Karakorum

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This article is about the city in Mongolia. For the mountain range in Pakistan, China and India, see Karakoram.

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Coordinates: 47°17′57″N, 102°33′38″E

Click image for larger view. Silk routes of the Great Silk Road, including two hypothetical routes leading to Karakorum (lighter blue). No actual route to Karakorum has ever been found.

Karakorum (also K'a-la-k'un-lun, Khara-khorin, Kharakhorum, Khara Khorum in Classical Mongolian) was an ancient palace and "capital city" of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, although for only about 30 years. Today its ruins lie in the southeastern corner of the Arhangay Province of Mongolia or, to be more specific, in the upper part of the World Heritage Site entitled Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape (see references: 2.4MB map & University of Texas at Austin).

Archaeological evidence reveals that town life centered on metallurgy powered by the currents of the Orhon River. Other findings include arrowheads; iron cauldrons; wheel bushings; evidence of ceramic (tiles and sculpture) production, glass (glass beads) production and yarn (spindles) production; also Chinese silk and coins [1]. The palace itself had green-tiled floors, and "all the roofs, made of green and red tiles, had ornamentation of relief." Household utensils, porcelain pottery and bronze, silver and gold decorations have been unearthed as well. [2]

This local region is surrounded by arable land and once hosted rich mining deposits. For all these finds, Karakorum has been dubbed the ancient "Empire of the Steppe" [3]. Some evidence indicates that early peoples may have inhabited the area as early as the 8th century (Encyclopædia Britannica).