have begun thawing rapidly.
While climate change is bad for the Dukha people, it’s a boon for archaeologists researching their mysterious past. The disappearing ice has revealed once hidden artefacts that could shed light on the history of the region.
Researchers Julia Clark, director of Nomad Science Mongolia, and William Taylor, curator and assistant professor of archaeology at University of Colorado Boulder, in the United States, witnessed first hand the effects of the rapidly melting ice in the region when they carried out archaeological research in the summer of 2018.