The most northern plane section of The Great Wall of China known as the “ Northern Line ” has been mapped for the first time , providing new insight into how the social system pertain to Mongol ruler Genghis Khan , which may have implications for such dissentious boundaries in current daytime .
Spanning a total of 6,500 km ( 4,000 statute mile ) in length , the Great Wall of China was build surgical incision - by - section and consists of multiple fortification used for defense . It was long excogitate that the “ exceedingly enigmatic " Northern Line , stretching 737 kilometers ( 458 mi ) across the Mongolian Steppe , was also used to maintain the Chinese Khitan Liao Empire againstGenghis Khan , more accurately translated as Chinggis Khan , the Mongol leader who build the largest neighboring imperium in story .
However , new research published in the journalAntiquitysuggests that the rampart was likely not built for defence mechanism but instead helped to supervise and control the nomadic tribes that routinely raid Imperial China .
The Northern Line was built between 1000 and 1300 CE and is site mostly in Mongolia with some sections found in modern - day Russia and China . To determine its determination , an external squad of archaeologists from the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and Yale University consistently mapped this segment and conducted a detailed survey of a small part of the wall and its nearby structures to key out artefact left behind and study the construction and location of the wall . In particular , the squad examined 72 structures along the wall get up in small clump turn up about 30 kilometers apart .
“ Our analysis of the wall suggests that it was not made to defend against turgid invading armies or even against roving raid into sedentary lands rather that it was pitch to supervise and control the motion of peregrine population and their herd , ” said study author Professor Gideon Shelach - Lavi from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in a statement emailed to IFLScience .
Furthermore , this division of the wall predates Chinggis Khan ( 907 to 1125 CE ) , confirming that it was belike not built in defense of him but instead meant to expand the influence of the Khitan - Liao and insert control over nomad live in the northern territory . In finicky , structures colligate with the wall are not located at high enough meridian that would have been advantageous for military defense . Their lower heights place closer to roadstead point that they were in all probability used as a mean of population mastery .
The researchers note that their work could goad newfangled brainwave into other walls around the world believe to have been constructed for defensive design and may ply a better understanding for current efforts of building border walls that separate populations .
“ Our study evoke that the supposal that these were all military body structure needs to be dispute , ” said Professor Shelach - Lavi . “ We need to study their structure and linguistic context to well understand the reasons they were establish . ”
