On our journey from Karakorum to the Gobi, we stopped for a quick break off the road. As we admired the landscape, a peculiar cluster of stones in the distance caught our attention. Upon approaching, it became clear that the stones were arranged in a specific manner, possibly for burial or sacrificial rituals. The arrangements formed enclosures on the ground; some featured a small mound at the center, while others were marked by a single large standing stone. The subtle variations between each enclosure suggested that they might have belonged to different times or communities. As I walked among them, I thought about how local people might have understood and interacted with these spaces, and how the choice of location, material, and design revealed their deep connection to the surrounding landscape. The site felt like a meeting place between people and nature, where memory, belief, and landscape were intertwined.
