Solved: the mystery of Por-Bajin, ruins on a Mongolian island

June 18, 2020 9:39 PM

In the Tyva Republic, which lies southern Russia and includes one of the geographical midpoints of Asia (Wikipedia; user-made panorama in Google maps ), is the Mystery of the Tere-Khol Lake (Earth Chronicles; Google maps), the ruins of a 3.3 hectare (8.15 acre) structure with no confirmed history, but associated with local legend. It was Russia's most mysterious archaeological site (Archaeology, 2010). Until recently, that is, when radiocarbon-based approach capable of subannual precision resolves the origins of the site of Por-Bajin (PNAS, open article). In other words, solar radiation and dead trees tell us when Por-Bajin was built—and why it was neither palace nor fortress (Atlas Obsura).

Radiocarbon dating pins date for construction of Uyghur complex to the year 777 (Eureka Alert)

'In order to understand this, the exact construction date was required to find out which local leader, or khan, gave the orders for the construction,' explains Margot Kuitems, a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Isotope Research at the University of Groningen. She currently works on the Exact Chronology of Early Societies (ECHOES) project, funded by the European Research Council and led by Assistant Professor of Isotope Chronology Michael Dee, who is also an author on the PNAS paper.

For the early mediaeval period, radiocarbon dating is generally precise to a few decades. This is good enough for most applications. However, as khans came and went during the eighth century, the exact construction date was required to link it to a specific leader. Within the ECHOES project, Kuitems applied a recently developed method to date her samples exactly.

This was the era of Bögü Qaghan, the most powerful monarch of Uyghur Khaganate, who converted from Tengrism to Manichaeism after 763 (Wikipedia x4). The Khan started construction of the structure in 777, but two years later he was killed in an anti-Manichaean rebellion, which put an end to the work on what is now believed to be a Manichaean monastery.

posted by filthy light thief (11 comments total)

On the road to Shambala! Well fascinating the permafrost, and the open areas under the ruin, and the aspersions cast on the area, people and animals feel uncomfortable there, some areas of the lake exceedingly cold, yet not frozen. Mysterious.
posted by Oyéah at 10:16 PM on June 18, 2020 [2 favorites]

Mystery of the Tere-Khol Lake

Trying to read this "article" made me feel like I was having a stroke. What on earth is this mess of weird mysticism and supernatural insinuation (badly) translated from?
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 11:20 PM on June 18, 2020 [5 favorites]

Are you referring to the Earth Chronicles link, Joakim Ziegler? All the other articles seem fairly straightforward.
posted by Kitchen Witch at 5:49 AM on June 19, 2020

With tree-ring dating (dendrochronology), if you have a continuous (overlapping) record of tree rings from different periods, carbon-14 dating isn't even necessary because different years produce different rings and after so many years you get a pattern. You can date a ten thousand year old tree, used as a support in an ancient temple, to the year it was felled.
posted by jabah at 6:23 AM on June 19, 2020 [4 favorites]

What on earth is this mess of weird mysticism and supernatural insinuation (badly) translated from?
Well, the site uses the word КАТЕГОРИЯ to denote its various sections, and according to Google Translate that’s the Bulgarian word for “category”; but I guess it might well be the same in other Slavic languages.
posted by memetoclast at 6:45 AM on June 19, 2020

There's nothing mystic about Manichaeism. It was a contender to Christianity in northern Africa (St. Augustine was a member for a while) and the Roman Empire and absorbed Buddhist influences in Central Asia while almost becoming the state religion of the Ugyhur Empire.
posted by AArtaud at 8:55 AM on June 19, 2020 [5 favorites]

Wow, I'd never heard of Manichaeism but it's very interesting. As an atheist who was raised Christian, I can see the appeal of this bit in particular:

