Part of China’s Great Wall not built for war: study

This photo taken on October 20 shows the sun setting over the autumn colours of a section of the Great Wall of China at Jinshanling, Hebei Province. The wall which is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick and rammed earth was subject to a recent archaeological survey that found its total length to be 21,196 km or 13,171 miles. AFP PHOTO/Mark RALSTON (Photo by Mark RALSTON and – / AFP)

JERUSALEMUndefined (AFP) — The northern segment of the Great Wall of China was built not to block invading armies but rather to monitor civilian movement, an Israeli archaeologist said Tuesday.

When researchers fully mapped the Great Wall’s 740-kilometre (460-mile) Northern Line for the first time, their findings challenged previous assumptions.

“Prior to our research, most people thought the wall’s purpose was to stop Genghis Khan’s army,” said Gideon Shelach-Lavi from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University, who led the two-year study.

But the Northern Line, lying mostly in Mongolia, winds through valleys, is relatively low in height and close to paths, pointing to non-military functions.

A handout aerial picture obtained from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University on June 7, 2020, shows archaeological clusters including rectangular enclosures next to the northern segment of The Great Wall of China in the Mongolian steppe. – The northern segment of the Great Wall of China was not built to block invading armies, rather to monitor civilian movement, an Israeli archaeologist said. The Great Wall’s Northern Line, a 737-kilometre (458-mile) stretch lying mostly in Mongolia, was for the first time fully mapped by researchers who believe its purpose was not defensive as previously assumed. (Photo by – / The Hebrew University of Jerusalem / AFP)

“Our conclusion is that it was more about monitoring or blocking the movement of people and livestock, maybe to tax them,” Shelach-Lavi said.

He suggested people may have been seeking warmer southern pastures during a medieval cold spell.

Construction of the Great Wall, which is split into sections that in total stretch for thousands of kilometres, first began in the third century BC and continued for centuries.

An aerial view taken on September 20, 2018 shows the Great Wall of China on the outskirts of Beijing. (Photo by FRED DUFOUR / AFP)

The Northern Line, also known as “Genghis Khan’s Wall” in reference to the legendary Mongolian conqueror, was built between the 11th and 13th centuries with pounded earth and dotted with 72 structures in small clusters.

Shelach-Lavi and his team of Israeli, Mongolian and American researchers used drones, high-resolution satellite images and traditional archaeological tools to map out the wall and find artefacts that helped pin down dates.

According to Shelach-Lavi, whose findings from the ongoing study were published in the journal Antiquity, the Northern Line has been largely overlooked by contemporary scientists.

A handout aerial picture obtained from Jerusalem’s Hebrew University on June 7, 2020, shows archaeological clusters including rectangular enclosures next to the northern segment of The Great Wall of China in the Mongolian steppe. – (Photo by – / The Hebrew University of Jerusalem / AFP)
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