A partial skeleton of a female Gyrfalcon, dated at 1044–1214 AD, was excavated in an

abandoned well in Karabalgasun, Central Mongolia. Karabalgasun lies in the Orkhon

Valley, a landscape of special symbolic, political and spiritual significance in the age

of the Turk, Uyghur and Mongol empires. The falcon was interred during the reign

of the Khitan (Liao) dynasty. The vertebral ribs show healed fractures, a sign that the

bird was nursed in captivity. For falconry was an important element at the imperial

court, the presence of the Gyrfalcon indicates the importance of the Orkhon Valley

as a place of annual hunting rituals and as a sacred landscape during the reign of

the Liao dynasty. The lack of wings, tail and clawed feet of the falcon carcass points

towards a post-mortem decorative or ritual use of these body parts. Since Gyrfalcons

do not naturally occur in Mongolia, this individual bird may have been a particular

symbol of status.