Mani's teaching dealt with the origin of evil, by addressing a theoretical part of the problem of evil by denying the omnipotence of God and postulating two opposite powers. Manichaean theology taught a dualistic view of good and evil. A key belief in Manichaeism is that the powerful, though not omnipotent good power (God), was opposed by the eternal evil power (devil). Humanity, the world and the soul are seen as the by-product of the battle between God's proxy, Primal Man, and the devil. The human person is seen as a battle-ground for these powers: the soul defines the person, but it is under the influence of both light and dark. This contention plays out over the world as well as the human body—neither the Earth nor the flesh were seen as intrinsically evil, but rather possessed portions of both light and dark. Natural phenomena (such as rain) were seen as the physical manifestation of this spiritual contention. Therefore, the Manichaean view explained the existence of evil by positing a flawed creation, in the formation of which God took no part, and which constituted rather the product of a battle by the devil against God.
posted by showbiz_liz at 9:28 AM on June 19, 2020 [4 favorites]

Therefore, the Manichaean view explained the existence of evil by positing a flawed creation, in the formation of which God took no part, and which constituted rather the product of a battle by the devil against God.

So like the Medium Place.
posted by jmauro at 12:39 PM on June 19, 2020

On the road to Shambala! Well fascinating the permafrost, and the open areas under the ruin, and the aspersions cast on the area, people and animals feel uncomfortable there, some areas of the lake exceedingly cold, yet not frozen. Mysterious.

Speaking of permafrost, from the Russia's most mysterious archaeological site link (Archaeology, 2010)

As hard as the permafrost is, the lake's water has a warming effect, meaning that the permafrost is periodically thawing. This is causing the gradual erosion of the island's banks. Project geologists and geomorphologists, led by Moscow State University scholars Igor Modin and Andrej Panin, believe that the main walls will collapse in about 150 years if the erosion of the banks continues at the current rate. This makes work at Por-Bajin even more important.

posted by filthy light thief at 12:57 PM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

This is wild. Never knew about it before, despite having spent a summer in Krasnoyarsk Krai, the Russian oblast (cf: state) bordering Tuva. I was living in Mexico at the time, and met a few folks on the plane ride from Moscow who knew both countries and offered a broad "Tuva is the Oaxaca of Russia" generalization. I understood this parallel owing to the colorful culture (ie throat singing), but archeological ruins also fit into that description nicely.

Agree with the side-eye towards the Earth Chronicles link, but it offers one perspective that struck me:

The first information about Por-Bazhyn refers to the end of the XVII century, when researcher Semyon Remezov, who made a description of the whole of Siberia, mentioned the ruins of the fortress at the sources of the Yenisei.

I love the connection between this ruin -- or, supposed monastery, according to the Atlas Oscura link -- and the headwaters of the Yenisei River. During my time up on the steppes near the city of Krasnoyarsk and in the surrounding towns & villages, I distinctly remember how the river felt so 'alive' compared to the panoramic expanses of stillness through the vast countryside. I could easily imagine pre-scientific people, circa 777, wanting to find the source of this magically endless supply of water. Voyage up into the mountains, find a lake at the highlands, and ta-da! Sacred ground and a place to build a monastery or some such.

In no way am I trying to make a case that my little flight of fancy /really/ explains things -- I think the science in the articles does that, just fine -- but this train of thought got me thinking: is there any place around the globe where something similar did occur? The headwaters of a river became sacred ground for a society? Are there other archeological ruins near the headwaters of a river?

(ps: the Yenisei River in the middle of summer is really cold. Partly because, well, Siberia. And partly because I jumped in right after a good long steam in a banya...)
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 1:25 PM on June 19, 2020 [1 favorite]

Is there another example (in extant history) of a religious tradition that spread so successfully and was then so totally wiped out? Offhand, the closest parallel I can think of would be Gnostic Christianity, which indeed has a lot in common with Manichaeism. Is there something about dualistic faiths that makes them particularly unstable -- able to spread but seldom able to put down solid roots?

It would fit snugly into the "ruler converts to newfangled religion and is overthrown by outraged nobles" playbook if the Yenisei headwaters held sacred significance under Tengrism, but I'm not seeing much to suggest that was the case -- coup leader Tun Baga Tarkhan seems to have been mostly motivated by the desire to end the religiously-motivated war with Tang. But one does wonder...
posted by Not A Thing at 11:58 AM on June 20, 2020 [1 favorite]