Deer stones
Often accompanying slab graves, deer stones are among the most outstanding types of monuments produced by the Bronze Age and early Iron Age nomads of Central Asia. Typically engraved with extremely stylized deer figures and measuring on average one metre in height, the so-called "classical deer stone" consists of a long, oval-shaped cut stone, which is engraved from top to bottom with figures of the sun and moon, a row of hollows, exaggerated representations of deer, a belt, and tools and weapons belonging to a warrior - knife, sharpening stone, war-axe, bow, bow-case, spear, shield and mirror. Sometimes images of snow-leopards, mountain goats, gazelles and other wild animals are depicted amongst or in the place of the deer figures.
The figurative composition of the deer stone has been interpreted as symbolizing the three levels of the cosmos - the sky, represented by the sun and the moon; the world of the living, represented by the deer or other hooved creatures; and the world of the dead, represented by the tools and weapons depicted at the base of the monument. Yet the deer stone may also symbolize the human body, with its three sections representing the head, the torso, and the tools that hang from a man's belt (knife, steel and flint, etc.).
Approximately 700 deer stones have been identified throughout the Eurasian steppe, of which around 550 are located in Mongolia. The deer stone has an average size of 1-4 metres in height, 20-50 centimetres in thickness and 30-80 in width. In terms of their style and composition, deer stones have been classified as (1) abstract deer-figure monuments of the Inner Baikal region, (2) stones with "concrete" animal representations of the Sayan-Altai, and (3) stone monuments of Eurasia without animal figures. Monuments depicting deer are the most common, and have been found in Arxangai, Övörxangai, Zavxan, Bayanxongor, Bulgan, Gov'-Altai, Töv, Selenge, Xövsgöl, Xentii, Xovd, Uvs and Bayan-Ölgii aimags, with a predominance in the Xangai and Xentii Mountain regions. Monuments of the second type can be found primarily in Uvs, Xövsgöl, Xovd and Bayan-Ölgii, including the sites of Dörölzhiin Am and Xöshööt in Shine-Ider and Cagaan Uul sums of Xövsgöl aimag; Altansandal Uul and Xuryn Am in Ix Tamir and Tariat sums of Arxangai aimag; Chultuutyn Ogtrox, Tölögin Am and Bodonchiin Gol in Darvi, Mönxxairxan and Möst sums of Xovd aimag, and Naran Bel and Baadain Am in Böxmörön sum in Uvs aimag. The third and most unusual of these three types of monuments - featuring images of the sun and moon, weapons and a belt, but no animal figures - are found to a limited extent in the western regions of Mongolia.
Scholars consider deer stones to belong to the same period as the square graves found throughout Central Asia, but the fact that many slab graves were constructed making use of deer stones as building materials suggests that these two types of monuments may have belonged to distinct periods. In many locations deer stones have been erected in the corners of slab graves, or have been placed horizontally for use as grave walls, with the engraved surface facing inwards, or in some case placed facing downwards. Dating of deer stones is also assisted by the presence of petroglyphs featuring images of deer and other animals in a similar, exaggerated style - such as at Baruun Mogoi in Orxon sum of Bulgan aimag, Xöröögiin Üzüür in Batcengel sum in Arxangai aimag, at Tevsh Uul in Bogd sum and in Bat-Ölzii sum in Övörxangai aimag, and at Bugat in Zhargalant sum of Bayanxongor aimag.
 | In commemoration of the legacy and teachings of His Holiness Dulduit Danzanravzhaa Fifth Wrathful Noble Xutagt of the Great Gobi (1803-1856) I did not overbearingly sophize Nor preach with pride and arrogance But having found a sense in this world Spoke the truth of my dear heart. |   |