At least, I think I do. I know very little about Mongolia and my Google searches have only given me general details. I think I'm just asking the wrong questions, so I thought I'd ask you guys for assistance.
I specifically want to know what the life of an average Mongolian nomad was like from childhood to adulthood, male and female. What their day to day activities were, what their coming of age was like, what they were expected to do with their lives, etc. I would love if someone could suggest any books or articles that cover these subjects. Thank you!
Well you'll need to narrow down what you're looking for in terms of period first. When you say "ancient," what era are you actually referring to? Before or after they become a serious conquering force, for instance? Once you've done that, it will be easier to search more precisely, but you'll probably still run into a frequent problem with nomadic peoples, which is that there are few written records. Most of the research will probably be anthropological or sociological rather than strictly historical. A brief Google Scholar search gave me a lot on warfare, which is to be expected since the cultures who came into contact with the Mongolians give us a lot of our documents, and archaeological research.