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Names and places inOn the Trail of Ancient Man

Roy Chapman Andrews

Who and where you hear about in Roy Chapman Andrews's account: 16 places, 18 people, 1 people and 4 terms, each with the name it goes by today, in the order the narration reaches them.

Places

1Gobi23Urga4Kalgan567891011121314

  1. Gobi

    ГовьIn 5 other books ›

    The vast desert and arid steppe spanning southern Mongolia and northern China — the expedition's great fossil field. 'Gobi' is itself the Mongolian word for this kind of waterless, gravelly plain.

    First heard in Chapter 1, ForewordWikipedia

  2. Peking

    BeijingБээжинIn 6 other books ›

    The older postal-romanization spelling of Beijing, the Chinese capital and the expedition's outfitting base.

    First heard in Chapter 2, PrefaceWikipedia

  3. Urga

    UlaanbaatarӨргөөIn 6 other books ›

    The old name for Mongolia's capital, the monastic city that grew around the court of the Bogd Khan, the 'Living Buddha.' 'Urga' renders the Mongolian Өргөө ('palace'); it was renamed Ulaanbaatar ('Red Hero') in 1924.

    First heard in Chapter 3, PreparationsWikipedia

  4. Kalgan

    ZhangjiakouХаалганIn 5 other books ›

    The caravan gateway between China and Mongolia, a walled trade town at a gate in the Great Wall and the expedition's jumping-off point onto the plateau. Today it is Zhangjiakou, in Hebei, China.

    First heard in Chapter 3, PreparationsWikipedia

  5. Tuerin

    ChoirЧойрIn 1 other book ›

    A great lamasery on the Kalgan–Urga caravan trail, about 550 miles from Kalgan, used as a rendezvous point. Its Mongolian name is Чойрын хийд (Choir monastery); the modern town of Choir, in Govĭsümber, grew up beside the old monastery site.

    First heard in Chapter 3, PreparationsWikipedia

  6. Iren Dabasu

    ErenhotЭрээн хот

    A salt-flat basin on the Mongolia–China frontier where, in 1922, the expedition found its first fossil quadrupeds — the discovery that proved the Gobi was rich in ancient bones. The Chinese called it Erlien; today it is Erenhot, in Inner Mongolia.

    First heard in Chapter 6, Under WayWikipedia

  7. Altai

    Алтайн нурууIn 1 other book ›

    The mountain system running across western Mongolia; its desert spur, the Gobi Altai, throws up the ranges — Artsa Bogdo, Baga Bogdo, the Gurbun Saikhan — among which the expedition worked.

    First heard in Chapter 7, In the City of the Living GodWikipedia

  8. Bogdo Ola

    Bogd Khan UulБогд хан уулIn 1 other book ›

    The forested holy mountain rising south of Urga, a hunting-forbidden preserve of the Living Buddha. Today it is Bogd Khan Uul, counted among the oldest protected nature reserves in the world.

    First heard in Chapter 7, In the City of the Living GodWikipedia

  9. Uliassutai

    UliastaiУлиастайIn 5 other books ›

    A western Mongolian garrison and trading town under the Qing, a waypoint on the routes the expedition skirted toward the Altai. Today it is Uliastai, capital of Zavkhan Province.

    First heard in Chapter 8, Tenting in Lama LandWikipedia

  10. Sair Usu

    Сайр ус

    A well in the open desert that served the caravans as a rendezvous and depot, on the trail across the central Gobi (the supply train struck out for it from Artsa Bogdo). It lies in present-day Dundgovi; its exact site still wants closer study.

    First heard in Chapter 8, Tenting in Lama Land

  11. Baga Bogdo

    Baga BogdБага Богд

    One of the granite mountain groups of the eastern Altai ('Little Bogdo'), rising abruptly from the desert plain. The expedition camped and collected in the basins along its foot.

    First heard in Chapter 9, A Kentucky Derby in the Gobi Desert

  12. Tsagan Nor

    Taatsiin Tsagaan NuurТацын цагаан нуурIn 1 other book ›

    The expedition's western base — the basin of a shallow 'White Lake' in the Valley of the Lakes, northeast of the Gobi Altai. This is Taatsiin Tsagaan Nuur (Тацын цагаан нуур), in present-day Bayankhongor; the fossil beds nearby — the Hsanda Gol and Loh formations at Loh — yielded the giant Baluchitherium in 1922.

