The first-ever use of cutting-edge drone-based lidar in Central Asia allowed archaeologists to capture stunning details of two newly documented trade cities high in the mountains of Uzbekistan.
From an article in Physics by Washington University in St. Louis.
A team of researchers led by Michael Frachetti, professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, and Farhod Maksudov, director of the National Center of Archaeology in Uzbekistan, used drone-based lidar to map the archaeological scale and layout of two recently discovered high-elevation sites in Uzbekistan.
The medieval cities are among the largest ever documented in the mountainous parts of the Silk Road, the vast network of ancient trade routes that connected Europe and Eastern Asia.
Images and details of the discovery were published in Nature.
Co-authors include Jack Berner, a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at WashU; Edward Henry, an assistant professor of anthropology and geography at Colorado State University and WashU alum (Ph.D.); Tao Ju, a professor of computer science and engineering in the McKelvey School of Engineering at WashU; and Xiaoyi Liu, an undergraduate student in the McKelvey School of Engineering at WashU. The expedition was supported by the National Geographic Society.
The drone-lidar scans provided remarkably detailed views of the plazas, fortifications, roads, and habitations that shaped the lives and economies of highland communities, traders, and travelers from the sixth through 11th centuries in Central Asia. The two cities are located in rugged terrain 2,000 to 2,200 meters above sea level (roughly comparable to Machu Picchu in Peru), making them unusual examples of thriving mountain urbanism.
The smaller city, today called Tashbulak, covered about 12 hectares, while the larger city of Tugunbulak reached 120 hectares, “making it one of the largest regional cities of its time,” Frachetti said.
For the complete article on the Silk Road CLICK HERE.
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