Mongolian and Soviet archaeologists uncovered a remarkable Lower Paleolithic site near Yarkh Mountain in Gurvansaikhan soum, Dundgovi Province. This ancient site, dating back approximately 300,000 years, was once a stone tool workshop where early humans crafted implements from yellowish flint mixed with jasper.
Among the numerous artifacts found were flakes struck from core stones used in tool preparation, triangular cross-sectioned blades, single and double-platform cores, scrapers, and retouched flakes. The most significant finds, however, were bifacially worked hand axes and pointed tools. These implements closely resemble the Acheulean tools of Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia—particularly the well-known hand axes and pointed bifaces—both in craftsmanship and typology. This discovery suggests that humans, possibly pre-Neanderthal types, inhabited Mongolia during the Lower Paleolithic period.

The Yarkh hand axes display characteristics such as a roughly worked surface and symmetrical bifacial flaking that produces a sharp, serrated edge—techniques also observed in European examples. The thinner, flatter pointed tools from the same site resemble those found in the so-called “Micoquian” cultural tradition of Europe’s Lower Paleolithic period.
The Yarkh Mountain site challenges previously held theories in paleoanthropology. Prior to the 1970s, scholars like American archaeologist H.L. Movius promoted the “Movius Line” theory, which proposed a technological divide between western Paleolithic cultures (characterized by bifacial hand axes) and eastern ones (using more rudimentary chopper tools made by unifacial flaking). The discovery at Yarkh provides compelling evidence that sophisticated bifacial tools existed much farther east than previously believed, extending the known range of classic Acheulean toolmakers to include Central Asia—specifically, Mongolia.
This significant finding not only reshapes our understanding of human migration and technological development in the Paleolithic era but also places Mongolia as a vital region in the early story of humankind’s cultural evolution.
Archaeologist A.P. Okladnikov on the Significance of the Yarkh Mountain Site
Renowned archaeologist A.P. Okladnikov once remarked that the Yarkh culture, with its distinct Acheulean characteristics, stands as the first and only discovery of its kind in East Asia. He emphasized that the bifacial hand axes and pointed tools unearthed at Yarkh cannot be compared to the sporadic, crudely shaped bifaces occasionally found in regions like northern China or Korea. In both technique and form, the Yarkh tools demonstrate a level of craftsmanship fully aligned with Acheulean traditions observed in Europe, the Caucasus, India, and Africa.
What makes the Yarkh site particularly remarkable is its ability to reveal the internal cultural development of Mongolia during the earliest stages of the Paleolithic era. The inhabitants of Yarkh—like their counterparts in Western Paleolithic cultures—had clearly mastered a consistent and refined technique for crafting bifacial tools. This included striking and flaking stones from both sides to produce symmetrical, sharpened hand axes and blades.

The similarities between Mongolian and European bifacial tools raise important questions about ancient human connections. However, scholars believe these resemblances are not due to direct contact, common ancestry, or cultural exchange between ancient Asians and Europeans. Rather, they suggest a case of convergent cultural evolution—two separate human populations, living in different parts of the world, independently discovering similar methods for shaping stone into effective tools.
In this way, the stone workshop at Yarkh Mountain reveals long-forgotten truths from a prehistoric era never recorded in writing. It stands as a groundbreaking archaeological discovery—one that challenges outdated theories and deepens our understanding of early human ingenuity across continents.