Secrets of the mysterious Gobi wall revealed: archaeologists uncover imperial purpose behind 200-mile structure In Mongolia’s Gobi Desert is a 321-kilometer-long wall that, until recently, was one of East Asia’s least understood components of medieval infrastructure. Called the Gobi Wall, this enormous structure has mystified archaeologists for decades. But new research, published in the journal Land, is now giving valuable information about its construction, purpose, and historical context, redrawing the wall not as a simple defense fortification, but as a sophisticated tool of statecraft used by the Xi Xia dynasty. According to the findings, the Gobi Wall was constructed primarily during the 11th to 13th centuries CE, under the Xi Xia dynasty, or Western Xia Empire. The Tangut-led empire controlled parts of Western China and southern Mongolia at the time... More information: https://archaeologymag.com/2025/05/secrets-of-the-mysterious-gobi-wall-revealed/