Constructive Features of the Xiongnu Town Gua Dov
The article is devoted to the research of the Xiongnu site Gua Dov, located on the Kherlen River in Mongolia. The first studies of the site were carried out by H. Perlee in 1952, who made the plan for the site, carried out tested excavations and determined the location of the central building. Based on the data obtained, H. Perlee suggested that Gua Dov was a ritual place for the Xiongnu. In 2013-2015 within the framework of the Mongol-Korean project, the Gua Dov site was researched. In the process of work, unmanned aerial vehicles were used, geophysical, geomagnetic and electromagnetic studies were carried out. The central building was examined, its dimensions, the area of the settlement and the length of the walls were determined more accurately in comparison with the studies in the XX c. One of the excavation area included the remains of the gate with columns on granite bases; in the process of excavation of the gate their design features were revealed, also tiles of the roof of the gate structures were collected. The tile discs bear similarities to Han decors and have local features. In another area of the site, the western part of the town wall was explored; that allowed reconstructing the general appearance of it. The wall was a corridor with a tile roof, and each of the four walls had the gate. New research of Gua Dov allowed making a conclusion that the site was a summer residence of one of the high-ranking officials of Xiongnu Empire. The palace complex was surrounded by walls with tiled roof, it had four gates, an auxiliary building, and an artificial pond in the southeastern corner of the courtyard. There were various structures outside the walls.