Two lost medieval Silk Road cities in the Uzbek mountains have been discovered by archaeologists using drone-based lidar technology, according to recent reports from Science News and DW. This discovery challenges our knowledge of high-altitude urban development and trade networks.
The Discovery Of Tugunbulak And Tashbulak
The ancient settlements of Tugunbulak and Tashbulak, which are situated in the Malguzar mountain range in southeast Uzbekistan, were found using a mix of conventional archaeological surveys and state-of-the-art drone-based lidar technology. These settlements were discovered by a team headed by Farhod Maksudov from the National Center of Archaeology in Uzbekistan and Michael Frachetti from Washington University in St. Louis. They were located around 2,000 meters above sea level and about 5 kilometers apart.
The smaller city of Tashbulak is 12 hectares in size, while the larger city of Tugunbulak is 120 hectares. With habitation spans spanning the sixth to the eleventh centuries, Tashbulak and Tugunbulak were identified in 2011 and 2015, respectively, based on early finds of pottery fragments and earthen mounds. Under decades of erosion and sediment buildup, the cities’ intricate layouts were made visible with the use of lidar technology, which produced scans at the centimeter level.
Medieval Urban Characteristics
Both Tugunbulak and Tashbulak had intricate urban design, as seen by the lidar scans, which displayed characteristics common to cities in medieval Central Asia. With more than 300 structures spread across more than a square kilometer, Tugunbulak has a complicated layout1. The city’s layout comprised:
Groups of structures that share walls.
Building clusters are separated by narrow roadways and corridors.
Along a ridgeline were watchtowers joined by walls.
A citadel or principal fortress.
A citadel looming over a walled village with a layout reminiscent of lowland cities.
At least 98 structures were found in Tashbulak, which exhibited comparable urban features despite its lower size. A well-organized urban culture flourishing at high elevations was demonstrated by the defensive fortifications, terraced platforms, and dwelling complexes found in both cities. These results show that medieval Central Asian populations were capable of sophisticated urban development in difficult conditions, contradicting preconceived notions about the constraints of mountain towns.
Cities’ Historical Significance
Traditional beliefs that mountains acted as barriers to trade along the Silk Road are called into question by the finding of Tugunbulak and Tashbulak. Rather, these high-altitude cities, which flourished from the sixth to the eleventh centuries, show how important mountainous areas were for the spread of culture and commerce. Considering that just 3% of people on Earth live at or above Machu Picchu’s elevation, their existence shows that nomadic herding communities evolved a unique style of urban life there. The scope of Silk Road networks and our understanding of medieval Asian urban development are drastically changed by this discovery, which implies that high-altitude communities were more important than previously believed in promoting trade and cross-cultural interaction.
The Silk Road’s Economic Role
Along the Silk Road, these high-altitude urban settlements most likely thrived due to a variety of commercial endeavors. Preliminary excavations have revealed a fortified structure that may have served as a steel factory for local metalsmiths who were taking advantage of the abundant iron ore reserves, providing evidence that Tugunbulak may have been a major industrial center. Trade in animals, valuable minerals, and fuel from neighboring forests was also made easier by the cities’ advantageous placement. The idea that mountains hampered Silk Road trade was refuted by Tugunbulak and Tashbulak, who were important hubs of interaction in difficult hilly terrain and played vital roles in the flow of resources, information, and goods between East and West.