Ulaanbaatar, December 11, 2025 /MONTSAME/. Ochre rock paintings, created approximately 3,000 years ago, are on display at the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts. A special exhibition titled “Heritage and Cradle – 3000” showcases ancient paintings on slab grave rocks from cultural sites in Gachuurt Valley and Ikh Tenger Valley, revealed through advanced technology.

The museum organized the exhibition in collaboration with the Institute of Nomadic Archaeology of the National University of Mongolia (NUM), under a partnership agreement. As part of this cooperation, joint archaeological research was conducted in June and July this year at the Ulaan Chuluut Mountain site in Orkhon soum, Selenge aimag. The exhibition is one of the key outcomes of this fieldwork.

According to researchers, the exhibition aims to illuminate Mongolia’s ancient history and demonstrate that the people associated with the Slab Grave culture, believed to be predecessors of the Hunnu, shared a unified cultural tradition spread across a vast territory. The display provides an overview of Slab Grave culture, its defining archaeological features, and the characteristics and commonalities of related monuments, including how and where their carvings and images were made.

Dr. Iderkhangai Tumur-Ochir, archaeologist and assistant professor at NUM, stated, “Slab Graves are found across an extensive area and reflect a coherent, unified cultural tradition that left behind a rich heritage. These graves originally included khun chuluu (man stone), although earlier scholarly works did not record them. Our recent research identified more than 100 new man stones. We also discovered numerous rock paintings and petroglyphs linked to Slab Graves. The depictions of horse-circling tracks and other imagery found near man stones match the motifs in the rock art, confirming that these paintings were created by the people of the Slab Grave culture.

“Although many of these 3,000-year-old ochre paintings had faded or nearly disappeared, modern imaging technology allowed us to recover them. In restored images, where up to 70 percent of the original content had faded, clear depictions of trails, horses, and human figures emerged. Some marks previously thought to be stains were determined to be fingerprints. After 4–5 years of research, we have consolidated evidence that demonstrates the Slab Grave culture was widespread and highly developed.”

The title “Heritage and Cradle – 3000” reflects the enduring cultural heritage and vast homeland of Mongolia, while “3000” refers to the remarkable culture created by Mongolian ancestors three millennia ago.

The exhibition will run until December 20, 2025.