MONGOLIA: The Dongoin Shiree steppe in eastern Mongolia contains a unique 8th-century funerary monument that suggests the region was an important power center during the Second Turkic Khaganate. A stone sarcophagus was placed at the center of an earthen mound and surrounded by 14 stone pillars inscribed with Turkic runes. They comprise one of the largest collections of Turkic inscriptions ever found in Mongolia. One passage reveals that the deceased individual was an important and highranking official during the reign of Bilge Khagan (r. 716–734).