    First heard in Chapter 9, A Kentucky Derby in the Gobi DesertWikipedia

  13. Flaming Cliffs

    Ulaan EregУлаан ЭрэгIn 1 other book ›

    Andrews' name for the wall of wind-carved red sandstone that blazes red at sunset — known in Mongolian as Улаан Эрэг ('the red cliffs'), and to the Mongols of his day as the camp of Shabarakh Usu ('place of the muddy waters'). It is one feature of the larger oasis of Bayanzag (Баянзаг, 'rich in saxaul'), in Bulgan sum, Ömnögovi. Here in 1923 the party found the first nests of dinosaur eggs and the little dinosaur Protoceratops.

    First heard in Chapter 11, The Discovery of the Flaming CliffsWikipedia

  14. Artsa Bogdo

    Arts BogdАрц Богд

    A rounded mountain mass of the Gobi Altai, south of Tsagan Nor, on whose flanks the expedition hunted wild sheep and argali. Today it is the Arts Bogd range in Ömnögovi.

    First heard in Chapter 11, The Discovery of the Flaming Cliffs

  15. Gurbun Saikhan

    Gurvan SaikhanГурван Сайхан

    A range of the Gobi Altai whose Mongolian name means 'the Three Beauties.' It now gives its name to Gurvan Saikhan National Park in the southern Gobi.

    First heard in Chapter 11, The Discovery of the Flaming Cliffs

  16. Kholobolchi Nor

    Kholboolj NuurХолбоолж нуур

    The 'Little White Lake' the expedition found in 1925 after failing to reach Orok Nor — slightly brackish, ringed with fresh-water springs and set among fossil fields. It gave them a night of fish stranded on the shore by a dropping wind, the Old Stone Age flints of Neanderthal's Asian counterparts, and the false Pleistocene man: a burial in birch bark only a thousand years old. Today it is Kholboolj Nuur (Холбоолж нуур), a pink-salt lake in Bogd sum, Bayankhongor, under Ikh Bogd.

    First heard in Chapter 18, A Tragedy of the Gobi Desert

People

  1. Osborn

    In 1 other book ›

    Henry Fairfield Osborn, palaeontologist and president of the American Museum of Natural History. His theory that central Asia was the 'mother of the continents' — the homeland from which mammals dispersed — was the idea the expedition set out to test, and he wrote this book's Foreword.

    First heard in Chapter 1, ForewordWikipedia

  2. Berkey

    In 1 other book ›

    Charles P. Berkey, professor of geology at Columbia and the expedition's chief geologist. With Morris he worked out the structure and age of the Gobi formations that gave the fossils their place in time.

    First heard in Chapter 2, PrefaceWikipedia

  3. Morris

    In 1 other book ›

    Frederick K. Morris, geologist and Berkey's partner in mapping the rocks of central Asia. The two co-authored the expedition's geological volume.

    First heard in Chapter 2, Preface

  4. Roberts

    Major L. B. Roberts, the expedition's chief topographer, who surveyed and mapped the largely uncharted country the caravan crossed. His 1925 maps were among the first accurate charts of the region.

    First heard in Chapter 2, Preface

  5. T. Badmajapoff

    A Buryat Mongol who acted as an intermediary for the expedition and helped it obtain its permits to work in Mongolia.

    First heard in Chapter 2, Preface

  6. Andersson

    Johan Gunnar Andersson, the Swedish geologist working in China whose discoveries — later including the 'Peking Man' site at Zhoukoudian — helped open the study of early man in Asia. A friend and ally of the expedition.

    First heard in Chapter 2, PrefaceWikipedia

  7. Granger

    In 1 other book ›

    Walter Granger, the expedition's chief palaeontologist and second-in-command. A veteran American Museum fossil hunter, he directed the digging at Iren Dabasu, the Flaming Cliffs, and the other great Gobi quarries.

    First heard in Chapter 3, PreparationsWikipedia

  8. Larsen

    Монгол гүн ЛарсонIn 2 other books ›

    Frans August 'F. A.' Larson, a Swedish missionary and horse-trader known as the 'Duke of Mongolia' (Монгол гүн Ларсон). The best-known foreigner in the country, he supplied ponies and lent the expedition his deep knowledge of Mongolia.

    First heard in Chapter 3, PreparationsWikipedia

  9. Colgate

    S. Bayard Colgate, of the New York soap-making family (Colgate-Palmolive), who ran the expedition's fleet of Dodge motorcars and Fulton trucks as chief of motor transport — the innovation that made the fast Gobi crossings possible.

    First heard in Chapter 6, Under Way

  10. Shackelford

    In 1 other book ›

    J. B. Shackelford, the expedition's photographer and cinematographer. His sharp eye made him a finder of fossils as well — it was Shackelford who first spotted the bones at Iren Dabasu and the bone-strewn red beds of the Flaming Cliffs.

