Study: Great Wall of China was not built for defence, but to monitor civilians

'Northern Line' of the medieval Great Wall of China was not built for the defensive purpose against the invading armies but to halt the migration of nomadic populations, according to a study published in the scientific journal Antiquity. For the first time, Archaeologists carried out a systematic survey of the part of The Great Wall constructed over 2,700 years ago and found that the primary use of the wall was not defensive. 

Often believed that the 740-kilometer (460-mile) Northern Line of the Great Wall of China was constructed to fend off large army troops of the ruler Genghis Khan, in the new study, it was revealed that the wall’s function was to monitor civilian movement,  an Israeli archaeologist said in the published study. As per the mapping done by the researchers of the wall, they found that the Great Wall of China was designed to help the ruling Liao dynasty control the migration of the region's inhabitants. Further, the Northern Line monitored the civilians from the Mongolian Empire in later years, as per the researchers.  

Parts of the Wall, particularly the Northern Line was observed with the help of drones by the researchers, and satellite images during the region's first comprehensive mapping were used to conduct the study. "Prior to our research, most people thought the wall's purpose was to stop Genghis Khan's army," said Gideon Shelach-Lavi from Jerusalem's Hebrew University, who led the two-year study, as published in the journal. “Our conclusion is that it was more about monitoring or blocking the movement of people and livestock, maybe to tax them,” he added. 

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Knowledge of artifacts to record dates

First started in the third century BC, the construction of the Great Wall of China was started by the state of Chu in order to protect itself from invaders from other states over 2,700 years ago. It was later resumed by Qi, Yan, Wei, Zhao, and Qin states. However, according to the research, as the military system advanced with the end of the cold weapon era, the construction of the wall was halted in 1878. The Northern Line, also known as "Genghis Khan's Wall" carried over 72 structures in small clusters that were built between the 11th and 13th centuries, as per the study. The findings provide the researchers with details earlier overlooked by the contemporary scientists about the artifacts that would help scientists keep a record of the dates.  

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