Maps
1 Map of Mongolia. Töv and Hentij provinces © M. Alaux (background map) & S. Ruhlmann (map) xiv
2 Map of Öndörhaan and the commune of Mörön (Hentij province) xv
Diagrams
1 Kinship diagram. Grandmother’s winter camp © P. Kaplanian xvi
2 Kinship diagram. Household of the wrestler’s parents © P. Kaplanian xviii
3 Architecture of the yurt 20
4 Internal organization of the yurt 23
5 Central vertical axis of the yurt 27
6 Closed stove 28
7 Mongolian anatomical, butchery and cooking parts of the mutton 53
8 Cutting the dough and making the dumplings 115
9 Ordinary yurt and a mortuary yurt 170
10 Making spaghetti for funeral soup 174
11 Presentation of the whole boiled mutton dish 220
Drawings
All drawings are by the author. Those made not in situ but based on one or more photos are followed by an asterisk (*). All diagrams and drawings have been vectorized for better definition for paper printing.
1 Upper opening of the yurt 27
2 Tending the fire (grandmother, yurt 1, Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2000)* 29
3 Fire instruments 30
4 Fuel basket (yurt 3, Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2000)* 32
5 Ladle 34
6 Steamers 35
7 Knife and cleaver 36
8 The kitchen corner (yurt 1, Hentij province, Mörön, summer 2002) 37
9 Meat soup* 42
10 A man taking the meat-on-the-bones parts out of the pot* 43
11 Slaughtering a sheep (yurt 5, Hentij province, Mörön, autumn 2000)* 50
12 Emptying the intestines and the rumen (yurt 5, Hentij province, Mörön, autumn 2000)* 60
13 Emptying the intestines (yurt 5, Hentij province, Mörön, autumn 2000)* 61
14 Cutting meat (Lana, Hentij province, Mörön, August 2015)* 67
15 Cutting short noodles (Lana, Hentij province, Mörön, August 2015)* 68
16 Preparing soup with meat on the bone boiling under a whole disk of dough (Nergüj, yurt 1, Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2001)* 71
17 Steamed dumplings (Nergüj, yurt 1, Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2001)* 74
18 Skin pouch (Töv province, summer 2014)* 78
19 Sprinkling the first share of tea (Lana, Hentij province, Mörön, summer 2015)* 83
20 Aerating milk (Töv province, summer 2017) 89
21 Creamy milk skin (folded half-disk for the plate of hospitality) (Töv province, summer 2017) 90
22 Slicing drained curd with a strong cotton yarn to dry the round slices in the wind and the sun (Gov’sümber province, Čojr, summer 2017)* 91
23 Drinking (milk) tea (Gov’sümber province, Čojr, summer 2017)* 93
24 Eating (meat) soup with homemade pasta using a tablespoon (Töv province, summer 2017)* 95
25 Eating meat-on-the-bone (Töv province, summer 2017)* 96
26 Young child gnawing on an orphan’s rib (Hentij province, Öndörhaan, winter 2001)* 140
27 Fontanel of the new baby protected by the swaddling clothes (Lana’s baby, yurt 2, Hentij province, Mörön, summer 2002)* 150
28 Child sleeping under the protection of a felt fox figurine (Nergüj’s young son, yurt 1, Hentij province, Mörön, summer 2002)* 153
29 Naming the new baby (yurt 2, Hentij province, Mörön, summer 2002)* 155
30 First haircut (yurt 5, Hentij province, Mörön, White Month, February 2001)* 155
31 Making a miniature yurt (Töv province, Gačuurt, August 2014)* 191
32 Miniature yurt (Töv province, Gačuurt, August 2014)* 191
33 Miniature yurt on a grave (Töv province, Gačuurt, July 2014)* 193
34 Rendering fat into oil (yurt 1, Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2000)* 207
35 Frying the sole-shaped cakes (yurt 2, Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2000)* 210
36 Cooking the mutton dish (yurt 1, Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2000)* 222
37 White Month dishes (yurt 3, Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2000)* 226
38 Exchanging greeting embraces for White Month (wrestler’s mother and younger sister, Hentij province, Öndörhaan, winter 2014)* 237
39 Nergüj visiting her maternal cousin (Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2000)* 239
Photos
1 Yurt in the steppe, connected to the electricity supply from Mörön (Hentij province, July 2014) 20
2 Paw prints in the snow near the winter camp (Hentij province, Mörön, winter 2000) 247