    First heard in Chapter 6, Under WayWikipedia

  11. Merin

    The head camel man of the expedition's supply caravan. He led the slow camel train that hauled gasoline and stores out to the rendezvous wells ahead of the fast motorcars.

    First heard in Chapter 6, Under Way

  12. Baron Ungern

    Roman von Ungern-SternbergРоман Унгерн фон ШтернбергIn 2 other books ›

    Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, the 'Mad Baron' — the White Russian warlord whose cavalry seized Urga from the Chinese in 1921 and ran a brief, bloody dictatorship before the Soviets captured and shot him. The expedition crossed Mongolia in the wake of his terror.

    First heard in Chapter 7, In the City of the Living GodWikipedia

  13. The Living Buddha

    Bogd KhanБогд хаанIn 4 other books ›

    The Jebtsundamba Khutuktu, the 'Living Buddha' of Urga and head of Mongolian Buddhism. When Mongolia declared its autonomy in 1911 he became the Bogd Khan, its theocratic god-king — both spiritual and temporal ruler.

    First heard in Chapter 7, In the City of the Living GodWikipedia

  14. Younghusband

    In 1 other book ›

    Sir Francis Younghusband, the British army officer and explorer who crossed the Gobi in the 1880s and led the 1904 expedition to Lhasa. Andrews quotes his verdict that the western Gobi is one of the most desolate places on earth.

    First heard in Chapter 11, The Discovery of the Flaming CliffsWikipedia

  15. Olsen

    In 1 other book ›

    George Olsen, a fossil collector on the staff. At the Flaming Cliffs in 1923 it was Olsen who uncovered the first nest of dinosaur eggs ever recognized by science.

    First heard in Chapter 13, New Work and Discoveries

  16. Dr. Loucks

    A surgeon from the Peking Union Medical College who served as the expedition's physician in the field.

    First heard in Chapter 16, Bigger and Better Eggs

  17. Chaney

    Ralph W. Chaney, the expedition's palaeobotanist. He read the fossil plants and shales to reconstruct the vanished forests and climates of the Gobi's past.

    First heard in Chapter 16, Bigger and Better EggsWikipedia

  18. Nelson

    Nels C. Nelson, the American Museum archaeologist on the expedition. A pioneer of stratigraphic method, he gathered the Stone Age tools that revealed the 'Dune Dwellers' of the Gobi.

    First heard in Chapter 17, The Dune Dwellers of MongoliaWikipedia

Peoples

  1. Tartar

    ТатарIn 4 other books ›

    A broad and often loose European label for the Mongol and Turkic peoples of Inner Asia — here 'Manchu Tartars.' It is an exonym (and partly a misspelling of 'Tatar'), not a name these peoples generally use for themselves.

    First heard in Chapter 4, Some Preliminary DigressionsWikipedia

Terms

  1. Titanothere

    In 1 other book ›

    A 'beast of titanic size' — a group of large, rhinoceros-like horned mammals (brontotheres) of the early Tertiary. First known from South Dakota in 1852, their discovery in the Gobi helped tie Asia's ancient life to North America's.

    First heard in Chapter 1, ForewordWikipedia

  2. Baluchitherium

    ParaceratheriumIn 1 other book ›

    A gigantic hornless rhinoceros of the Oligocene — the largest land mammal that ever lived, standing some eighteen feet at the shoulder. Granger's party quarried its huge bones in the Gobi; it is now usually called Paraceratherium.

    First heard in Chapter 9, A Kentucky Derby in the Gobi DesertWikipedia

  3. Protoceratops

    In 1 other book ›

    The 'first horned dinosaur,' a small plant-eating ceratopsian found by the hundreds in the red beds of the Flaming Cliffs. The nests of fossil eggs found beside it — the first dinosaur eggs ever recognized by science — were the expedition's most celebrated discovery, though decades later an embryo found inside one showed the eggs belonged not to Protoceratops but to the bird-like Oviraptor.

    First heard in Chapter 12, Giant Beasts of Three Million Years AgoWikipedia

  4. Dune Dwellers

    Andrews' name for the people of the Old Stone Age whose stone tools and hearths Nelson found scattered over the Gobi dunes — early humans who had camped by long-vanished desert lakes thousands of years before.

    First heard in Chapter 16, Bigger and Better Eggs

Hear every one of them in On the Trail of Ancient Man, narrated end to end on Sonsoo. Listening is invitation only.

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